Most parks in Paris have small playgrounds, sand pits or jungle gyms for children. The Jardins du Luxembourg (M° St-Michel or RER Luxembourg, 6th) has one of the largest children’s playgrounds in the center of Paris, resembling a giant version of the McDonald’s plastic playgrounds (small entry fee). There are also marionnettes, pony rides and toy sailboats to push around in the large duck pond.
The Jardin des Plantes (M° Jussieu, 5th) has a small playground and one of the oldest zoos in the world (the ménagerie) with monkeys, bears, lions and a petting farm (£6 for adults, £3.50 for kids ages four to 16; open daily, 9:30am to 6pm in summer, 9:30am to 5pm in winter, ☎ 01 40 79 30 00).
If all the animals are hiding from sight, take the kids to the fascinating Grande Galerie de l’Evolution (open 10am to 6pm, closed Tuesday; tickets £7, €5 for students under 26, free for children under age four; www.mnhn.fr, ☎ 01 40 79 30 00). Here they can ogle all sorts of life-sized (and spookily alive-looking) animals from giraffes and elephants to wolves and penguins, as well as giant dinosaur fossils and extinct species.
The very modern Parc André Citroën (M° Javel, 15th) has a kid-friendly lawn (no dogs allowed), lots of jungle-like corners to explore, and smoothly paved paths for moms with strollers. There’s an enormous hot-air balloon (open daily from 9am until 30 minutes before park closing time; £10-12 for adults, £5-10 for kids ages three to 17;01 44 26 20 00, (www.aeroparis.com) tethered firmly at the park gives panoramic views of Paris for up to 20 passengers at a time, with no danger of floating off. When the weather heats up, the park guards pretend they don’t notice the children running through the playful water jets that spring up from the pavement next to the greenhouses (even though a big red sign says to keep out).
Families could easily spend the day at the Parc de la Villette (M° Porte-de-la-Villette, 19th). There’s a series of playgrounds with cushioned flooring divided up by age group (the Jardin des Dunes), a winding 80m (220-foot) dragon slide, and eight other themed gardens such as the Jardin des Miroirs and the Jardin des Bambous, all set in a 69-acre park with lawns and the scenic Canal de l’Ourcq running through the middle (www.lavillette.com). Inside the imposing Cité des Sciences & de l’Industrie (Science Museum) is the Cité des Enfants (open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm; Sunday until 7pm; entry €5 per person, children must be accompanied;08 92 69 70 72, www.cite-sciences.fr). It’s made up of two hands-on learning exhibitions, one for kids three to five years old and the other for kids ages five to 12 years. Young visitors get to work on a construction site, survey an ant colony, find out where electricity comes from, make a TV show, and discover how their counterparts in other countries live. Entrance is based on time-slots of 90 minutes, so try to arrive early in the day to avoid disappointment (especially in summer and on Wednesdays). The Cité des Sciences also has a planetarium, aquarium, and many temporary exhibitions for older children and adults. Museum Pass accepted. Just outside the museum is a real (retired) French naval submarine, l’Argonaute (open daily except Monday, 11am to 5:30pm; entry €3) and the mirror-ball Géode Omnimax cinema.
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