I can’t tell you how many times people have told me they can’t wait to take their kids to Europe. “A few more years, and she’ll be able to appreciate Paris,” is how the conversation usually goes. “It would just be a waste to go now.” How Paris could ever be a waste is beyond me. When we travel, we learn, we grow. It doesn’t matter whether we’re 8 or 80.

Traveling with a child is a different, not impossible. Check out my recent post on getting creative when sightseeing with kids.

Most people think of Paris as an ideal city for a romantic weekend, a quick gastronomic getaway or a ten day cultural odyssey. It’s not a destination that particularly screams “6 week family vacation”. However, last summer my husband, 4 and 6 year old daughters and I had the enviable opportunity to park it in Paris for most of July and August.

We exchanged homes with a French family and got to live like locals in a chi chi Parisian apartment on a quiet street a short stroll from the hustle and bustle of the Champs Elysées.

Let me first say that of all the cities that we’ve visited with our kids, Paris is my favorite and the easiest to explore. Yes, I love Rome and London, and the many other cities for that matter, but Paris is what I always recommend to families looking to go to Europe.

Because Paris is better known as a romantic adult destination, it shouldn’t be dismissed as a family vacation venue. Actually, Parisian families have quite a nice thing going.

Paris is famous for romance and culture, not necessarily as a child-friendly city. I remember when I first moved here, I wondered how I would be able to bring up two kids in a city where the only places I found to take them were small parks for smokers where kids were not even allowed to walk on the grass!

In fact, with a little bit of research there are tons of things to go with kids of any age. For the older children, the museums and children’s theaters are fabulous.

I LOVE Paris and have been traveling there since I was 20 years old. Now that I have a daughter, my goal is to introduce her to the city of light, and hope she falls in love with it just like I have, and these locations and events have helped me cast a spell on her so she’ll want to come back again and again.

Le Parc de la Villette

On the Eastern side of Paris, this park is chalk full of wide-open space for toddlers …

It doesn’t matter where you go. The United States, Europe, Asia; there’s never enough time to do everything. Kids and guidebooks often don’t understand each other’s idea of a perfect day. With my girls, ages 8 and 11, the philosophy has always been use the first trip to help plan the second.

That doesn’t mean you have limit yourself to all too often lackluster bus tours, just because you’re traveling with kids. It just means getting creative.

Because we live in New York City, we tend to avoid city vacations as a family. We want to spend as much of our free time in nature as possible. However, there are some cities we can’t resist and Paris …

You cannot get a more Parisian park than the Luxembourg Gardens. It is situated in the heart of the beautiful sixth arrondissement around St. Germain, making it hugely accessible for everyone.

Paris is known for its great food and bustling café life and not, unfortunately, for its kid-friendly restaurants. Children are expected to sit at the table and enjoy their food like little adults.

If Paris does not come to the mountain…the mountain will come to Paris! Every year from the beginning of December to the end of February an ice skating rink and sledge lane are erected in front of the main town hall of Paris …