Traveling with Baby in Paris

Planning a trip to Paris with your baby? As a Parisian mom, I’m pleased to unveil some baby-friendly addresses, where you’ll be welcome with an infant and stroller, as well as places that include all the facilities to welcome your little one. Traveling with a baby in Paris doesn’t have to be difficult or daunting.
Three family-friendly brasseries, ideal for a lunch or a snack – serve all day long and have dishes you can share for lunch like salads, fish, meat and desserts.

Café Central: located between Champ de Mars and Invalides, families will enjoy discovering rue Cler with its renowned market, food stores and gourmet shops. In the center of it all lies Café Central with its large terrace on a pedestrian only street. Plus the café has a lovely indoor room if the weather isn’t nice. Thankfully there is sufficient space to enter with a stroller and the resto is equipped with high chair and changing facilities.
5 rue du Champ de Mars 75007 Open 7/7 from 7am till 2am.

Les Funambules: 10 minutes walk from Place d’Aligre and its renowned food market (open daily except Sunday from 9am till 12noon), this nice brasserie replete with art deco decor and a sublime painted ceiling has a covered terrace plus another open air smaller terrace which is used to welcome neighborhood families. Booster seats, coloring place mats, a kid’s menu and changing facilities are on offer.
12 rue Faidherbe – 75012  Open 7/7 from 7:30am till 2am.

Dynamo & Co: at the bottom of Buttes-Chaumont park, this fully renovated brasserie is owned by a couple who simply want to offer to families the service they’d like to find for themselves. At Dynamo & Co, you’ll find high chairs, changing facilities, a kid’s menu, coloring place mats and even some toys.
104 rue Simon Bolivar – 75019 Open 7/7 from 8:00am till midnight.
Want to shop for your baby? Beside the chains (Du Pareil Au Même, Natalys or Bonpoint), check out these stores for French and foreign designer clothes and locally made toys:

Le Petit Dressing: this concept-store dedicated to children from newborn to 10 years old as well as mums-to-be sells new and second-hand clothing that is both chic and fun. All second-hand products are in excellent condition, all from well known brands or designers. Here you’ll also find vintage kid’s furniture
66 rue Legendre – 75017
Open Tuesday – Saturday, from 10am till 6 or 7pm.

La Maison DoDuDinDon: 2 steps away from the Canal Saint Martin, Anouchka, a children’s clothes designer, and her mum, a children’s toys professional opened La Maison DoDu DinDon, a concept-store dedicated to children. You’ll find DoDu DinDon children’s clothes of course but also a pretty selection of other French and foreign designer clothing such as: Bbamie Création, Boumaga, Barnabé aime le café, Pöm and Maxomorra. You’ll also find a lot of toys, some classic such as Vilac and Janod…and some exclusive ones.
3 rue Alexandre Parodi, 75010 Paris
Open Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 7pm, Sunday 3 – 7pm.
Le Ciel Est A Tout Le Monde: less than a 10 minutes walk from Jardin du Luxembourg, this shop offers a full selection of melamine mealtimes products (cutlery, plates, mugs) illustrated with characters from popular children’s books: Maisy Mouse, Barbapapa, Elmer and The Little Prince. Here you’ll also find toys, snack bags and cuddly playthings.
Address: 10 rue Gay Lussac, 75005 Paris
Open Monday – Saturday, 10:00am – 7:30pm
And because you’re visiting Paris for its museums, here are my 3 tips for visiting a museum with your baby:

photo via theshoppingmama.com

• Stroller or not stroller? Rules are different in each museum, some like the Petit Palais, Musée d’Orsay, Musée du Louvre, Musée Branly and the Centre Pompidou do allow you to circulate with a stroller all throughout; some others such as the Grand Palais and the Pinacothèque do not allow strollers inside. However these do have a baby carrier at the entrance that you may borrow.

• Museums for children: There are a few museums that are dedicated to children from 2 year old and up. Visit with your toddler visit it and you will likely enjoy it as well. Musée en Herbe (art museum), Cité des enfants (sciences) Natural History Museum and the Cineaqua, which is an aquarium with a cinema.
• Skip queues! In some museums like the Musée du Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay you may use the “special needs” entrance when having a baby in a stroller…good to know.

Camille is the author of a blog and website entitled Baby’tems which is compete with a list of baby-friendly addresses in Paris, all designed to help simplify travel to Paris with your baby or toddler. Baby’tems also rents all types of baby gear for your stay including: strollers, travel cots, high chairs, carseats…even toys. Products are delivered to your door in Paris and surrounding suburbs. All products are new or in excellent condition, checked and carefully cleaned. For into reservations: http://babytems.com

Note: Special offer to Girls’ Guide to Paris readers: get a free bucket of toys (rental) with any baby gear rental in Paris. Use promo code GGTP.

Links:
Cafe Central
Le Petit Dressing
La Maison DoDuDinDon
Le Ciel et le Tout du Monde