Side-trip with wine from Paris (with kids)

Travel, Wine Tourism, and Restaurants Forum
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Well 4 nights in Paris this summer was clearly not enough so we are likely going to return in early April . This time I’d like to go somewhere else in France for a few days as well - maybe 4 Paris 4 elsewhere - preferably somewhere with some wine too! We will have our two elementary-school aged kids with us. So many places to go, it’s tough to choose. I don’t need theme parks or anything like that, but of course things that kids would find “cool” help - old castles, an occasional playground, archaeological sites, caves, fun short hikes, etc. Any thoughts on the below options?

Loire is winning as it’s close as I think some of the chateaus could be fun for them (da vinci’s in amboise, cheverny for the hounds, etc). Ironically it’s the one major French region I rarely buy or drink but I’m sure a visit or two would still be fun.
Champagne is also close and Reims seems like a nice small city, lots of big house tours that seem to allow kids, and caves are cool!
Wine-wise burgundy would be #1 but it seems less interesting for kids and the impression I get is that producers would be mostly not-too-happy to see them.
Bordeaux is an attractive options as well, though it appears to get more rain in April. Going even further down towards San Sebastian seems difficult logistics-wise (had considered flying into Bilbao and working our way back but that would put us in SS on a sunday and monday).
Weather-wise Provence or the Riviera might be nice though I think it would then make more sense to fly directly to Nice or connect through to Lyon or Marseille as it’s a long train ride to do twice.

Thanks!

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Loire is a great visit with kids, especially if you stay in a VRBO in Amboise itself. As noted, Da Vicini’s place (Clos Luce) is highly interactive, with large gardens and programs, depending on time of year. The town itself is great and is a good hub to bounce out to the other chateaus (Chenonceau, Chambord, etc.) If driving from Paris, stop in Chartres to visit the cathedral (and read the WSJ article on the US solider that saved it). I think I wrote up some notes on it in my “Adventures in Paris” thread here → (Adventures in Paris)

Giverny is a good day trip, especially if you think the kids will do well in Monet’s gardens. Very pretty, not too bad of a drive/train ride and you can backstop it with a visit to one of Paris’s most overlooked museums - “Musee de l’Orangerie,” which has the rest of Monet’s panels there. It’s also in Tuileries, which has a section of mini, individual trampolines in it to keep the kids going for hours :smiley:

Other things to do with kids in Paris - see whatever seasonal activity is going on at the top of the Tour Montparnasse. Highest view in Paris (iirc), and my kids have done everything from jumped on trampolines to roller-blading up there. Jardin du Luxembourg is a beautiful visit, next to the Odeon stop (see: Maison du Whiskey and the Le Comptour du Relais restaurants) and has a private park with tons of stuff to climb, as well as a giant fountain with toy boats in it. If the weather is nice, grab a couple bottles of wine, cheese, bordier and charcuterie and let the kids play around.

Amsterdam is another really easy/fun trip out of Paris. Take Thalys out of Gare du Nord (no security, decent wifi and you can walk around) and it’s a 3:20 min trip to downtown AMS. You can easily fly home out of Schiphol, as well. Highlights in AMS go for days - Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank’s house, canal rides, cheese, waffles, etc. See Blake’s threads for restaurants/stuff to do, as well.

San Sebastian is great, but not sure I’d do it in conjunction with a Paris trip. Another destination that you might consider is Corsica. Flights are usually super-cheap out of Paris (might be subsidized, given it’s a French territory), the food/wine scene is fantastic (Italy meets France), you’ve got beaches all over the place and lots of small towns. We got a VRBO, rented a car and hung out for a week. Only downside is that my kids were sensitive to windy roads.

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Thanks so much, all excellent advice!
When we were in Paris in the summer the Tuilleries had the big carnival going which had the enormous bungee-trampolines, but we did not see the little ones! Will have to find them this time.

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How about using Arles as a base if you’re thinking about Provence? It’s 3 hours from Paris on the TGV. It has many associations with Van Gogh (could be a cool trip idea to see the Van Gogh pieces at Musee d’Orsay in Paris and then head down south to see where he lived and painted), the Camargues is nearby to see wildlife (pink flamingoes, horses and cattle), and you can take a day trip to the old papal palace in Avignon and the Chateauneuf wineries. Also if you go in April, you might be able to catch Feria d’Arles, although you know your kids best on whether bullfights would be upsetting or exciting to them.

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