Could anyone let us know whether Parisian restaurants are
baby friendly? We're due to go in January and want to eat
out in the evenings with the sprog who is 7 months old.
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The French will think that you are odd, but they'll be
accommodating. The French don't tend to have many children
anymore -- and then they tend to leave them at home. (The
French, do however, bring their dogs to restaurants.) When
my daughter was small, our biggest problems in Paris were
that (1) restaurants were smokey,(2) the food was oriented
to adults (that is, you won't find a "kids" menu), (3)
dinner is served late, and (4) service is leisurely. To
deal with this, we usually had a long lunch, and then ate
pizza or something back in our rooms for dinner.
Notwithstanding the above, we had a blast!
I live in Paris. Yes, restaurants will let you come in with
infants, although they're not always likely to have
appropriate furnishings, changing tables, etc. And smoking
is permitted in restaurants here, so be ready for that. Not
all restaurants have non-smoking sections.
Most major hotels have connections for baby-sitters, if that
interests you.
'Friendly' is a relative word here. The Parisians are
snooty, even to each other, for a brief initial period. And
they LOVE clucking to each other about horrid parents who
expose their children to smokey restaurants, etc.
We always took our kids everywhere. When they're that little
they usually sleep through the whole thing anyway. But when
they act up, one usually gets dirty looks from
holier-than-thous who can't understand how you can spoil
their evening and yours by bringing an infant into a place
he or she has no business being.
Bon appĪtit
To all of those interested in creating more child friendly
cities, please be aware of a new non-profit being started in
San Francisco called the Child-Friendly Initiative. Their
mission is to advocate the concept that cities belong to
children as well as adults and that if properly outfitted any
establishment can cater to that fabulous institution "the
family." The criteria is simple really, changing stations and
paper and crayons for restaurants, little shopping baskets
for grocers, but the benefits for businesses are great, a
whole new market to tap.And, of course the implications for
society are greater..children shown respect and trust by
being allowed to function in the adult world creates a better
future. Watch out for the website due to post in March, until
then, you can contact me via email. Happy trails.