Attractions and distractions for kids

Opened in 1996, the new national library was the last and costliest of Mitterrand's grands projets. Its architect, Dominique Perrault, was criticised for his dated design, which hides readers underground and stores the books in four L-shaped glass towers.He also forgot to specify blinds to protect books from sunlight; they had to be added afterwards. In the central void is a garden (filled with 140 trees, which were transported from Fontainebleau at enormous expense). The library houses over ten million volumes and can accommodate 3,000 readers.The research section, just below the public reading rooms, opened in 1998. Much of the library is open to the public: books, newspapers and periodicals are accessible to anyone over 18, and you can browse through photographic, film and sound archives in the audio-visual section.

Up the slopes of the Hauts de Belleville, there are views over the city from rue Piat and rue des Envierge, but as far as panoramas go, you’ll be hard pushed to find a better skyscape than the one rolling below the Parc de Belleville.  This modern but charming common, was created in 1988 to bring a stretch of greenery to the park-deprived 20th, and from its slopes you can see as far as the Eiffel Tower in the west. Needless to say, the best time to come is at sundown when an orangey hue descends over Paris’s iconic grey rooftops. For several hundred years, the area was covered in vines: a nod to which you’ll find in the top part of the park where 140 pieds of Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay vines still produce 2 to 3 kilos of grapes each year. In fact, as far as wine trivia goes, the Parc de Belleville (or at least the ground it’s sitting on) is also linked to the French word ‘piquette’, which means ‘bad wine’ - not because the piquette made here Between the 14th and 18th centuries was actually bad, but because the meaning was changed over the centuries. Piquette was originally a ‘young’ wine.  

Paris's first planned square was commissioned in 1605 by Henri IV and inaugurated by his son Louis XIII in 1612. With harmonious red-brick and stone arcaded façades and steeply pitched slate roofs, it differs from the later pomp of the Bourbons. Laid out symmetrically with carriageways through Pavillon de la Reine on the north side and Pavillon du Roi on the south, the other lots were sold off as concessions to officials and nobles (some façades are imitation brick). It was called place Royale prior to the Napoleonic Wars, when the Vosges was the first region to pay its war taxes. Mme de Sévigné, salon hostess and letter-writer, was born at no.1bis in 1626. At that time the garden hosted duels and trysts; now it attracts children from the nearby nursery school.

Soufflot's neo-classical megastructure was the architectural grand projet of its day, commissioned by a grateful Louis XV to thank Sainte Geneviève for his recovery from illness. But by the time it was ready in 1790, a lot had changed; during the Revolution, the Panthéon was rededicated as a 'temple of reason' and the resting place of the nation's great men. The austere barrel-vaulted crypt now houses Voltaire, Rousseau, Hugo and Zola. New heroes are installed but rarely: Pierre and Marie Curie's remains were transferred here in 1995; Alexandre Dumas in 2002. Inside are Greek columns and domes, and 19th-century murals of Geneviève's life by Symbolist painter Puvis de Chavannes, a formative influence on Picasso during the latter's blue period. Mount the steep spiral stairs to the colonnade encircling the dome for superb views. A replica of Foucault's Pendulum hangs here; the original proved that the earth does indeed spin on its axis, via a universal joint that lets the direction of the pendulum's swing rotate as the earth revolves.

Once home to the giant slaughterhouses of Paris, Parc de la Villette has kept just a few remnants of its industrial past—a hall, some old buildings—but most notably, its immense size. Spanning 35 hectares, it’s the largest park in Paris. In 1987, Swiss architect Bernard Tschumi transformed this site on the city’s northeastern edge, crossed by the Canal de l’Ourcq, into a vast contemporary park. A Garden City for Everyone Designed as a sort of “garden city,” the park connects two major landmarks: the Cité des Sciences in the north and the Grande Halle and Cité de la Musique in the south. It’s one of the few parks in Paris open all night, and that’s no accident—it’s not fenced in or closed off. Instead, it’s imagined as a space you move through as much as stay in: a place to relax, play, stroll, explore art, or just hang out. A Hub for Events, Music, and Open-Air Fun Its massive lawns regularly host public events. While the beloved Villette Sonique music festival is no longer running, the park is still buzzing with life, especially during the Open-Air Film Festival, which screens movies around a different theme each summer. The vibe is always festive—legend has it that over 2,000 people once got up to dance under the stars during the final credits of Grease. Toward the end of summer, the Jazz à la Villette festival takes over, bringing rhythm and soul to the park. And with both the Cité des Sciences and Cité de la Musique on site, you could easily spend an entire day here....

The 25-hectare park is a prized family attraction. Kids come from across the city for its pony rides, ice-cream stands, puppet shows, pedal karts, sandpits, metal swingboats and merry-go-round. The playground has an entrance fee.

Père-Lachaise is the celebrity cemetery - it has almost anyone French, talented and dead that you care to mention. Not even French, for that matter. Creed and nationality have never prevented entry: you just had to have lived or died in Paris or have an allotted space in a family tomb. Look at our Insiders’ Guide to Père-Lachaise for tips and ideas for enjoying a day at this iconic spot, and this handy walkers map of where to find the most famous. 

  There’s no denying that the River Seine’s a good-looker: Her bridge-freckled curves are punctuated with some of the world’s most beautiful monuments, and her tree-lines quays sit like ready-made postcards on the water’s edge. By far the best way to drink it all in is from the panoramic deck of one of a Paris’s iconic Bateaux Mouches riverboats. Yes, they’re touristy (to the point where most Parisians shun them irrevocably), but sometimes it’s worth grinning and baring the multi-language commentary and the bum-bagged clans to get an eyeful of something wholly beautiful. The route starts at Pont d’Alma on the Right Bank, sails past Concorde, the Louvre and Hôtel de Ville before turning at the tip of Île-Saint-Louis and riding up the Left Bank stretch past the Eiffel Tower. The best bit, however, is seeing the bridges’ underbellies, which sometimes appear so low you could touch their stonework. Particularly spectacular is Pont Alexandre III, inaugurated for the 1900 World Fair, with gigantic gold statues and intricate metal work.  Other companies offering boat trips include: Vedettes du Pont Neuf (http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.fr),  Vedettes de Paris (http://www.vedettesdeparis.com/) and Bateaux-Parisiens.  

The most colourful of the capital's many parks, Montsouris was laid out for Baron Haussmann by Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand. It includes a series of sweeping, gently sloping lawns, an artificial lake and cascades. On the opening day in 1878 the lake inexplicably emptied, and the engineer responsible committed suicide.

Surrounded by grand hôtels particuliers and elegant Haussmannian apartments, Monceau is a favourite with well-dressed children and their nannies. It was laid out in the 18th century for the Duc de Chartres in the English style, with a lake, lawns and a variety of follies: an Egyptian pyramid, a Corinthian colonnade, Venetian bridge and sarcophagi.