"The Louvre is free for everyone under 18. Gerald has worked out exactly how to use that fact to have the best possible day in Paris with children in tow."
Issue 09 is the companion to Issue 07 — the same 1st arrondissement, the same extraordinary museum, but calibrated entirely for families. We arrive early, before the school groups. We find the Winged Victory and the Egyptian Antiquities and leave before the children lose patience. We have hot chocolate at Angelina. We ride the Tuileries carousel. We eat at Café Marly with the pyramid in the window. We are back at the hotel by 4pm for a swim. This is the Best Day Ever: Paris With Kids.
On why having children is not a reason to stop having extraordinary days.
The most common piece of advice given to people with young children is to wait. Wait until they're older. Wait until they can appreciate it. Wait until travel is easier. This advice is wrong. Children don't need to appreciate the Louvre in the way that adults appreciate the Louvre. They need to be in a room with the Winged Victory of Samothrace and feel the scale of it. That's enough. That's more than enough.
Why This Edition Exists
Issue 07 of Just Gerald covered the Louvre for adults: the Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, the Denon Wing, Bar Hemingway, Verjus, the full Best Day Ever itinerary for someone who can spend eight hours in a museum without a nap schedule.
This edition covers the same neighbourhood — the 1st arrondissement, the Tuileries, the Palais Royal, the streets around the Louvre — through a completely different lens. The lens of a parent who wants to give their children an extraordinary day in one of the world's great cities, and who refuses to accept that 'family-friendly' means 'second-rate.'
The food is different. The hotels are different. The museum strategy is different. The pace is different. The experience, if you do it right, is not lesser than the adult version. It's just different. And in some ways — the way a child looks at the Winged Victory, the way they run through the Tuileries, the way they eat a crêpe on the Rue de Rivoli — it's better.
"Children don't need to appreciate the Louvre the way adults do. They need to be in a room with the Winged Victory and feel the scale of it. That's enough."
What's Inside
In this issue: a strategy for the Louvre with children under ten — which galleries to prioritise, which to skip, and how to keep the day from becoming a forced march through art history. The best family hotels within walking distance of the Louvre. Angelina, which serves the best hot chocolate in Paris and has been doing so since 1903. The Tuileries Garden, which is one of the great children's spaces in Europe. The toy shops of the 1st arrondissement. And the full Best Day Ever itinerary — from the first métro to the last crêpe.
The Verdict
Paris with children is not a compromise. It's a different kind of extraordinary.
MUSEUM GUIDE8 min read
The Louvre With Children: A Strategy
You cannot see the whole Louvre in a day. With children, you shouldn't try. Here is how to make two hours in the world's greatest museum feel like a triumph rather than a defeat.
The Louvre has 35,000 works of art across 60,600 square metres of exhibition space. A person walking at a moderate pace, spending thirty seconds in front of each work, would need over three months to see everything. With children, you have approximately two hours before someone needs a snack, a toilet, or a nap. Here is how to use those two hours well.
The Golden Rule: Less Is More
The most common mistake parents make at the Louvre is trying to see too much. The Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory, the Egyptian antiquities, the Dutch Masters — all in one day, with children in tow. This produces exhausted children, frustrated parents, and memories of queues rather than art.
The better approach: choose two or three things. Go to those things. Spend real time with them. Leave before anyone is miserable.
For children under ten, the three things worth prioritising are: the Winged Victory of Samothrace (Denon Wing, first floor), the Egyptian Antiquities (Sully Wing, ground floor), and the medieval moat (Sully Wing, lower ground floor). These three experiences cover the full range of what makes the Louvre extraordinary — scale, mystery, and the visceral sense of deep time — without requiring the sustained attention that the painting galleries demand.
"Choose two or three things. Go to those things. Spend real time with them. Leave before anyone is miserable."
Just Gerald Says
Recommended time2 hours maximum with children under 10
Priority 1Winged Victory of Samothrace — Denon Wing, first floor
SkipThe Mona Lisa room — the queue is long and the painting is smaller than children expect
The Winged Victory: The Right Start
Enter through the Pyramid and take the escalator to the Denon Wing. Turn left at the top. The Winged Victory of Samothrace is at the top of the Daru Staircase — a marble figure of Nike, goddess of victory, her wings spread, her robes caught in a wind that stopped two thousand years ago.
Children respond to the Winged Victory in a way they don't respond to paintings. It's three-dimensional. It's large — over two metres tall. It's at the top of a staircase, which means you approach it gradually, and the scale reveals itself slowly. The headlessness, which adults sometimes find disturbing, children find fascinating. Where did the head go? Nobody knows for certain. This is a satisfying answer for a child.
Spend fifteen minutes here. Let them walk around it. Let them look at it from below, from the side, from the back. The back of the Winged Victory is as beautiful as the front.
"The headlessness, which adults sometimes find disturbing, children find fascinating. Where did the head go? Nobody knows for certain."
Just Gerald Says
LocationDenon Wing, top of the Daru Staircase
Time to spend15–20 minutes — walk all the way around it
What to tell themShe was found in pieces on a Greek island in 1863. The head has never been found.
The Egyptian Antiquities: The Mummies
Children love mummies. This is a universal constant. The Louvre's Egyptian Antiquities collection is one of the finest outside Cairo, and it includes several mummies in various states of preservation, sarcophagi with painted faces, canopic jars, and the full apparatus of ancient Egyptian death ritual.
The collection is in the Sully Wing, on the ground floor. It's less crowded than the Denon Wing. The lighting is lower and more atmospheric. Children who were bored by the prospect of a museum will become immediately engaged when they understand that there are actual preserved human bodies in the next room.
The sphinx in Room 12 — a pink granite sphinx from the reign of Amenhotep III — is the best single object in the Egyptian collection for children. It's large, it's strange, and it has a face that looks like it's about to say something.
"Children who were bored by the prospect of a museum will become immediately engaged when they understand that there are actual preserved human bodies in the next room."
Most visitors to the Louvre never go to the lower ground floor of the Sully Wing. This is a mistake, especially with children. The medieval moat — the remains of the original 12th-century fortress that stood on this site before the palace was built — is one of the most extraordinary spaces in Paris.
You descend into the foundations of the building and walk along the base of walls that were built in 1190. The stone is rough. The space is cool and dark. Above you, invisible, are 35,000 works of art and several million tourists. Down here, it's just the walls of a medieval fortress and the sound of your footsteps.
Children find this space genuinely exciting in a way that no painting can match. It's a castle. It's underground. It's real.
"It's a castle. It's underground. It's real. Children find this space genuinely exciting in a way that no painting can match."
NoteOften quiet — one of the least-visited areas of the museum
The Practical Stuff
Children under 18 enter the Louvre for free. This is not a special promotion. It is the permanent policy of the French national museums. Adults pay €22. Book tickets online in advance — the queue for tickets at the door can be over an hour.
The Louvre has a dedicated family entrance on the Allée du Grand Louvre, which bypasses the main Pyramid queue. Use it. There are baby-changing facilities near the main entrance and in the Richelieu Wing. Pushchairs are permitted throughout the museum.
The museum café in the Denon Wing is acceptable for a quick snack. For anything more substantial, leave the museum and go to Angelina.
Just Gerald Says
Under-18 entryFree — permanent policy, not a promotion
Adult ticket€22 — book online to avoid queues
Family entranceAllée du Grand Louvre — bypasses the main Pyramid queue
PushchairsPermitted throughout
The Verdict
Two hours, three things, leave before anyone is miserable. The Louvre with children is not a compromise. It's a different kind of triumph.
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ISSUE 9
SALON DE THÉ · RUE DE RIVOLI, PARIS 1ER
Angelina
"The hot chocolate is not optional."
The thickest hot chocolate in Paris. Children will remember it for life.
Angelina: The Hot Chocolate That Has Been Worth It Since 1903
The most famous hot chocolate in Paris, at the most famous tearoom on the Rue de Rivoli. With children, it is non-negotiable.
Angelina opened at 226 Rue de Rivoli in 1903. It has been serving its L'Africain hot chocolate — a thick, dark, almost solid preparation served in a small jug with a separate jug of whipped cream — ever since. Coco Chanel was a regular. Marcel Proust. The tearoom has not changed significantly in over a century. The hot chocolate has not changed at all.
The Hot Chocolate
The L'Africain is made from a blend of three African cocoas — hence the name — and the result is something that is less a drink than a food. It is thick, intensely chocolatey, and served at a temperature that requires patience before drinking. The whipped cream arrives separately. You add as much as you want. Children, given the option, add all of it.
The hot chocolate at Angelina is not the best value in Paris. A cup costs around €9. The queue to get in can be thirty minutes on a weekend. None of this matters. There are experiences that justify the cost and the wait, and this is one of them. A child who has had the Angelina hot chocolate has had something that Coco Chanel had. That's worth €9.
"A child who has had the Angelina hot chocolate has had something that Coco Chanel had. That's worth €9."
★★★★★Essential
Just Gerald Says
Address226 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris
Order thisL'Africain hot chocolate + Mont Blanc pastry if you can manage it
Price€9 for the hot chocolate
QueueUp to 30 minutes on weekends — arrive early or go on a weekday
BookingAvailable online — worth doing for weekend visits
The Mont Blanc
If the hot chocolate is the reason to go to Angelina, the Mont Blanc is the reason to stay. It's a pastry made of chestnut cream, meringue, and whipped cream — named for the Alpine peak it resembles. It is, by any measure, one of the great pastries of Paris.
Order one to share. Children will eat more of it than you expect.
★★★★★Essential
Just Gerald Says
The Mont BlancChestnut cream, meringue, whipped cream — order one to share
NoteThe pastry counter also sells individual pastries to take away — useful for the Tuileries
The Verdict
Non-negotiable. The hot chocolate, the Mont Blanc, the room. This is what Paris tastes like.
OUTDOOR6 min read
The Tuileries Garden: Paris's Greatest Children's Space
Trampolines, sailing boats, carousels, and the best ice cream in the 1st arrondissement. The Tuileries is not just a garden. It's a day out.
The Tuileries Garden runs from the Louvre to the Place de la Concorde — a formal French garden of 28 hectares, designed by André Le Nôtre in 1664 and open to the public since the Revolution. It is also, in practice, one of the great children's spaces in Europe: trampolines, a carousel, model sailing boats on the round pond, pony rides in summer, and an ice cream stand that has been in the same spot for as long as anyone can remember.
The Round Pond: Sailing Boats
The Grand Bassin Rond — the large circular pond in the centre of the garden — is where children rent wooden model sailing boats and push them across the water with long sticks. The boats are available to rent from a kiosk beside the pond for approximately €3 for thirty minutes. This is one of the oldest children's activities in Paris and one of the most satisfying.
The boats are not radio-controlled. They go where the wind takes them, which means they occasionally need to be retrieved from the far side of the pond with the stick. This is part of the experience. Children who have never sailed a model boat on the Grand Bassin Rond have missed something.
"The boats go where the wind takes them. This is part of the experience."
★★★★★Essential
Just Gerald Says
LocationGrand Bassin Rond, centre of the Tuileries
Rental€3 for 30 minutes — kiosk beside the pond
Best timeAfternoon — the light on the water is better and the morning crowds have thinned
The Trampolines and Carousel
The trampolines are in the eastern section of the garden, near the Louvre end. They cost approximately €3 for ten minutes and are supervised. Children who have spent two hours in a museum will spend those ten minutes in a state of pure physical joy that no amount of art can produce.
The carousel is near the Rue de Rivoli entrance. It's a traditional French carousel — horses, carriages, and the occasional exotic animal — and it costs €3 per ride. It has been in the Tuileries for decades and looks like it belongs there.
Just Gerald Says
TrampolinesEastern section, near the Louvre — €3 for 10 minutes
CarouselNear the Rue de Rivoli entrance — €3 per ride
Ice Cream
The ice cream stands in the Tuileries are not the best ice cream in Paris — that distinction belongs to Berthillon on the Île Saint-Louis — but they are the best ice cream in the Tuileries, which is where you are. The flavours are classic: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, pistachio. The cones are generous. The price is reasonable by Paris standards.
Eat it on a bench facing the Grand Bassin Rond. Watch the sailing boats. This is a good moment.
★★★★★Recommended
Just Gerald Says
LocationMultiple stands throughout the garden
NoteFor the best ice cream in Paris, go to Berthillon on the Île Saint-Louis — but that's a different day
The Verdict
The Tuileries is the best free afternoon in Paris. Sailing boats, trampolines, carousel, ice cream. In that order.
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ISSUE 9
BRASSERIE · COUR NAPOLÉON, PARIS 1ER
Café Marly
"Lunch with the Pyramid as your backdrop."
The terrace overlooks the glass pyramid. Bring the children. Order the croque.
The hotels that understand what a family actually needs — space, location, and the kind of breakfast that makes the morning easier.
The 1st arrondissement is not the cheapest place to stay in Paris. It is, however, the most convenient for the Louvre, the Tuileries, Angelina, and the Palais Royal — the four anchors of the Just Gerald family day. The hotels below are chosen for space, location, and the specific qualities that make travelling with children less stressful.
Hôtel du Louvre: The Address
The Hôtel du Louvre is at Place André Malraux, directly opposite the Comédie-Française and a four-minute walk from the Louvre Pyramid. It has been a Paris institution since 1855 — Pissarro painted the view from his room here, and the painting is in the Musée d'Orsay. The hotel has family rooms that sleep four, a breakfast that is genuinely good rather than perfunctory, and a location that puts everything within walking distance.
The rooms are not enormous by international standards, but they are well-designed and the family configurations are thoughtful. The concierge team is experienced with families and can arrange museum tickets, restaurant bookings, and the occasional babysitter.
"Pissarro painted the view from his room here. The painting is in the Musée d'Orsay."
★★★★★Essential
Just Gerald Says
AddressPlace André Malraux, 75001 Paris
Family roomsAvailable — sleep up to 4
Walk to Louvre4 minutes
Walk to Angelina6 minutes
BreakfastIncluded in most family rates — worth having in the hotel
Hôtel de Crillon: The Splurge
The Crillon is at the Place de la Concorde, at the western end of the Tuileries. It is one of the great Paris hotels — an 18th-century palace that was renovated in 2017 and reopened with a family programme that is genuinely thoughtful rather than tokenistic. The children's amenities include a dedicated kids' menu, a minibar stocked with age-appropriate snacks, and a concierge service that can arrange private Louvre tours outside opening hours.
The Crillon is expensive. It is also, for a special occasion, extraordinary. The breakfast alone — in the Les Ambassadeurs dining room, with the Place de la Concorde visible through the windows — is worth the premium.
★★★★★Essential
Just Gerald Says
Address10 Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris
Family programmeDedicated children's menu, stocked minibar, private Louvre tours
Walk to Tuileries2 minutes
NoteThis is a splurge. It is worth it for a special occasion.
The Verdict
Hôtel du Louvre for the location and the value. Hôtel de Crillon for the occasion. Both understand what families need.
BEST DAY EVER7 min read
The Best Day Ever: The Louvre With Kids
A field-tested itinerary for families with children under ten — from the first métro to the last crêpe.
This itinerary has been designed around one principle: the day should be extraordinary for the children, not just educational for the parents. Every decision — the museum strategy, the food, the afternoon in the Tuileries — is made with that principle in mind.
8:30am — Breakfast at the Hotel
Have breakfast at the hotel. This is not laziness — it's strategy. A child who has had a proper breakfast at 8:30am will last until 1pm without a crisis. A child who has had a croissant grabbed from a boulangerie at 9am will need a snack by 11am and lunch by noon. Eat properly before you leave.
9:30am — Louvre: Family Entrance
Walk to the Louvre. Use the family entrance on the Allée du Grand Louvre — it bypasses the main Pyramid queue. You have pre-booked tickets online. Children under 18 are free. You're in the building by 9:45am, before the main crowds arrive.
Go directly to the Winged Victory. Don't stop for anything else. The Winged Victory first.
Just Gerald Says
Family entranceAllée du Grand Louvre — bypasses the Pyramid queue
TicketsPre-booked online — children under 18 free, adults €22
First stopWinged Victory of Samothrace — Denon Wing, first floor
10:00am–12:00pm — The Museum
Two hours. Three things: the Winged Victory (15–20 minutes), the Egyptian Antiquities (30–40 minutes), the medieval moat (20 minutes). Leave time between each for walking, looking, and the inevitable toilet stop.
Do not attempt the Mona Lisa room. The queue is long, the painting is smaller than expected, and children who have just seen a headless marble goddess and a collection of mummies will not be impressed by a small painting behind glass.
Leave the museum by noon. Before anyone is tired. Before anyone is hungry. Before the day becomes a forced march.
Walk to 226 Rue de Rivoli. You have a booking. Sit down. Order the L'Africain hot chocolate for everyone. Order the Mont Blanc to share. Let the children add all the whipped cream. This is the correct approach.
Just Gerald Says
Address226 Rue de Rivoli
OrderL'Africain hot chocolate + Mont Blanc to share
BookingYou made this yesterday. If you didn't, arrive before noon.
1:30pm — The Tuileries
Walk through the Tuileries entrance on the Rue de Rivoli. Go directly to the Grand Bassin Rond. Rent sailing boats. Spend thirty minutes watching them drift across the pond. Then trampolines. Then carousel. Then ice cream on a bench.
This is the afternoon. It costs approximately €15 in total for two children. It is worth considerably more than that.
Just Gerald Says
Sailing boatsGrand Bassin Rond — €3 per boat, 30 minutes
TrampolinesEastern section — €3 for 10 minutes
CarouselNear Rue de Rivoli entrance — €3 per ride
Ice creamMultiple stands — have it on a bench facing the pond
4:00pm — The Palais Royal
Walk north from the Tuileries to the Palais Royal. The gardens are quieter than the Tuileries and the arcades — the covered walkways that surround the garden — are full of small, interesting shops: toy shops, stamp dealers, antique print sellers, a shop that sells nothing but tin soldiers. Children who are tired of walking will revive immediately when they see the toy shops.
The Daniel Buren columns in the courtyard — the black-and-white striped columns of varying heights that fill the main courtyard — are one of the most photographed public art installations in Paris. Children use them as an obstacle course. This is the correct use.
Just Gerald Says
LocationPlace du Palais Royal, 75001 Paris
Don't missThe arcades — toy shops, antique prints, tin soldiers
The Buren columnsMain courtyard — children will climb on them. This is fine.
6:30pm — Dinner: Le Fumoir
Le Fumoir is at 6 Rue de l'Amiral de Coligny, directly opposite the Louvre's eastern facade. It's a brasserie-bar with a menu that works for both adults and children — steak frites, roast chicken, good salads, and a children's menu that is a real menu rather than a list of things children will tolerate. The room is warm, the service is efficient, and the location means you can see the Louvre lit up through the window as the evening begins.
Book ahead for dinner. Le Fumoir is popular and the evening service fills up.
"You can see the Louvre lit up through the window as the evening begins."
★★★★★Recommended
Just Gerald Says
Address6 Rue de l'Amiral de Coligny, 75001 Paris
Children's menuYes — a real one
BookingEssential for dinner
ViewThe Louvre's eastern facade, lit up in the evening
8:30pm — The Last Crêpe
After dinner, walk to the crêpe stand on the Rue de Rivoli. Order a crêpe au sucre — sugar and butter, nothing else. Eat it walking back to the hotel.
The children will be asleep before you reach the lift. You will have given them a day in Paris that they will remember when they are old enough to understand what they saw. That's the point. That's always been the point.
The Verdict
Paris with children is not a compromise. Done right, it's one of the best days you'll ever have.
Two paths through Best Days Ever: The Louvre With Kids. Every decision already made. Choose your day.
Solo / Couple
8:30am
Wake Up Right
Hôtel du Louvre — Place André Malraux, Paris 1er
Directly opposite the Palais Royal, a five-minute walk from the Louvre pyramid. The breakfast room is exceptional — proper French breakfast, excellent coffee.
Gerald says: Book a room facing the Palais Royal. The view at dawn is the best free thing in Paris.
9:00am
First Coffee
Café Verlet — 256 Rue Saint-Honoré, Paris 1er
Paris's oldest coffee roaster, open since 1880. The espresso is exceptional. The room is unchanged since the 1950s — dark wood, marble counters, the smell of roasting coffee.
Gerald says: Stand at the counter. The seated service is slower and the counter is where the regulars are.
9:30am
The Louvre — Early Entry
Musée du Louvre — Rue de Rivoli, Paris 1er
Book the first entry slot — 9am. The Louvre before 11am is a different museum. The Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo, the Vermeer rooms — all accessible without the afternoon crowds.
Gerald says: Enter through the Richelieu wing, not the pyramid. The queues are shorter and the first rooms are extraordinary.
1:00pm
Lunch
Verjus — 52 Rue de Richelieu, Paris 1er
The best wine bar lunch in Paris. American-owned, French-sourced, and with a natural wine list that changes daily. The lunch menu is three courses for a fixed price.
Gerald says: Book ahead. Verjus does not take walk-ins at lunch.
3:00pm
The Palais Royal
Jardins du Palais Royal — Place du Palais Royal, Paris 1er
The most beautiful garden in Paris. The arcades surrounding the garden contain some of the finest small shops in the city — Didier Ludot's vintage couture, the Comédie-Française.
Gerald says: The Buren columns in the courtyard are a permanent installation. Children climb on them. This is encouraged.
6:00pm
Sundowners
Bar Hemingway — Ritz Paris — 15 Place Vendôme, Paris 1er
The most legendary bar in Paris. Colin Field has been the head bartender since 1994. Order a Clean Dirty Martini or ask Colin what he recommends.
Gerald says: Dress appropriately. The Ritz has a dress code and the Bar Hemingway enforces it. A jacket is required for men.
8:30pm
Dinner
Loulou — 107 Rue de Rivoli, Paris 1er
The restaurant inside the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, with a terrace facing the Tuileries. Italian-influenced, beautifully designed. The tagliatelle with black truffle is the correct order.
Gerald says: Book the terrace table. The view of the Tuileries at night, with the Eiffel Tower visible in the distance, is the best dinner view in Paris.