Paris en famille!

It's not easy to escape to the Christmas markets alone so I devised a cunning plan to make a trip to Paris for the entire family. Ten year old Nicole loves shopping, hubby's new hobby is photography and football loving son Mark had said he'd love to see Paris St German play at home. So we set off on a low fare Ryanair flight to Paris Beauvais. Coach transfers from the airport to Port Maillot are not cheap at 34€ return, so we pre-booked a taxi online for convenience at an extra cost. Our hotel the Astotel Malte Opera was in a great location close to the Louvre and metros. The family room ticked all the boxes with two ensuites, a fabulous extra balcony room and two TVs. Soft drinks in the mini bar were free and it even had a random exercise bike. The breakfast included everything my crew enjoy including freshly squeezed orange juice with the bits left in.
Our first port of call was only minutes away where we paid our respects to the Mona Lisa. Nicole's appraisal of the priceless painting was, "It's much bigger than Charlotte said it was going to be!" We had beaten the queues by buying two museum passes. The Paris Pass includes transport so is a good investment too. The French love their culture and it's great to see that all museums and galleries are free for under 18s which makes it light on parents wallets. After snapping our photo at the famous glass pyramid outside, we jumped into a cab − a decadent treat with a €3 supplement for the fourth passenger but it is the quickest way to get to the Eiffel Tower. This is one landmark that's just as impressive in real life. We pre-booked lunch at 58et on stage one and this is a great way to avoid the long queues and save precious time entering by a special lift. Lunch was served via picnic baskets in ceramic dishes − a novelty for the kids. Our table looked out over the river seine with the imposing Trocedero backdrop. Dinner was delicious with mouth-watering mash and dessert consisted of a chocolate Eiffel Tower with Créme Anglais and proved a big hit.
Afterwards we strolled past the skateboarders and street entertainers that lined the steps of the Trocedero. Here the boys hopped on the metro in one direction to Parc des Princes and home of Paris St Germaine while Nicole and I went to the markets. The market on the Champs Elysées starts earlier than most of its European counterparts and runs until Jan 7th 2015. Starting a little later but lasting well into the New Year are the markets at Montmarte and Saint-Germain-des-Prés.


















The entire boulevard from Place de la Concorde could have been designed with Christmas in mind. Every tree sparkled with tiny white and blue fairy lights and as the sun went down magic filled the air with the aromas of cinnamon and mulled wine. A glass set me back €4 but even cheap French wine is good. Small wooden huts painted white and covered with synthetic snow set Nicole's eyes alight. Filled with the usual array of hand crafted soaps and jewellery she broke open her purse to buy a bauble for the Christmas tree with a hand-painted Eiffel Tower. The pink food stalls were difficult to pass wafting yummy smells of candy floss, gaufres and churros. The atmosphere was magical but very busy so I had to hold Nicole's hand tightly. It isn't easy to get lost at the markets as it runs in straight lines but our legs were aching and just in perfect time we had chosen to meet up with the boys at the Disney store.We pushed the kids to the limit by squeezing in one additional excursion after dinner. But as our metro stop was only a few metres from the Arc de Triomphe, we hiked the 284 steps and caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower sparkling − as it does for the first five minutes of every hour. The view down to the wheel of Paris with Christmas lights is possibly one of the best in Europe. After a blissful night's sleep in our oasis of peace at the Malte Opera we woke refreshed and ready for more. The Musee d'Orsay houses a great selection of impressionist paintings and the chance to see Whistler's famous portrait of his mother that the kids recognised from Mr Bean The Movie.  It was lunch time and we had a treat in store. 
The Bateaux Parisiens is the most upmarket way to take in views on the River Seine. We sat at cloth covered tables and our hostess greeted us with glasses of wine with kir and warm nuts. We browsed the menu as our barge gently pulled away from the gaze of the Eiffel Tower. The kids devoured the roast chicken and gravy while the adults ate salmon and pork belly. Desserts were more-ish and all this while we were serenaded by a live rendition of La Vie en Rose. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds as we glided past Notre Dame and the Statue of Liberty. If Carlsberg did Sunday lunches then this would be it. We had a couple of hours to spare so returned to the markets en famille before the last flight out of Beauvais. With our bags crammed and heads full of amazing memories Paris was given the thumbs up by all.












Fact BoxFor all information see Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau www.en.parisinfo.com

The Hotel Malte Opera can be booked through www.astotel.com with family rooms available

The Paris Pass/museum pass adults www.parispass.com

For a special tour of the Seine see www.bateauxparisiens.com Sunday lunch €57 pp.

The Eiffel Tour restaurant 58et on premier etage see www.restaurants-toureiffel.com to book online, picnic lunch from €21 with panoramic views of Paris.

Dublin to Paris Beauvais with Ryanair see www.ryanair.com

Venice with the Kids

There are few cities more perfect for a romantic breakaway than Venice. But does it have the X Factor for families? I recently took my husband, ten year old daughter Nicole and teenage son Mark, to find out.

If you are coming from the airport then your taxi or bus will more than likely stop at the Piazzale Roma. It can be a bit of a maze if you don't know where you are going as the usual modes of transport are not an option. The Vaporetti (water busses) are fun and easy to use once you've found your bearings. We decided to go for the decadent option of a water taxi to take us to our hotel. It wasn't cheap at €60 as there were four of us, but it could take up to ten passengers, which makes it a reasonable option for a group. The taxis are limited to travel on the main canals only which made the journey longer and an adventure in itself. Sitting under the cloudless Italian sky, on plush cream leather seats, we understood why George Clooney chose this city for his wedding!  

We felt like rockstars on arrival at the Boscolo Venezia hotel. The brightly striped red and white mooring posts, mark the entrance of this fine hotel which was once the French Palace. Boscolo Venezia is housed in the beautiful old mansion Palazzo Rizzo-Patarol in the residential Cannaregio district. When Venice was at the height of its power, this was the only area planted with small crops, which is why Boscolo Venezia is the only luxury hotel in Venice to have a private garden overlooking the lagoon.

Our suite was perfect for families and decorated with oriental carpets and 18th century cabinets: some of the rooms overlook the lush garden but we had a perfect view of the canal to watch the gondolas glide by. Rich in marble, Venetian stucco and chandeliers our hotel was a cultural experience in itself.

The Boscolo Venezia provides a free water taxi to take guests to St Marks Square several times a day - it also offers a tour of the Murano glass factories across the lagoon on Murano Island and all free of charge. This made a fascinating excursion for the children who got to see firsthand how the famous glass is blown and shaped.

While the usual draw of St Marks Square is a must for visitors to Venice, after we peeked in to see the awesome interior of St Mark's Cathedral and Nicole had her photograph taken on one of the famous lions outside, the kids asked to go back to the quieter district where our hotel was situated. We battled our way past the crowds at the Rialto Bridge and a sense of calm settled on us in the windier streets.

Prices fell considerably in the bars and restaurants the further we travelled from St Marks. Once we were settled back in the residential quarter, we took time to wander through the Jewish Ghetto which had an interesting range of shops and low budget eateries. Getting lost in Venice is a wonderful way to put in the afternoon and there is always the attraction of finding new Gelaterias along the way to savour wonderful Italian ice-cream.

A water fountain providing free drinking water from a sculpted cast-iron-spout proved a great novelty and was only a few steps away from our hotel. The city promotes drinking tap water rather than using plastic bottles because of waste disposal issues.

We only had to stroll a few metres away from our hotel to find the church of Madonna del Orto which houses an original Tintoretto and allowed me to indulge in a little bit of culture without queuing or expensive entrance charges. A good alternative to churches is the natural history museum and it's only a twenty minute walk from St Marks. For kids that are agreeable to visiting art galleries the Peggy Guggenheim museum is filled with modern masterpieces that my crew loved.

There is a beauty about Venice at night that is special and we truly felt like cognescenti as we sat in a small Trattoria on the Rio Tera Lista di Spagna and ate pasta. We were provided with free wifi which is always a big hit with my kids, but watching the locals buy from the colourful fruit and vegetable stalls was more interesting for the adults.

If your kids are still in strollers then Venice may not be a good city break for you, as crowds, steps and bridges can make it difficult to get around. But if you can keep up with your kids, it's a great city to explore with a camera and give them a visual feast for their eyes that will stay with them forever.

Published in the Herald newspaper December 2014

Fact box
For more information see http://venezia.boscolohotels.com/  

Prices start at 182 Euros per night. Boscolo Venezia is part of Marriott International Autograph Collection.

Buy your ticket for the guggenheim museum at this site http://www.guggenheim-venice.it/