Paris with Kids: Eiffel Tower, Art Museums, and Sacré-Cœur

We had family in town for a few weeks in June. It was so nice to see everyone and we actually got to see some more touristy things in the city that we hadn't made time to see before. 

Since we live close, we did these different activities over two days, but it could easily be condensed into one. 

We spent one day checking out the Eiffel Tower and then from there, we walked along the Seine River to Musee d'Orsay and Musee de l'Orangerie. 

We used http://www.parkingsdeparis.com/ to reserve parking in a garage near the Eiffel Tower and it was fantastic! It was way cheaper and prepaid and we knew exactly where we were going ahead of time.

Eiffel Tower
We've walked around the Eiffel Tower many times but had never made the trip up it before. My brother and I decided we would like to, so we stood in line and then walked up almost 700 steps to the second floor (there are also elevators, but the wait time is way longer and plus a little exercise is good, right?). The view was well worth all the stairs!

Buying our tickets ahead of time online would have definitely saved us some time, but it ended up being okay.

My brother on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower with the city of Paris behind him

While we were climbing hundreds of stairs, my husband and stepdad took our girls on the carousal out in front of the Eiffel Tower. They of course loved it. :) They had also wanted to take them over to the playground, but it was unfortunately closed due to the football tournament going on at the moment.

That view!

Musée d'Orsay

From the tower, we then headed along the river towards the art museums. We bought our tickets ahead of time online and were able to get a discount ticket for the two art museums, which was awesome.

On the way, we grabbed some quick sandwiches to go and then unfortunately got rained on quite a bit between the cafe and the museum. But as Audrey Hepburn once said, "That's when Paris smells it's sweetest". It wouldn't be a true trip to Paris without a bit of rain. ;)

My favorite Van Gogh at the museum

Our little girl was so excited to find Van Gogh's self portrait

The museum was fantastic. We had a great time seeing Van Gogh, Monet, and many others' beautiful art. Beforehand, we had showed our toddler different pictures of the art that we would see there so she could be looking for it when we walked around. We had already visited Monet's Gardens last summer, so we focused a bit more on Van Gogh. She was so excited to see his "swirly" art and even drew a few of her own "swirly" pictures beforehand.

These two did so great all day long.

Musée de l'Orangerie
This museum was located just across the river from d'Orsay so it was a short walk over. It does not allow strollers, but does have a spot where strollers can be checked. Our toddler fell asleep on the way over so instead, my husband and I just took turns in the museum while the other waited in the front room with our sleeping little one and stroller.

If you only have time to see one thing in l'Orangerie, go see Monet's giant canvases of water lilies. They're spectacular and breathtaking and you won't regret it. The museum has two circular rooms set up with his different canvases wrapped around the walls. I took our youngest in first and both her and I loved it. She loved walking up to the paintings and just pointing at all the colors before running over to the next canvas to see what she could find.

There are other famous art downstairs that's also definitely worth seeing too if you have the time, but Monet's water lilies were by far my favorite.

I love this picture so much

Sacré-Cœur

On a separate afternoon, we visited the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur. It's in a different part of Paris, so plan accordingly if you want to visit it.

We drove and did nearby street parking. Then we climbed a bunch of stairs until we got to the foot of the church.

The basilica is beautiful and has an incredible view of the city from it's steps. We enjoyed walking through the church and the surrounding area.

Both of our days in Paris were great. It was wonderful spending time with family and also exploring our beautiful city.

Checking out the view