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Explore great art, monuments, parks, and cuisine through the curious eyes of young children in Paris, France.

A family travel professional acknowledges the appeal of Paris, the "City of Light," as an ideal city for adults. It is full of great art, great architecture, and great food - none of which rates particularly high with children. On the other hand, it is an exciting city, full of little charms that do appeal to children. It is a city of fountains, of light, of grand boulevards and tiny alleys, of parks and playgrounds, of markets filled with birds and bric-a-brac - it is a home for real people and your children can help draw you into this world. There are so many obvious sights famed throughout the world that we will not discuss them in depth, but will focus on the aspects of the city that will be of particular interest to families traveling together.

Great Art

Any visitor to Paris will want to see at least some of the fabulous art that the city has to offer. If you hope to see these major works it is helpful to take a compromising approach with your children. You can offer them a deal - "Two hours in a museum for me and you get two hours in a park, a playground, etc." The Louvre (75058 Paris cedex 01, 01 40 205177) will quickly overwhelm a child - as it will an adult - and you will have to narrow your ambitions in this massive collection if you hope to keep your child happy.

The new glass pyramid entrance changes the approach to the museum, however, it does not speed up the process and in summer one often will find lines snaking for hundreds of yards approaching the ticket booth. For this reason it may be worth your while to purchase a Carte Intermusées, available at major Metro stations and museums. The card allows admission to all major monuments and museums and though the saving is not huge it allows one to skip the wait and go to the front of the line. Once inside, a brief trip to the gift shop to purchase post cards will allow your children to find some pieces that appeal to them. From there you can go to the galleries and search for the works that they have shown interest in.

The Mona Lisa is an obvious must if only to prompt the discussion of "Why is this the most famous painting in the world?" The huge 19th century canvasses of Delacroix, David and Ingres generally appeal to children with their dramatic emotions and easily accessible themes. The redesign of the museum has more than doubled the gallery space and exposed the foundations of the medieval palace of the French kings. An underground complex of museum shops and stores provides a cool respite from the museum itself and contains an excellent and economical "Food court" for dining - French and a variety of ethnic fast foods.

Immediately outside the Louvre there are the Tuileries Gardens (Rue de Rivol between the Carrousel du Louvre and the place de la Concorde). This site of a former palace is a typical French park. It stretches from the newly cleaned and re-gilded Carousel Arch to the Concorde Square. Be sure to notice the alignment of the city through these monuments on to the Arc de Triomphe and finally to the gigantic, modern Grande Arc of La Defense, a classic example of urban planning. The Tuileries contain a small playground with a carousel and pony rides. Every summer there is a carnival with rides, games, etc. set up in the gardens. This generally includes an immense ferris wheel with views out over the entire city from the top. Near the Concorde end there is a pond where children sail their small boats. There are food stands and a cafés where you can sit as your children play. All in all, it is a perfect spot for unwinding from the immensity of the Louvre.

Other art museums include the Musee d' Orsay (62, rue de Lille 75343 Cedex 07, 01 40 49 48 14) and the Pompidou/ Beauborg (Place Georges Pompidou 75004, 01 44 78 12 3 ). The former, in a newly converted railway station, has the world's greatest collection of 19th century Impressionist and Expressionist art. Older children will immediately grasp these works and enjoy them. The Pompidou Center, in the heart of old Paris, is an architectural debate in itself. Huge pipes and wires painted in bright colors surround the building. Inside is the main collection of modern art that will be sure to dumbfound most children. On the top floor of the museum is a nice café with beautiful views out over the whole city. The area is full of excitement with musicians and street performers filling the square. Immediately outside the door is the wildest fountain in the city with abstract figures and water squirting every which way - your kids will love it. The Picasso Museum (Hôtel Salé 5, rue de Thorigny 75003, 01 42 71 25 21) in the same district has a wonderful selection of his work set in a fascinating chronological display along with those of his contemporaries and friends. It is small enough to be enjoyable by children.

For more family-oriented museums try first the Science and Industry Museum (Cité des Sciences et de l'industrie 75930, 01 40 05 70 00) at Park La Villette (19th Arrondissement). This newly developed area in the Northeast part of the city is made for families. This is a new-style, hands-on museum like the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The first thing you will see is the Geode, a huge stainless steel ball, ten stories high, seemingly floating in a lake and reflecting the city about it. The main part of the museum consists of the Explora modules - four separate museums of different aspects of science with hundreds of exhibits to manipulate and explore. Everything is in French, but most of it is so graphic that it will make little difference and the museum is filled with multilingual guides. One of the best rooms is filled with Construx toys, like giant Legos, for the children to work with. There is also an Omnimax theater with a 360 degree movie screen.