My best trip ever!  Taking my two nieces to Paris took a lot of planning, not least because of being restricted to the school holidays, plus working around their family holidays, but we finally found a date they could both do, I finally, finally tracked down a hotel that worked for us, and we were set.

Having lived in Paris and spent a lot of time there as a tourist I had a good idea of how to get around and so on, but it’s hard to predict what kids are going to enjoy.

At eleven and twelve my nieces are just about old enough to appreciate a lot of the unique things that Paris has to offer, and I think this was the perfect age to introduce them to the city, and probably just the right amount of time as it was our first trip away together.  This meant that everything was exciting from the moment I picked them up; just staying over at my flat, eating pizza in bed, working out our outfits for the trip, even getting on the Tube in the morning to St Pancras.

The Eurostar trip flew by, then it was on to the stinky RER which they were less impressed by and finally to our wonderful hotel right next to the Pantheon.  The hotel was just fantastic, absolutely perfect for two style conscious girls, and I was in heaven listening to them rave. 

When we finally left the hotel we wandered gently down the hill to Notre Dame.  We ignored the long queue and instead walked around the back where you can see much more of the building and, more importantly, where you can cross the bridge to the Ile St-Louis, famous for Berthillon ice cream.

After lunch and the first of many stops in souvenir shops, we walked down onto the quay to get the Batobus.  The journey from Notre Dame to Hotel de Ville via the Jardin des Plantes is probably the least exciting part of the round trip, but we did get to see all the different parts of the Paris Plages, which I think the kids found more exciting than most of the ancient buildings.  This is such a great way to see much of Paris and soak up the atmosphere without having to do the leg work.  It’s by far the best way to get to the Eiffel Tower as well (well, apart from a taxi!)

Then we just had time for a visit to the Louvre to see the line of arches heading up to La Defense and the pyramids (and my favourite little garden - Palais Royal) before heading out to a dinner of crepes that the kids loved, then they were more than happy to head back to our lovely hotel for a rest.

The only downside of visiting Paris in the summer (aside from the potent smell of some of the public transport) is that you have to wait such a long time for the lights to come on.  The solution - jumping in a cab for a late night tour of Paris.  Seeing the Eiffel Tower burst into sparkles from the safety of our cab was the highlight of the trip for the girls (and me) and then it was quickly back to the hotel before they fell asleep.

Unfortunately after seeing so many highlights on the first day the next day was a little slower, partly because we were trying to see some of the parts of Paris you can’t get to from the boat, and partly because they were just plain tired (and I woke them up too early!)  Even though I’ve seen so much of Paris, I found it hard to relax when there is so much more to see, but the fact is that you will never see anything and you will always run out of time in Paris.

I was hoping to take them into Sainte-Chappelle, the most beautiful church, but it has the worst queue of anywhere in Paris, so we settled for some more Berthillon ice cream instead.  Then it was into the Pont Neuf garden which sits right on the water, the Louvre and the Carrousel du Louvre, a great shopping centre with an underground upside down pyramid to compliment the above ground ones.

From there we jumped onto the metro to the Arc de Triomphe, (one tip - get off at George V rather than the official station - you have to walk about the same distance but it’s not underground and you can look in the shop windows of the Champs Elysees).  I always get a bit emotional at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and this was no exception as I tried to explain its significance to the girls. Then it was the long walk up the spiral stairs to the top of the Arc and a great view.

Next stop, Fauchon behind the Madeleine for a little lunch and a chance to try out their range of macaroons - another highlight of our trip.  Fauchon is also a great place to pick up some more gifts; from macaroons to chocolate bars, Paris is all about the food, and Fauchon is probably the most renowned delicatessen or epicerie in Paris.

Unfortunately we were running out of time and couldn’t quite squeeze in the last leg of the boat tour, instead it was over the river and on to a bus direct to the Pantheon for our journey home.

Because it was my first trip with the girls I decided to stay just the one night, just enough time to see the highlights of Paris, eat a few great meals, soak up the ambience, do a little shopping, but with such a great hotel, such a great city and above all, such great company - next time we’ll definitely go for longer!