Traveling to Paris with kids? Here's an insider guide for what to do and where to go, tested by us and proven to be kid-friendly and cool.
Le Petit Bazar
In an arrondissement far, far away from my usual stomping ground, I stumbled upon a great little place: Le Petit Bazar.
It’s a shop, a tea room, a space for ateliers and courses — a concept dreamed up by two friends… These girls decided to change careers and dedicate themselves to something both were passionate about: an organic, healthy lifestyle and all things kid related. Together they started le Petit Bazar about 18 months ago and it has been a great success story so far. Most of the clothes on sale are organic and/or fair trade and also very lovely. There is a great selection of toys on offer and also some vintage kids furniture. To top it all off, you can sit down for a cup of tea and let your little one roam the premises.
It is such a fab idea to unite a kids concept shop with a tea room and a space from which you can run ateliers. I do hope they open some more Petit Bazars all over Paris! (more…)
Brocantes Popincourt
Just around the corner from me is a little collection of about 8-10 little brocantes shops which, surprisingly, not that many people know about… and they are fabulous. I think about 90 per cent of all the furniture I have bought in recent years comes from there. Each shop is owned by someone different, with its own distinctive style and they have beautiful French names: La Garçonnière, La Maison, La Chose, Alasinglinglin, Belle Lurette…
Some shops specialise in ’70s furniture, others have everything from 18th century to contemporary pieces. Some specialise in mirrors and wall hangings, other have big wooden tables from old French farm houses. It is also a great place to pick up vintage crystal champagne coupes or old fashioned porcelain. If you love vintage furniture you are almost certain to find a gem in these places. (more…)
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Rue Keller
If you are ever in the 11th arrondissement in Paris, rue Keller is a great street to visit for a little bit of off-the-beaten-track retail therapy. is lined with loads of cute autonomous boutiques, reasonably priced lively restaurants and bars, and little art galleries.
Anne Willi, the adult and children’s clothes designer, has her flagship on rue Keller. I especially love her kid’s collection. Her designs are not classically French — they have a very northern European feel to them, and every item is intelligently designed and crafted.
Another little shop I love is the design shop Lou Lou Addict. It is one of these shops were the owner has fantastic taste and has chosen each piece on display for good reason. (Even if you cannot make it over to rue Keller check out the Lou Lou Addict online shop.)
Dorothy’s Gallery is a great little art gallery which at the moment has a very topical exhibition on: an exhibition all about Obama in Paris!
And another one of my fav’s is Klok — a maternity and baby shop. They have wonderfully high-end maternity wear, and cute baby and toddler clothes. They are not exactly cheap but the maternity clothes are especially very well designed. They stock furniture like the Leander cradle and bed and beautiful baby bags and accessories.
- Emilie
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Petit Pan
Wandering the streets of Paris, on my never ending quest to find fun and stylish kids’ clothes, accessories and furniture, I stumbled across Petit Pan. Petit Pan specializes in vintage furniture and old-style fabrics which have been out of print for generations. Their articles are produced in China by ethical companies using traditional methods, so there is a very strong Asian influence on their products. My daughter absolutely loves the animal kites, and I absolutely love the bed linen and bedroom bits and bobs.
I have also fallen for their new shop which sells sheets of delicately printed paper and fabric (all in their unique, colorful style). I want to buy all of it and just have it in case I may need it sometime in the far away future…..
The Petit Pan shops are in the centre of Paris, but their products are stocked all over the world and you can also browse their online boutique!
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