Lady’s Guide to a Mother-Daughter Trip to Paris

Today I want to share my guide to taking a mother-daughter trip to Paris, France. The French capital is a great place for a girls’ getaway, and I couldn’t wait to take my mom to the City of Light.

Mother-Daughter Trip to Paris

Before I tell you about our mother-daughter trip to Paris, I have a confession to make. I’m an in-flight magazine junkie. High Life. American Way. You name it, I read it.

But the Eurostar on-board magazine just might be my favorite. Why? Because it really only covers a few destinations, and I’m always going to one of them.

Paris, for example. Last week my mom came for a visit. She hadn’t been to France since I worked there years ago, so we planned a mother-daughter trip to Paris for two days.

We got on the Eurostar on Wednesday morning and I immediately picked up a copy of Metropolitan magazine.

I soon found myself falling prey to their articles marketing the less-touristy parts of Paris, the up-and-coming neighborhoods, and the new restaurants.

This time the magazine featured the trendy area around Canal Saint-Martin, an off-the-beaten-path neighborhood near Gare du Nord. I was sold.

Canal Saint-Martin

Our train arrived in the late morning, and we started our mother-daughter trip to Paris by covering the short stint from the station to the canal on foot.

It was a beautiful day, and as we walked we passed a huge garden full of pink hollyhocks and red zinnias.

Once at the Canal Saint-Martin we found ourselves in front of a trifecta of my favorite boutique in Paris: Antoine et Lili.

Their home store sat next to their children’s store, which was adjacent to their women’s store. Walking into the home store, the first thing my mother and I saw was a teapot.

But it wasn’t just any teapot. It was a plastic teapot just like the ones I saw in Bamako. It was selling for 9 euros, which was a whole lot more than it would have cost in Mali.

When I saw the window display was full of them, I felt stupid for not bringing some back from Africa.

Moving on, my mother and I explored the women’s shop. Paris is the only place in the world where my normal aversion to shopping melts away and my inner fashionista comes out.

After I tried on the entire store, my mom bought me a beautiful black silk dress with red flowers. We later returned to get another dress, this one all black. So far this mother-daughter trip to Paris was going very well for me.

Shopping complete, we grabbed a quick coffee at the nearby Les Enfants Perdus. The caffeine fix was just what we needed to propel us down the Canal Saint-Martin, which was lovely.

Lined with cafes, bistros, and boutiques, it sat peacefully under bridges and trees, alongside playgrounds and Velib’s.

At the end of the canal was a beautiful park. We walked through it before heading to the metro at Republique. Our mother-daughter trip to Paris was about to continue with a ladies’ lunch.

Mother-Daughter Lunch in Paris

I noticed on my last trip to Paris that I’ve fallen into a bit of a routine, so I wanted to mix things up a bit. But just a little bit.

Instead of going to my favorite cafe in Paris for breakfast, I wanted to try it for lunch. There was only one problem with that: they were already closed for August.

No matter. A friend had long ago recommended Da Rosa on Rue de Seine on the Left Bank. A short walk from my favorite cafe, Da Rosa proved an excellent choice.

My prosciutto sandwich and my mother’s giant salad were so good we were sad to finish them. But we cheered ourselves up with some delicious gelato at Grom across the street.

Hotel in Paris

Full of food and tired of carrying heavy bags, we continued our mother-daughter trip to Paris by heading to our hotel, the Pullman Paris Montparnasse. It was in a good area to stay in Paris, and our room had great views.

Marais

We settled in, then left the hotel to go to the Marais. It’s one of my favorite neighborhoods in Paris.

With no agenda, we strolled through the Place des Vosges, down the Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, and along Rue du Bourg Tibourg until we reached the Hotel de Ville, a great Paris landmark.

Mother-Daughter Dinner in Paris

Dinner that night was at L’Epi Dupin in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. By the time we arrived we were exhausted and hungry.

It made us all the more thankful to enjoy a meal of goat cheese salad, cod, and pineapple-and-raspberry sorbet.

Montparnasse

The next day our mother-daughter trip to Paris continued with more walking. Starting at the hotel, we turned onto the wide Boulevard du Montparnasse and stopped at Le Select.

At 4.50 euro for a cafe au lait, it was a pricey way to visit one of Hemmingway’s haunts. Still, we had fun channeling our inner writers as we took in the surroundings from an outdoor table.

Jardin du Luxembourg

Moving on, we continued our mother-daughter trip to Paris with a walk through the Jardin du Luxembourg. In keeping with my attempts to do things differently on this trip, we entered from the south and exited to the north.

It was a small change, but it was the only one I was prepared to make for such a beautiful place.

Lunch in Paris

When we left the gardens we headed up towards the Seine. A friend had recommended a restaurant near Saint-Michel called L’Epigramme.

We sat down for an amazing mother-daughter lunch of goat cheese with vegetables followed by steak and sea bass. The fact that my stomach was bursting after the first two courses was the only thing that held me back from getting dessert.

Mother-Daughter Shopping in Paris

After lunch we continued our mother-daughter trip to Paris at the Grands Magasins. My mother was excited to take advantage of the soldes, or annual summer sales, at Galeries Lafayette.

She got herself a pair of shoes and a warm sweater that will be perfect for summer in San Francisco.

Mother-Daughter Tea in Paris

From there we walked down to the Madelene, then down Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore to the Place Vendome. Our final stop was Angelina.

Instead of my usual afternoon tea at Mariage Freres or Laduree, I jumped at a friend’s recommendation to introduce my chocoholic mother to Angelina’s famous hot chocolate and Mont Blanc pastries.

Both were excellent, but we found ourselves on sugar overload afterwards.

Walk on the Right Bank in Paris

To walk off the food coma, we headed up to the Arc de Triomphe and walked back down to the Place de la Concorde on the Right Bank.

We then went through the Tuieries to the Louvre and along the Paris Plage beach to the Ile de la Cite.

Mother-Daughter Trip to Paris

Too tired to walk any farther and too full to want dinner, we took the metro back to our hotel, picked up our bags, and headed to Gare du Nord.

At the station we enjoyed some wine in the Eurostar lounge and bought sandwiches at Paul to eat on the train.

The way home was a disaster of a train ride, with screaming 10-year-olds five rows away making me crazy despite my noise-canceling headphones. I picked up the Eurostar magazine to try to distract myself, but had no luck.

It made me glad the next time I travel to the City of Light I’ll be flying business class on the A380 to Paris. It’ll provide another change from my usual routine and another in-flight magazine.

Hopefully I’ll get some peace and some new ideas for another mother-daughter trip to Paris.

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