39Vaugirard

This three-floor, 16,000-square-foot general store near the Marais offers shopping with a conscience; all of the profits are donated to children’s charities in Madagascar. The couple behind Bonpoint children’s clothing fame have put together an irresistible array of cutting-edge design, in-house collections, vintage furniture and kitchen and tableware finds, plus fashion, lowers, a perfume bar, and a used book café. 111 Boulevard Beaumarchais.

Our friend Laila is so rafinée, with such discriminating taste. We’ve become closer friends since she and her family moved to Paris from San Francisco. As she is a French local, she has found for us several places in the neighborhood which are definitely great finds. One is a terrific gathering place for families on Sunday brunch. She found for us Le Pain Quotidien. She also had us meet at Bonpoint restaurant, which of course is housed in the Bonpoint boutique situated in the VIéme arrodissement, not too far from the Sénat, It is a welcoming place, at once sober and chic, with murals on the walls done with chalk, clearly at the hands of little artists. They serve creative Italian cuisine for the entire family. The space is underground, with plenty of space for kids to play and draw while the parents can eat and enjoy adult conversation.

It’s a great way to pass a nice afternoon with tea and snack, or for the children to enjoy the delicious house chocolate mousse or any of the goodies on the menu. The store and restaurant is housed in a grand hotel with a ample courtyard, where the large French doors are opened to the outdoors during the summer. Of course, after your respite, each of the rooms of the hotel/boutique is beautifully curated and showcases the entire Bonpoint children’s clothing and objet collection, as only the French can. 6, rue de Tournon, 76006.

I had to pick up these two books while trying to spend a Borders gift card. We’ll throw them in our bags and keep them in the Paris apartment. I don’t see anything new in them, but they do give quick ideas for an outing

First, published by Fodors, is Around Paris with Kids: 68 Great Things to Do Together. It’s a cheerful red book chock-full of ideas including old standards like the Catacombs and the Jardin d’Acclimatation. We especially like the recommendations for kid-friendly dining nearby.

Second is City Walks with Kids: Paris Adventures on Foot. This one is a boxed set of 50 cards, each with a short walk and explanation of a neighborhood. Illustrations are distinctly kid-friendly. The descriptions themselves are likely to be too detailed and serious for kids (lots of dates and data) and not deep enough for adults. This set might be more valuable to spread out on the table to involve kids in choosing what to do for the day’s outings. The included map that situates all the included sites is worthless since it is too small to include either street names or métro stops.

I searched and searched for travel books to excite a two year old kid as well as inform me as to what are best things to do when we traveled. I found these, written by Sasek in 1959! With a minimum of words and a maximum of illustrations, ‘This is Paris’ captures the magic of mankind’s capital city. ‘This is Paris’ is a delightful tour of 1950s Paris from a child’s eye view. Sasek had written ‘This is Rome’ and ‘This is London,’ in 1959, but where the heck was ‘This is Tokyo,’ and ‘This is Seoul,’ for the kid of the 21st century?!@* So this is what I’m setting out to do, in 21st century format, in blogs.

“This is Paris (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

“This is Rome (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

“This is London (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

Well, what do you know? As I’m searching for the links, I’m founding out that during the past couple of years, the publishers of Sasek book has figured out the same thing that I have, and have extended the series, using new editors, to create books for other cities, around the world. In fact, there is now, ‘This is Hong Kong!’ and Texas, for goodness sakes! As Paul always says, we’re always about two weeks ahead of the latest trend insight from NY Times!

“This is Hong Kong (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

“This Is Edinburgh (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

“This is New York (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

“This is San Francisco (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

“This Is Ireland” (M. Sasek)

“This Is Texas (This is . . .)” (Miroslav Sasek)

So I’ve been thinking about writing a series of ‘Let’s Go… to Paris, pour les enfants,’ to Tokyo, to Sydney, for now a couple of years now. Ever since Hadley was born seven years ago and I took her around the world, I saw a need. She was a sport, and is, an inveterate, world class traveler. She had trekked through about 17 countries by the time she was about two. By that time, she wanted a travel book, so she can figure out where she was going and what she could do. Also, she and I developed a little ritual, to provide her with photos and information to get her excited about the voyage she was about to undertake. And then, I started to get calls from friends and strangers who had heard about my travels with my baby to get tips about traveling to distant lands, with different systems, logic, with little kids. An idea was born.

Remember. Travel is not reward for living, but homework for living….

I remember taking her to get her passport photos when she was about a month old. My first business trip back after my maternity leave was to Toronto, Canada, and I had to figure out quickly, all of the tricks of traveling around the world with a little baby. Don’t forget, to get a passport for your kid the minute she/he is born. Better to do this when you can still hold and control them on your lap! And even more urgent, now post 9/11 with all of the new requirements for traveling abroad. Remember, all kids under 14 years of age must apply in person.