Paris Trip Day 3 - Cité des Sciences et Industrie

On Friday April 3rd, we decided to split off from my parents.  They went to the Musée d'Orsay and we headed off to The Cité des Sciences et Industrie in Parc de la Villette.  After spending the day at the Louvre, I didn't want to take the kids to another art museum and my parents probably weren't that interested in seeing a science museum.

Again it was raining and cold, which was not such a big deal because we spent most of the day inside the museum.  La Cité des Sciences is actually the biggest science museum in Europe.  We have been to quite a few science museums now with our kids, and this one did not disappoint. There was definitely a lot to see, but a few of the expositions you had to pay extra for, including La Cité des Enfants which is a more hands-on interactive centre.  It looked pretty fun, but I wouldn't pay an extra €7 per child for a 1.5h session.  The regular exhibits are a lot of fun and interactive as well.  One of the highlights was going in a circular room that spins around and then trying to throw foam balls at each other.   Almost every exhibit was explained in French and English but many of the explanations are not simplified for children.  Bob and I had a hard time understanding some of the scientific concepts presented.  You can definitely learn a lot in this place.

We did pay €3 extra to see the planetarium show, which was only in French, you could go all the way back to the main desk and ask for headphones if you wanted to listen in a different language.  We didn't bother, so we watched the show on Dark Matter in French.  Even though I can understand French pretty well, I had a hard time wrapping my head around the concept of Dark Matter.  I'm sure the kids would not have understood much even if it was in English.   All I know is that the universe is very, very big and most of it is dark matter.

Unfortunately we didn't get the chance to really explore Parc de la Villette because it was raining.  We saw some really cool playgrounds there, but they were actually all closed.  A worker there said they would open on April 7th.  I'm not sure if they were closed all winter, or just for maintenance.

La Cité des Sciences was a good rainy day activity.  Plus it was the only place we visited in Paris that wasn't crowded.

Can you spot Rylan?

Cool optical illusion that makes Ciara look like a giant.

Cole found the Earth

Nathan trying to virtually fly a plane.

The Geode outside of the Science museum

Here you can see part of a playground just outside of the museum

Too bad it was closed, The kids were so excited when they saw it.

Another really unique playground in Parc la Villette.