|
Changer les couches on
Champs-Élysées
The words
sound poetic but in reality, they mean that you are changing the baby's diapers
on the Champs- Élysées.
Sometimes it seems that women of the world are on a
constant quest for a certain spot. Well, we have to help babies that
need changing learn about this important endeavor.
If it is cold outside and a Paris park bench won't do,
the task has been made easier and convenient whether you are at
Printemps,
Galeries Lafayette or at the
PointWC.
Packing the gear
Traveling with a baby can also be filled with other "what
if" scenarios. Questions such as renting a stroller, finding a baby
sitter that will come to your hotel, emergency numbers, etc. These
questions might enter your mind with your new traveling companion.
Well, pack up the diaper bag and bring the family to
Paris, the answers await you herein.
PointWC
I found
PointWC , which is located
near the avenue and metro Franklin Roosevelt and the Boulevard Champs-Élysées
in a shopping mall.
It is a lively, designer-styled public bathroom like you have never
experienced.
When you change the baby here, your cost to enter the toilets: one euro,
also allows you to borrow a padded changing mat.
While in the
children's department of
Printemps one day, I stepped off the
elevator, looked to the left and spotted mothers and babies in a
cheerful, little room full of baby furniture.
Even
Galeries Lafayette
has a nursery that is located on the 4th floor of their children's
department.
When I thought I had found them all, my visit to
le Bon Marché
turned up a simple spot on the lower level.
Finding the
changing table
PointWC has a special stall that is not only equipped with a toilet
and sink, but has a changing table and a kiddie toilet.
Eric Salles, associate director of PointWC, and his team want to make you as comfortable as if you were
visiting a friend.
And it is more comfortable and clean than your café,
department store or museum bathroom; it is more of an attraction because
it is unusually different.
Each stalls/cabines is unique. The "Kids" stall by
Laufen comes equipped with a
sink, changing table, big person's toilet and a little person's toilet,
plus the changing amenities, if necessary.
If you forgot the diaper, the dispenser has one for 1
euro.
Printemps
When you exit
the elevator on the "-1" level (sous-sol/basement level) in the
"Maison" building you will see the "l'Espace Bébé" to
your left.
Happening upon this nursery is what originally set me on
this trail to find other places that might provide a
shopping-with-a-baby dream come true.
Would you like to borrow a stroller while shopping at
Printemps? Contact the help desk (l'Espace Printemps Service) on the
same level.
The
room in
Printemps,
click on "English version" (in cooperation with the French magazine
Parents) provides
a sink, microwave oven, bottle warmer, high chairs, chair to breast feed
and a changing table.
For a free
baby
kit, go to to the information counter, "l' Espace Printemps Service" (between the Polo Ralph Lauren and Timberland stands) in the children's
department.
This service
center is a counter with chairs in front of it. If you reach the lingerie section, you have
gone too far.
Inside this kit, you will find a liter of milk, water, a
baby bib and spoon, and something for "mom or dad" to read.
Galeries
Lafayette has a baby care station that provides bottle warmers,
diapers, changing table, a cooler with drinks, etc.
Their nursery
overlooks the street, (as opposed to be within a building without
windows). It has subtle lighting and soft drinks available, but offers
no kit.
La nurserie de
Blédina
is located on the 4th floor of the main store near the baby care
department behind the
Jacadi
section.
Blédina,
the French baby food specialist, sponsors the Galeries Lafayette
nursery..
For more
information you can contact
Galeries Lafayette at the telephone number:
01 42 82 33 09.
le Bon Marché
I have found a
changing table at Bon Marché on the lower level (-1). But that is about
all it is.
Le Bon Marché
provides a toilet area with three stalls strictly for mothers to be and
mothers with children.
They have a
changing table that has a padded changing mat, paper to put on the mat,
step stools for the little ones, a water fountain and a padded chair.
This is a "bare bones" facility.
From the main
entrance take the escalator in the middle of the store. At the lower
level turn left and once past stationery, and look for the sign "les
3 hiboux" on the right. Follow the path down the stairs into
the children's department.
If you need a
ramp, it is to the left in the corner and is called "Chemin des
pousettes". The nursery is in the Burberry corner just past
Bonpoint. (By the way, I
just found out that Bonpoint has an outlet store located at 82 rue de
Grenelle in the 7th arrondissement.)
C&A
The clothing
store,
C&A on Boulevard Haussmann 49 is a
possibility for a desperate moment, especially if you need to breast
feed and are not sure of public reaction. Lucille comes through the
train station Gare Saint Lazare often and suggests C&A as a "good place
to change the baby and did the necessary in their Customer Services
area. Not that comfortable but when one is a desperate mum ! Good spot
to breast feed mainly ."
Additional
information
Babysitting and childcare
In case you want to have some more information, I thought providing names of
local babysitting companies might be helpful and also a place to rent baby
items.
A friend at
the British Embassy provided some contacts if you are looking for a
babysitter.
Allo Assistance Baby Chou: 01 43 13 33 23 . Quality Approved by
the prefecture de Police.
Home Service: 01 34 12 21 05. I have provided their English website page
for babysitting at hotels.
The following are more for those who live in the Paris region:
Au paradis
des Petits: 01 43 65 58 58. Provides a baby sitter in an hour for
Paris and in 2 hours for near sububrbs.
SOS Urgences Maman. 01 45 22 38 71. They can provide an emergency
babysitting service Monday -Friday, 7.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. (This might be
more helpful if you live in France)
A childcare
directory is on an
Anglo website that I found. The Paris childcare directory
at
Paris-anglo.com includes contact information for au pairs, nannies,
and several doctors.
The weekly
magazine l'officiel des spectacles lists several sources for "gardes
d'enfants" and the current fees:
Baby
sitting services 01 46 21 33 16 - Seven days a week, 24 hours
a day.
Etudiants
de l'Institute catholique (Students from the Catholic Institute)
21 rue d'Assas 01 44 39 60 24
Fondation
Claude-Pompidou 42 rue du Louvre, 01 40 13 75 00 (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.)
Babysitting for handicapped children.
MESSAGE Mother support group
...MESSAGE
provides a wide range of help and information services. We can help
members with choosing a doctor or a place to have their baby in Paris
and preparing for birth and breast or bottle-feeding. There is a
confidential support line that provides help with many parenting
concerns, as well as information on education options.
MESSAGE also publishes
the
ABCs of Parenting in Paris
- a practical guide for English-speaking parents living in Paris with
children. This guide covers more than 100 topics on family life in the
capital, ranging from childcare and education to using medical and
emergency services. The second
MESSAGE Cookbook, a
collection of recipes from members as well as practical culinary advice,
was published in 2003.... -- From the Message website
Emergency
numbers
On the
SOS website you will find the names of pediatric hospitals
with phone numbers and addresses.
You will also
find free emergency numbers for the the 15 for emergency doctor
(SAMU - Le Service d'Aide Médicale Urgente de Paris), doctor on call
(SOS médécins), 17 for police, 18 for the fire department (pompiers),
etc.
Traveling by train
The
TGV (high speed train) provides a "Family" space.
Near the "Family" area is a nursery equipped with a changing table and
bottle warmer.
If you have food that requires heating, contact the personnel in the
dining car to use their microwave.
Traveling by TGV with children is
available from the
Blédina website.**
The website is in French but I used the "Google" search
engine to translate the
page.
Otherwise, the link is provided below.
If you want to travel on the TGV and need a timetable, I
suggest that you visit the
SNCF Voyages website.
Although the
TGV website has lots of
information in English, the the reservation page turns into
French. Reservations can be made in English on the
SNCF website..
Addresses
PointWC - Champs-Elysées
26 Champs-Elysées (at the beginning of the Champs-Elysées)
Metro: Franklin D. Roosevelt, 75008
Telephone : 01 42 56 35 25
Email :
welcome@pointwc.com
Open : 7 days a week between 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Contact:
Eric
Salles
Printemps
Haussmann store
64, boulevard Haussmann 75009
Open: Monday to Saturday from 9:35 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Open late: Thursdays to 10 p.m.
Telephone : 01 42 82 57 87
Galeries Lafayette
Haussmann store
40, blvd Haussmann 75009
Open: Monday through Saturday : 09:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Late night opening every Thursday until 9 p.m.
Closed on Sunday
Telephone :
01 42 82 34 56
le Bon Marché
24, rue de Sèvres 75007
Open Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 7.p.m.
Thursday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Telephone 01 44 39 80 00
|
May 2008
