Malakoff Diggins: From Gold Mine to Ghost Town

Ranger Debbie at Malakoff Diggins. Photo by Frog Mom

"We were a wagon and horse town until the 1930s," said Debbie the ranger at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, in the gold town of North Bloomfield formerly known as Humbug. Little more than the Main Street buildings remains at North Bloomfield but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up in authenticity. After a morning hike of the diggins under a scorching sun, we enjoyed a tour of the town by Debbie who brought to life the 1870s gold mining days with colorful anecdotes. Without Debbie, nobody would have guessed that the saloon accepted three forms of payment for its beer and hard liquor: hard currency, gold nuggets and gold dust. Hence the scale below the mirror at old Kings Saloon. "I love tours like that," confided my 6-year old, "It's so much fun." We even had our Indiana Jones moment after Debbie told us where we could find a 600-foot long old drainage tunnel and walk through it. Now that was the highlight for our junior explorers.

The diggins. Photo by C.G.

Diggins Loop Hike
Before we discovered the town, our family hiked the 3.2 mile loop around the diggins. Not only is the old mining pit incredibly scenic in a Bryce Canyon sort of way, but it is also surrounded with pine forests on the hills and criss-crossed with willow jungles and cattail marshes at the bottom. It's a complex plant habitat that my girls enjoyed plowing through, especially in the willow "jungles."

Shortly after we started in the shaded pine forest, we noticed an unusual smell around us. It was the unmistakable scent of cooked artichoke. Puzzled we looked around and couldn't figure out what plant it could be. Finally we narrowed it down to a low lying fern whose leaves were very sticky - if not stinky, depending on who you asked.

Sierra mountain misery. Photo by C.G.

When we later showed a picture to Debbie, she was positive. "It's Sierra Mountain Misery," she said, a plant whose leaves become oily and sticky during the summer months and thus highly flammable. Combined with pine needles in dry months, they're a true fire hazard that causes headaches to forest managers. Such a tiny little thing, so inconspicuous and yet.

We went down the hills to enter the dry world of the mining pit. Known locally as "the diggins," the pit is a 300-foot pit that was created by high pressure hydraulic mining from the 1870s to the early 1900s. Originally 600 feet deep and 1.5 mile wide, it was planned to be five times as large. Winter rains filled 300-foot high of gravel and hydraulic mining stopped before the whole project could be completed.

Monitor. Photo by C.G.

Gold mining in river beds required the presence of water to wash away debris and find gold. The mine at Malakoff Diggins happened to be smack in the ancient bed of the Yuba river before the Sierras were uplifted - a dry diggins.

The river was long gone when the first gold nuggets were found in 1849 and water was diverted from the sierras to wash away the gravel beds from the hills. We found one of the water guns - also known as monitors - along our hike. Quite the beast!

Bushwhacking in willow jungles. Photo by C.G.

Standing in the sun was too hot - temps in the mid 90s - so we left the water gun and followed the yellow wooden posts marking the trail on the pit floor. Don't know if we would have found our way without them. It's a maze down there and visibility is limited because of the vegetation. It's so thick that it creates micro-environments like the willow jungle portions where our girls got a kick at pretending to hack away at the "tropical" plants. They certainly couldn't see 10 feet ahead.

Fortunately us adults could see above and never got sidetracked for long. Yes we did err here and there but in the end, we found our bearings and the way out of the pit.

Coming back to the car was a huge relief to our little ones as the heat was getting at them.

Tour of North Bloomfield

The snow wagon. Photo by C.G

Debbie the ranger was our guide, a wonderful woman who could tell you stories of 1878 like she had been there. Interestingly enough, most of the information she shared with us, the California state parks heard from Charlie Gus, a native of North Bloomfield who was born in 1878 in the heyday of the hydraulic mining, grew up to operate all the pieces of equipment, stayed after the townsfolk dwindled down to 9 families and died of old age in the village.

First thing you did when you arrived in town was hit the stables because traveling from Grass Valley took 18 hours and the horses were tired. In the stables we admired a hay press, a few freight wagons, the little buggy that served as the town's "taxi" and the snow wagon/sled that got you out of town when you were snowed in.

With 6 to 8 feet of packed snow every winter, the people of North Bloomfield spent their autumns canning, preparing, storing and making sure they'd have enough to last until spring.

The arsenal of the pharmacist. Photo by C.G.

From the stables we went on the Kings Saloon where cheating was not allowed. "This is a square house" reads the sign at the back of the narrow room where miners spent their day's wages on cheap local beer in glass bottles or more expensive imported beer in ceramic bottles. We sat around round tables with decks of cards invited a poker game or two but sadly we didn't have time for that. On to the pharmacy, the jewel of the park

Set up in 1874 by a dentist turned pharmacist called Adrian Smith, the pharmacy smells of saw dust and metal and its neat shelves are lined with bottles of herbal elixirs, medicines, potions and dried shrooms. For the kids, the real draw lies in the kiddie corner where Mr Smith sold books, toys and sheet music.

The town's general store. Photo by Frog Mom

Inside the general store, the kids had a blast identifying all sorts of heavy crank-up or wheel-operated machines, as well as spotting each single item hanging from the pale green ceiling. The metal bath tubs had their share of success, as well as the striped socks display and the old typing machine i the back of the store.

We finished the tour by a visit of a private residence, the house of Rush Dix Skidmore, a German baker turned saloon operator, stables owner and philanthropist. He was the proud father to two boys and three girls who were the best dressed in school. Check out the pleat maker in the kitchen and empathize with their poor mother who sweated hours away on her girls skirts before sending them off to school. That concluded our tour but before we left, we stopped at the visitor center to enquire about the Hiller Tunnel.

Going in Hiller Tunnel. Photo by Frog Mom

Hiller Tunnel
During our morning hike, we found the crumbled entrance to the Hiller Tunnel from the Diggins Trail but didn't go further than a few feet in - not knowing the condition of the tunnel. In the afternoon, Debbie confirmed that we could walk the whole length of the 600-foot long tunnel and that it was easy to access from the road. "Make sure you wear proper walking shoes," added Debbie, "It's very slippery in there with the water draining from the creek." We didn't need more to get us going and 15 minutes later, we were in front of the tunnel entrance with walking poles and headlamps. Drip, drop, water dribbled from the ceiling and stalactites were forming overhead. My husband and I couldn't help humming the Indiana Jones theme because hey, it's a pitch dark tunnel and for all we know there might be bats and hidden treasures!

Hiller Tunnel. Photo by C.G.

"That's adventure," kept repeating our two girls. Yes, real adventure, especially where we lost sight of the day's light in the tunnel. What a perfect ending to Malakoff Diggins. When you explore the tunnel, don't forget that tunnels are cold (wear an extra layer), this one is wet throughout (waterproof shoes better) and good flashlights or headlamps are compulsory.

One last note: you should know that Malakoff Diggins is on the list of state parks to be closed. The rangers forecast that a caretaker will take up residence in the town but nobody will be able to access the buildings, not even the thousands of school kids who enjoyed a day of living history for their California studies every year. Before you go, call and check the status. The gold mine town that was never a ghost town is about to become one.

Practical details

• Getting there: Malakoff Diggins is 26 miles north east of Nevada City, 3.5 hours drive from San Francisco.
• Directions: this page has everything to get you there, summer and winter.
• Contact info: phone: (530) 265-2740 email: malakoff@parks.ca.gov
• Lodging: the park operates a campground a cabins but if they are closed, the closest lodging is in Nevada City. Plenty of hotels and motels, as well as vacation rentals through vrbo.com or airbnb.com.
• Eating: bring your own everything! There are no food outlets in North Bloomfield - you might starve. Stock up in Nevada City before you go. Back in Nevada City, the kids will love you if you offer them frozen yogurt at Crazy Cow Yogurt or hand-made ice cream at Treats. For more hearty and savory fare, Sopa Thai Cuisine has good Thai food but slow service (moderate), New Moon Cafe offers new Californian cuisine (expensive), Ike's Quarter Cafe has an outside patio where you can eat burgers and sandwiches (budget), and Las Katarinas serves no-thrills Mexican food in funky little booths (budget).

Welcome to the Storybook World of Versailles

The Queen's Hamlet. Photo by Frog Mom

Was Marie-Antoinette the first celebrity mom to implement the farm-to-table concept? While the Château de Versailles is better known for the glitzy Hall of Mirrors or the imposing King's bedchamber, the northern end of the park conceals a hamlet of thatched-roof cottages surrounded by vegetable gardens where the queen's farm supplied veggies and dairy products to the royal children. Savagely destroyed during the French Revolution, the Queen's Hamlet has been slowly massaged back to health and is now a hot spot on the Versailles circuit.

Marie-Antoinette. Chateau de Versailles

After a long day of shopping in Paris, I took the car and did my girls a favor by taking them to this enchanting world where ducks, pond carps and baby goats are now resident royalty. Despite the imposing lines at the front of the castle, this hamlet was near empty and provided a much appreciated breath of fresh air. The best part? We rented a small electric car to get to the hamlet from the castle.

Inspired by the village at the Château de Chantilly, Marie-Antoinette asked Louis XVI if a country escape could be built for her children. From 1783 to 1785, architects and small hands were hard at work, digging a lake, planting vineyards, building a fully functional dairy farm. Of the 12 cottages that rose from the ground to house and entertain the queen and her entourage, only 9 remain today.

Vroom vroom. Photo by Frog Tadpole

Though 12 seems like a small number for a castle as big as Versailles, the hamlet was never meant to be the court's country club - much on the contrary. You strolled the alleys of this village by invitation only and it had to come from the queen. So there. What you see today is an exclusive country getaway, one that was meant to be shared with family and friends and whose happy hours lasted only four years.

We rented our electric car in front of the castle and my girls giggled as we made our way down the wide alleys, around fountains and along cobblestone roads to the Petit Trianon. The little car is so silent and slow it was like an oversize toy - definitely a plus for kids. We parked at the Petit Trianon, exited to the garden and followed gravel paths along a creek. Soon the first buildings emerged between the green foliage of the historic garden.

"Girls, check this out!" I yelled. Surrounded by the storybook cottages, the lake is a lovely sight. My mom sat on a bench and we tried to figure what the building behind us was.

The Mill - Le Moulin. Photo by Frog Mom

"It was the mill," a man replied. I looked at him. Dressed elegantly, he talked behind an uneven row of crooked teeth. "Come, I'll show you" he added. Turns out he was one of the castle's guides.

With a name like that and a water wheel, I figured the mill must have been used to grind grain day in day out. Not so. Ironically the Mill was a house whose rural attributes were purely decorative. "Everything's ruined inside," said the man, "It's not even safe to go in." Too bad, a peek would have been nice.

The Queen's House. Photo by Frog Mom

The queen's house with an elevated walkway and a billiard room was the masterpiece of the hamlet. Lavishly furnished, it featured a dining room on the ground floor, a guard room, a game room and a parlor upstairs. "We even hosted a small private party here last week," confided the man, showing a wooden door. A private party at the Queen's hamlet? Wild images popped in my head, dancing on the soundtrack of Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antoinette movie. Wow! I wanted to know more but the man politely changed topics to talk about the condition of the buildings.

Spiral staircase of the Queen's House. Photo by Frog Mom 

Though the Queen's Hamlet has been an integral part of Versailles since 1784, it was abandoned after the French Revolution and restored 3 times before opening to the public in 2006. Yes, a few centuries of time out will leave a building pretty depressed. The spiral staircase of the Queen's House looked strikingly fragile. "It's broken," observed my 6-year old. "They should take better care of it."

Sweetie pie, if you only knew. They are taking good care of the buildings but they'll need more piggy banks to save it from further degradation. "You see the low walls in the garden over there?" asked the man, "they trace the footprint of the destroyed cottages. The plan is to rebuild them." Aw, that's good news.

The Dove House. Photo by Frog Mom

We arrived in front of a darling house with a creeping wisteria surrounded by a sea of greenery, cabbages, chards and beets. "This was the dove house," he explained. Literally this building is where Marie-Antoinette kept chickens, pigeons, roosters and doves. Nowadays, it would be an upscale chicken coop. Oh the sweet life of a feathered breast!

We kept going and the man asked, "Have your daughters seen the farm?" When I said no, he urged me to go now. "It's now an educational farm for the city's school children. On the way, peek inside the milking barn. It's still furnished." I knew I must not keep the man captive so I thanked him for the tour and we headed for the farm.

Inside the milking barn. Photo by Frog Mom

Next to the Marlborough Tower stood the milking barn. Well, barn, you see what I mean. This is Versailles, not Kansas. The only piece of furniture I saw was a big white marble table. Technically, milk was not pasteurized and treated in this barn but in a neighboring building that has since been destroyed.

The existing milk barn was a tasting room where the queen and her children enjoyed fresh milk out of white china pitchers and cups. Though the original marble table was smashed during the revolution, this faithful replica was rebuilt under orders of Napoleon. What a fantastic table! I want Pottery Barn to make one for me.

Happy goats. Photo by Frog Mom

Beyond a patch of vineyards and a green tunnel, we reached the farm. Big fat rabbits hopped in the underbrush, safely sticking close to their wooden pens. Inside the farm yard, my 6-year old squealed, "A piggy!" A plump pink pig was slouched on a comfy bed of straw. My 7-year old ran to pet a donkey. The old man was right, this is where kids belonged.

More animals grazed peacefully, such as these goats, cows and a couple of horses. There's definitely something to be said about being a school kid in Versailles! Not that the Hayes Valley farm isn't cool, but this is another world.

The pond's hungry carps. Photo by Frog Mom

After a little roaming around, we came back to the lake and saw the same man glancing over someone's shoulders under a bridge. We got closer. "What's going on?" I asked. He grumbled. "It hasn't rained enough this year." He showed the water lilies. "The lake's level is low, the lilies have taken over the lake and the fish have multiplied." He shook his head. "Eeew!" said my girls. True, the sight of so many gaping carp mouths was a tad gross.

"We want to go back to the electric car!" said the girls. I looked at my watch. Oops, time to come back home. "Let's go girls!"

The Grand Canal. Photo by Frog Mom

We found my mom on the same bench, gazing quietly at the lake. "How was it?" she asked. It was so nice. I'm glad I waited an hour in line to rent this damn electric car. It was well worth the wait. We hopped back in the car and came back to the castle, admiring the sun glow on the grand canal where visitors rowed their boats. Summertime, and the living is easy in Versailles.

Practical Details

• Best time to visit: any day but Tuesday and Saturday. Tuesdays are busy because Paris' national museums are closed, and Saturday is bad because it's Saturday. By the way, Versailles is closed on Mondays, January 1st, May 1st and December 25th.
• Hours: until October 31st, 9am-6.30pm, after October 31st, 9am-5pm.
• Electric car rental: the fleet only features 27 vehicles so show up early to grab one. Phone number for info: 01 39 66 97 66.  Driver needs to be 23 years old or older and you need to show a driver's licence.
• If the electric cars are all gone: First you cry your eyes out. Then you decide to use your legs and walk through the gardens - it's good for your blood pressure. Or you decide to hop on the "electric train" - the kids should like that better than the "good for your blood pressure" argument.  
• Tickets: you don't need a ticket for the castle to visit the Queen's Hamlet. You'll need to buy a ticket for the gardens (skip the general entrance, follow the gates to the garden's entrance) and a second ticket for the combo Petit Trianon + Hameau de la Reine. If you insist, you can buy a ticket for the castle but please, please, please, do it online! The lines are depressingly long and all these people all want to get in. 
• Kids under 18 are free.
• Museum Pass: buy a 1-day, 3-day or 5-day Museum Pass and get unlimited line-free access to 70 museums and buildings around Paris, including the Chateau de Versailles, Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay and the Sainte Chapelle. Pretty sweet deal.  

Explore the Louvre Museum with Children

Egyptian mummy. Photo by Frog Mom

Can you freestyle the Louvre with kids? Hehe, maybe in the dead of winter when every Parisian's in the Alps skiing the winter away, but smack in the middle of summer you're pushing the ultimate frontier in extreme tourism. I tried it with my 6- and my 7-year-olds and guess what? They don't even resent me. The 6-year old enjoyed Flemish still lives of winter fruit while the 7-year old liked Mona Lisa. Even the über-crowded Ancient Egypt collections left a good impression on them.

Here is my experience, coupled with a few survival tips on how to skip long lines, find a restroom for emergencies and sit down for lunch at whatever hour without suffering more lines. Obviously the line factor is huge at the Louvre - some Disney execs had better enlighten the museum staff on efficient foot traffic. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Before
Before going to the Louvre, get your tickets. Kids are free so it'll be only you adult. If you wait to get there to buy your tickets, better kiss your half day goodbye. I checked the stats - the Louvre Museum is the most visited art museum in the world in the entire galaxy. Meaning - you're not alone here. I bought my ticket at a FNAC store but you can also get them online. On D-day at 10am, I held my girls' hands in the metro and followed the Louvre exit signs through the crowds vaguely muttering, "What was I thinking?"

Check the lines! Photo by Frog Mom

Getting in
Once in the underground shopping area leading to the infamous pyramid, I stumbled upon, err -  wait, was this a line to get in? I almost fainted at the gazillion people in front of us so I walked straight to an information officer. Surely, he'd help a mom with two kids?

"You have your ticket madame? You need to go upstairs to the front of the pyramid. That's where you'll find your direct access." Phew. I wiped my brow and made for the Tuileries garden, crossed the street and headed to the pyramid entrance. Finally we were getting somewhere.

Under the pyramid. Photo by Frog Mom

Family itinerary
Or were we? We descended into the main hall of the Louvre - that's the hub for all three aisles of the building. I asked another information officer if they had museum itineraries for kids. You know, the kind of fun brochure for kids with bright drawings and treasure hunts?

He blanked. I showed the kids. Here, see? 6 and 7, the young one can't read. His eyes lit up and he grabbed three brochures. Two were indeed meant for kids but for much older children than mine - the kind that cares about who painted the ceilings. The last brochure was a postcard for an exhibition. Sigh. I thanked the guy and decided to freestyle the museum visit when he said, "Oh by the way, there is an audio-guide for kids." Well now, that was exciting news. "Where can I get one?" I asked. Up the stairs by the Denon entrance, he showed me. Off we went, up to the Denon entrance. Turns out the audio-guides were all gone. They were gone at the Richelieu entrance too, and the Sully entrance. Too late, love. My watch showed 11am. We hadn't started yet and the crowds were in - in full force. We better get crackin'!

Medieval Louvre. Photo by Louvre.fr

Medieval Louvre
I decided to start with Ancient Egypt, which when you follow the arrows from the Denon Gate, is a multi-level maze that takes you through the medieval Louvre. Though the Louvre is more often called a museum than a palace, it was a fortified castle in the 12th century and you can walk along the underground bases of the castle's towers. That's a part of the museum I really like if only because it shows the medieval city below 21s century Paris. You're 60 feet underground in front of the former stronghold of Paris. Pretty cool. Like many metropolitan areas in Old Europe, Paris is a Swiss cheese with many levels.

The Sphynx. Photo by Frog Mom

Ancient Egypt
A few tunnels later, we emerged in the Ancient Egypt collections. My 7-year old is obsessed with Ancient Egypt since she read the comic book "Astérix and Cléopâtre" so I knew we must at least see that.

Statues, old gods, pottery, jewelry, furniture, smithing work - we lingered on every single display so the girls would understand what they were seeing. The jewelry particularly caught their eye, as well as who the gods were and why they had animal heads.

When we reached the room with the mummies, I had reached my crowd saturation limit and we made a bee line for the stairs so we could escape to ... the Italian Renaissance, possibly the most visited area of the Louvre. Why oh why?

Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa of course. The mysterious woman is so popular that there are signs pointing to the painting, rather than the overarching department. Wow.

The closest I could get. Photo by Frog Mom

We found Mona Lisa and I knew right away I'd never see it up close. Check the photo and see how you would carve yourself a nice path to the front. A blow torch maybe? Even that would be tedious work.

Trusting in my girls' abilities to fend off for themselves and find a way, I sent them to reach the front of the chaotic crowd. After 5 minutes, I was scanning the crowd anxiously. Why weren't they back yet? After 10 minutes I was about to yell their names and walked to the side of the painting. There they were, the two of them huddled together, admiring the enigmatic smile of the Florentine model. Oh dear, I was done with crowds. Off to the 19th century wing!

Napoleon IIIrd apartments. Photo by Frog Mom

Napoleon IIIrd Apartments
And so we changed wings, went up a flight of stairs and crossed the Renaissance medals department (great quiet restrooms if you feel so inclined) to find the glitzy gilded parlors of Napoleon the 3rd. That would be 1860s, the French equivalent to the Victorian era. Think lavish interiors, exotic palm trees and plump velvet couches. All that's missing is a lady in a lacy long dress and you got the Phantom of the Opera.

Finally a room where we could walk without bumping into a group lead by a flag-bearer. Ancient Egypt and Italian Renaissance took their toll on my nerves and my ears - I needed some down time.

"Mom, what are we doing here?" Kiddo, this is an oasis of tranquility. Can't you just enjoy? "Mom, I'm bored." OK, you're hungry. "Can we go home now?" Just you wait - one last floor and the marathon's over.

French Paintings
We strolled through the parlors, admired the collection of Renaissance glassware and pottery on the way, and crossed yet another wing to finish on the upper floor where my favorite paintings are. The 2nd floor of the Richelieu wing is dedicated to Flemish, German and French paintings, all of which I adore. All we needed to do was take our time, enjoy and relax - without obsessing over lunch. Good thing I'd thought about sneaking in a few dark chocolate nonpareils.

So there we were, on this extremely quiet floor. Very few visitors. Almost no sounds. Natural sky and window lighting. A far cry from the chaotic wrestling two floors below. Boucher, Chardin, Fantin de la Tour and Watteau were all present - painters I associate with a poignant romanticism. I was in heaven. By then my girls were exhausted but didn't realize it. The benches were comfortable enough. "Mom, can we have dessert at Angelina's" Yes sweetie pie, after we find some lunch.

Lunch
At 2pm, we got out of the museum and picked one of the many restaurants of the international food court in the Carrousel du Louvre. The girls went Chinese, I went Oriental. Bliss. We sat down and ate. Despite the crowds, the commotion and the craze, the Louvre was a good museum experience. What better place to sharpen a child's art appreciation skills? I realize that when we browse through art databases and they stop me saying, "I know that image!" Darling, you made my day.

Zen. Photo by Frog Mom

Practical Details

• Hours: Open Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesdays. 9am - 6pm. Closed Jan 1st, May 1st, Dec. 25th.
• Rates: Kids under age 26 are free. General admission Euros 10. Free 1st Sunday of each month and Bastille Day (July 14).
• Tickets: Get advance tickets online and at major department stores such as Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, FNAC or Virgin Megastore. 
• Museum Pass: buy a 1-day, 3-day or 5-day Museum Pass and get unlimited line-free access to 70 museums and buildings around Paris, including the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay and the Sainte Chapelle. Pretty sweet deal. 
• Tours: Tours in English every day at 11am and 2pm. Tour lasts 90 minutes and covers major highlights.
• Food: there are 2 cafés inside the museum but if you wait, the Carrousel du Louvre has everything you need, from a Starbucks Coffee with free wifi to the international food court called Restaurants du Monde, open daily from 11am to 8pm (sort of a revved up airport food court with plastic trays and tons of tables).
• Wifi: you can connect at the Starbucks Coffee or in the Apple store.
• Give the kids a break: after the Louvre, stroll through the Tuileries garden and let the kids run around the trees, fountains and sculptures. They'll need it.

Four Itineraries to Discover Paris with Kids

Playground at the Parc Monceau. Photo by Frog Mom

Quintessential Paris features late night walks by the river Seine, gourmet eateries, and world-class museums - until you travel with kids. That's when you wonder what, in the name of the Holy Baguette, Parisian parents do with their offspring! Surely, they can't hit every single high fashion store with a toddler in tow on the Left Bank before sitting down with merlot at a starred bistrot. Or can they?

That's in essence what my friend Jenny truly wanted to know when she wrote me: "We are finally starting to get ready for our trip to France and trying to line up some good kid activities in Paris. Do you have any good recommendations or sources of recommendations that we could use?" Over the years I've taken my girls all over the City of Lights and I'm getting my Parisian trips down to a nice routine with "pilgrimage" stops. Based on my experience, here four itineraries that will appeal both to kids and parents.

Ready for a ride? Photo by Frog Mom

1. Montmartre

Sights
Start with a crowd-pleaser. Montmartre might be tourist heaven on earth but it's still as picturesque as portrayed in the movie Amélie. The hilly borough that once hosted the likes of Toulouse Lautrec and Paris' bohemian artists in the early 1900s is cross-crossed by narrow cobblestone streets leading to the Place du Tertre where caricaturists and portraitists outnumber locals. At kid level, Montmartre hides a different layer of fun.

Le Passe-Muraille. Photo by Frog Mom

At the bottom of the hill, get off at the métro stop Anvers or Les Abbesses and find the Manège du Sacré-Coeur, an old-fashioned double-decker carousel with turn-of-the-century animals. My girls love double-deckers, they're the best to wave to your folks from up high! Once that's done, leave the square to count  the steps up to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur - 237 is the magic number.

With a stroller, you're better off hopping on the mini cable train called Funiculaire. It gets you up to the top too where you find the Basilica of the Sacred-Heart. The iconic white church that overlooks the city was completed in 1919 and is well worth a visit inside. Try to see the creepy arched crypt, it is quite stylish. If you are lucky you'll hear the amazing pipes of the organ.

From the basilica, take the rue Saint-Eleuthere to the Place du Tertre and enjoy the artists, the sidewalk cafés and the crowds. Cross the square onto the rue de Norvins down to the Place Marcel Aymé, a teeny tiny square with a wall. There the kids will find a man sticking out of the wall, a tribute to a 1943 novella by French poet and writer Marcel Aymé.

Place du Tertre. Photo by Frog Mom

In the story, a man swallows pills that enable him to walk through walls in Montmartre. He falls in love with a neighbor's wife. It's all good until things turn sour and one day he's stuck half way through a wall. Here he is now, forever brooding over his fate.

Dining
For a bite around Montmartre, find the Patisserie Couderc, 1 bis rue Tardieu and its delish pastries, or sit down at the La Galette du Moulin, 1 rue Veron, for sweet and savory crepes. For gourmet eats, the Bistrot Le Miroir, 94 rue des Martyrs, is where it's at.  

2. Jardin des Plantes

Sights
Blending tropical greenhouses such as the Conservatory of Flowers in the Golden Gate Park and a stunning natural history museum like the Smithsonian, the Jardin des Plantes is a must-see for garden lovers. This 400 years-old green sanctuary succeeded to the royal botanical gardens and counts several themed gardens where kids can try to guess the name of plants, run down alleys or spy ducks on lily ponds.

Strolling thru the Jardin des Plantes. Photo by Frog Mom

Before any museum visit, I recommend hitting the Dodo Manège, a quaint carousel where animals are all extinct species from long long ago. My girls both went for the  Sivatherium, an odd blend of giraffe and elk that roamed savannas 10,000 years ago. It's one of the few moving animals on the carousel anyway. Little kids can go the Dodo way in all safety!

Riding like a dodo. Photo by Frog Mom

Move on the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle whose Grande Galerie de l'Evolution presents a Noah's arch parade  of animal species on earth, all lined up on the ground floor of the big hall. Visually it's striking. Little kids might get bored - the museography is somewhat stuffy - but adults will love the feel of the building. Ask at the counter for big kids' activities in English.

Dining
Whenever I go to the Jardin des Plantes, I never fail to take my girls to the Café Maure, the restaurant at the Grande Mosquée de Paris, 39 rue Geoffroy St-Hilaire, right behind the Jardin des Plantes. With its arched terraced patio where fig trees shade round tables with mosaics, you'll feel transported to another region of the world altogether. Honestly, my girls didn't care for the oriental pastries (they sure are sweet and nut-intensive) but they enjoyed an orange juice while I sipped a Moroccan mint tea. Rumor has it the savory couscous at the indoors restaurant is so-so but the great decor might win you over. In any case, kids can have fun in the patio. No one will tell them off for playing in the trees.

The Jardin du Luxembourg's playground. Photo by Frog Mom

3. Jardin du Luxembourg
Sights
A green foray in the Latin Quarter, the Jardin du Luxembourg is another staple of Parisian Sundays and the opportunity for you to combine shopping, great food and fun. Hop off the métro at Saint-Sulpice and admire the church on the square, right across from a former fire station. The surrounding streets are temples of fashion, lingerie and haute patisserie, not the least of which is avant-gardist pastry chef Pierre Hermé (see below in Dining).

Zadig et Voltaire is one of my fave clothing stores and their children line is a killer - both in looks and price tags. Further east at 78 rue de Seine (cross street Saint-Sulpice) you will find a candle store like no other, Maison Cir. They make the nicest birthday candles and I find it very hard to resist to their fragrant candles.

Jean-Claude Desarthis, current
owner of the puppet theatre. Photo
by Guignol du Luxembourg

Anyhoo, after you're done browsing, head to the nearest entrance of the Jardin du Luxembourg. Here is a map with access points and activities. I took my girls to the Saturday afternoon Guignol puppet show (French Punch and Judy) and it was a blast. The show features 30 uninterrupted minutes of puppets playing around on various sets with furniture, set to recorded music and voices. Since the show is all in French, non-Francophile kids might find it harder to relate but the slapstick comedy is universal.

Outside by the octagonal pond, kids can rent and float model sailboats by the half hour - real mini sailboats with wooden hull and canvas sails!

Model sailboats. Photo by Enrico Antongiovanni

The only playground is a Parisian shocker: kids pay to get in! It's weird but we paid anyway since my girls were drooling over the jungle gym and zipline. We stopped our exploration there but tiny eateries can keep you longer.

Dining
You have to go to Pierre Hermé, if only to sample the macarons with unusual flavors such as quince and rose and tangerine and olive oil. They're the bomb! Kids will most likely find a pastry they fancy. For the real thing (as in, savory), the Grande Epicerie de Paris (@Le Bon Marché) is a high-end food store with three restaurants from gourmet fast food to full-on sit-down meals.

4. Passages of Paris

Passage Verdeau. Photo by Frog Mom

Sights
Did you know there were covered streets in Paris called Passages? Drilled as all-weather shopping passageways between busy bourgeois streets in the 1850s, their distinctive arched glass ceilings and artsy paved floors are total eye candy for photographers. On rainy days, they're also great options for kids to run around "outside".

Recently I took a Hungarian friend of mine through a dozen of them in 2 hours, starting at the Tuileries and finishing north of Le Marais. My kind of urban hike!

Passage Jouffroy. Photo by Frog Mom

All passages are lined with shops and cafés but two passages will appeal to children for their incredible toy stores: Passage des Princes and Passage Jouffroy. The latter is where Au Pain d'Epices ravishes young and old with wooden toys, doll houses and plush animals.

A La Mere de Famille. Photo by Frog Mom 

When you go, see at least the Passage des Panoramas and the Galerie Vivienne - they're the most spectacular. North of the Passage Verdeau at 35 rue du Faubourg Montmartre, you will find A La Mère de Famille, Paris' oldest sweet shop and one of our regular stops.

There I buy candied violet petals to decorate my cakes, old-fashioned fruit lollies, fruit leather and stuffed prunes. I always let my girls pick one bag of candies, a tricky choice which takes them forever since there are so many jars filled with delightful items.

Dining
A sidewalk café in a passageway, A Priori Thé, 35 Galerie Vivienne, serves light fare from breakfast to tea time but no further. In the Passage des Panoramas, both the wine bar Racines (8 Passage des Panoramas) and L'Arbre à Cannelle (57 Passage des Panoramas) are good options.

Conclusion
I never know what my favorite things are in Paris. I lived there 10 years and it seems there's entire worlds I don't know about in the city. There's just so much to do and so little time. All I know is that my girls love going there, taking the métro and eating out. For them, Paris is a big playground with fun stuff at every street corner. I guess that's the gist of vacations! I hope your kids like it too. It may not be the most child-friendly city but there's a lot to do with the junior crew to satisfy all ages.

Family Guide: The Steins Collect at the SFMOMA and Seeing Gertrude Stein at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

Henri Matisse, Woman with a Hat, 1905; oil on canvas.
SFMOMA, Bequest of Elise S. Haas; © Succession H. Matisse, Paris
Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; photo: Ben Blackwell

Who said kids and museums don't belong in the same sentence? Make a child imagine what Paris was like when he could chat with Henri Matisse over tea and cookies. Tell him about sisters and brothers refusing to share. Explain a rose is a rose is a rose evenings with music and snacks. Then you'll get his undivided attention even if the topic is the birth of modern art at the turn of the 20th century. Art with a story to tell takes on a life of its own and is a lot more palatable to kids than dry paintings. If you are in San Francisco this summer, take the kiddos to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art where a good family epic, a strong storyline, and world-class paintings achieve pictorial fireworks. Welcome to The Steins Collect exhibition.

Jean-Paul Cluzel, director of the RMN, speaks after SFMOMA
 director Neal Benezra (standing, right). Photo by Frog Mom

Opened just last week, this exhibition spotlights the avant-garde art collection of young Bay Area transplants in Paris. These kids grew up in San Francisco and Oakland, their dad was in the cable car business, and yet they became prestigious art collectors in Paris - then the center of the art world. This rise to art stardom is nothing short of amazing and thanks to associated family programs and a lively narrative, children too can enjoy the exhibition.

Pablo Picasso, Boy Leading a Horse, 1905–6. The Museum of Modern Art,
New York, the William S. Paley Collection, 1964; © Estate of Pablo Picasso
Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York;
Photo: The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, NY

I was lucky to attend the media preview of this collaboration by the Réunion des Musées Nationaux (RMN) in Paris, the San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art in San Francisco and the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York. As San Francisco is the only city on the West Coast where the exhibition will be shown, the SFMOMA expects The Steins Collect to be so busy visitors will need to buy timed tickets to see it.

With a child, here is how I recommend to get the most out of the exhibition with minimal parental stress.

1. If your child is the runner type, you'll be able to see all 13 rooms without any problem. For a strictly visual take on The Steins Collect, stop at the SFMOMA's Haas Atrium and borrow an iPod with The Country Dog Gentlemen Travel to Extraordinary Worlds, an interactive tour of the museum for kids. While the app is not Steins Collect-specific, it can be used in various contexts and guides kids through rooms with playful prompts and activities.

2. If your child is the lingering type, stop in only half the rooms and walk by through the other rooms. My personal favorites, for color and subject, were:

Pablo Picasso, Soupe, 1902. 

• Leo's Arrival in Paris - terrific impressionnist nudes and bathers, 
• Discovering Matisse and Picasso -that's where you find Matisse's Woman with a hat and a serene Boy leading horses by Picasso - don't forget to check the giant pic of the Steins' apartment, a Real Simple wall clutter dream, 
• Sarah and Michael - kids will appreciate Picasso's sweet family scene Soup and little girls will marvel at Manguin's La Coiffure while little boys will enjoy Matisse's Boy with a Butterfly Net,
• Picasso and the birth of cubism - though I'm not a huge fan of that period, it's so different from the rest that kids should like the radical change of style, in particular Picasso's Head of a sleeping woman,
• Picasso and friends - amongst the Spanish painter's friends, Marie Laurencin stands out with sweetly mischievous group portraits,



Pablo Picasso, Head of a Sleeping Woman (Study for Nude with Drapery), 

1907 Collection The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Estate of John Hay

 Whitney, 1983;  © 2011 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society (ARS), 

New York; Photo: The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource

• Gertrude after Leo - got a kid interested in music? Try to find the music instrument in Picasso's Woman with a guitar, it is a fun guessing game,
• Gertrude and Alice - the extravagant and rebellious Francis Picabia appears in his late years as a friend of Gertrude Stein.    

3. If by extraordinary coincidence your child is the contemplative type, a young and  thoughtful mind, do take an audio-guide and see your child hop from painting to photo, listening to music and sound recordings, as well as background info on the art. Developed by ear print productions, the audio-guide includes stories like this one (Rousseau Banquet) with accordions and a Parisian cafe scene.

Those are just a few ideas to spice up the visit with a child, but feel free to improvise according to your children's tastes. You can also participate in a few family events centered on the exhibition this summer.

SFMOMA Family events and discounts around The Steins Collect 

• Starting in July, Family Sunday will be every  Sunday, not just 1st and 3rd Sundays. This means that every Sunday there will be additional activities for children ages 4-11, including at least one hands on art making activities, as well as family tours, children’s book readings, and more. Each week will feature a different book reading by children's authors including Amy Novesky (Me, Frida), Jeanne Walker Harvey (My Hands Sing The Blues, available September 2011), and Lynn Hazen (The Amazing Trail of Seymour Snail). 
•  If your child is a mods member and he/she brings in an adult, you do not pay the general admission to see The Steins Collect but only the surcharge, so it would be just $7 instead of $25.
• On June 5th, Gotta COLLECT. Kids get in free! 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Explore a Stein-inspired salon for families in the Schwab room in addition to regular Family Sunday programming. The Schwab room will be converted into a living room with a continuous reading of The World is Round by Gertrude Stein as well as a reading of Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude is Gertrude by Jonah Winter. There will also be drawing activities in the living room as well Museums in a Box activities at the Koret Studio and sculpture, photo and drawing gallery art making activities. The gallery activities will be on the 2nd and 5th floors. 

Seeing Gertrude Stein at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

George Platt Lynes, Gertrude Stein, Bilignin, 1931, toned gelatin silver print.  Courtesy of the Baltimore Museum of Art, 

The Cone Collection, Gift of Adelyn D. Breeskin BMA 1985.3, © Estate of George Platt Lynes, 

Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories, Contemporary Jewish Museum (May 12, 2011 – September 6, 2011).

It's one thing to see the art, it's quite another to understand the multi-layered formidable woman behind the collection. Seeing Gertrude Stein includes five stories on who Gertrude Stein was, or who she wanted to be remembered as.

After the SFMOMA (or another day), cross the street corner at Mission and 3rd to head to the Contemporary Jewish Museum and go to the second floor for a complete discovery of this mighty woman. 

Even if you've read The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas (the only book by Gertrude Stein I've read), you can't completely grasp the character until you visit this exhibition. She tried her creative juices at everything: poetry, essays, music, ballet, operas, fashion (shockingly) - what did she miss?

Kids will appreciate the video projections, the iPad listening station (hear Gertrude Stein speak) and - my favorite - the reproduction of a blue wall paper with white doves that decorated the walls of a photograph taken by Sir Cecil Beaton. 

Now enjoy. It's going to be a Steins summer.

Sacramento's California State Railway Museum

Central Pacific Railroad No. 1 Gov. Stanford. Photo by Frog Mom 

In Old Sacramento lies a train museum where children can hop onto a sleeping car that rocks to the sounds and lights of a 1950s late-night train, play out their train fantasies on a big-scale Thomas the train set, walk inside a train post office or explore reconstructed train tunnels and depots from California's yesteryears. No wonder the California State Railroad Museum is a must-see destination for local schools and train enthusiasts.

Vintage toy trains. Photo by Frog Mom

A museum that includes 225,000 square feet of locomotives, cars and landscapes, and that organizes weekend steam train excursions along the Sacramento river from April to September deserves more than a visit on the fly. It should get your undying gratitude for prolonging the life of the American railroad dream - it's virtually a train set ready for filming your wildest Gold Rush movie! Actually, the reason all trains are on tracks is that they can all roll out of the museum for filming purposes. Pretty cool, right? Well then, no reason to delay. All aboard and enjoy the ride!

Imagine the Gold Rush. Photo by Frog Mom

When we visited the California State Railroad Museum last month on a rainy week day, we thought we'd have the museum to ourselves. Weather was gloomy and drizzly, snow fell by the truckload on Tahoe, and we needed to find an escape for our girls who were getting all cabin-fevered. The museum was just what we were looking for: hours of indoors fun, enough space to run around if needed, wooden benches to sit down and relax, shiny metal eye candy and miniature train sets for the young at heart.

Past a room of vintage toy trains, the first big display shows a Gold Rush scene complete with a covered tunnel, a canvas tent settlement, rocky mountains ready to be blasted away and engineers at the ready. It is simply awesome and we immediately heard a big "Wow!" from our girls. I thought the same wow too. This part of the museum is as close as a film set as it will ever get.

I didn't expect my girls to notice the display  on Chinese laborers but they couldn't help wonder: "Mom, what are the Chinese people doing on the mountain?" Well, kid, they're getting ready to blow up the mountain with dynamite. "But it's dangerous!" Yup, it is. "They could get hurt!" And so they did. I'm not one for sugarcoating history and I'm glad the train museum shows the reality of the Gold Rush with its dangers - and rewards.

Locomotives and more locomotives. Photo by Frog Mom

As you emerge from the dimly lit room, the vast street-level exhibit hall is an open door into a world of possibilities. In front of you, 21 locomotives are standing on tracks, the same tracks that were used to bring them inside the museum. Some of the trains like the yellow one are right next to a small station with wax station attendant telegraphing text messages, wax women waving out of second-floor windows or wax cats sneaking out on the roof.

Phone! Photo by Frog Mom

A group of 4th graders zoomed by us and walked inside a waiting room where a train station controller figure was sitting on a bench - an old man with a gray beard and a straight face. "How ya doin' homey?" went a girl, making funny faces at him while others were snapping shots with their iPhones. Way to treat the oldie, I thought.

Next thing I knew, all the kids screamed and the girl fell back on her fanny. The figure wasn't a figure at all! He was a docent dressed in a costume and as he rose from the bench  to shake her hand, created quite a stir. Ha ha ha, well done grandpa! He sat back on the bench and the still-shaky tweens scampered away. Apparently the docent had rehearsed his skit because we heard another scream not a minute later.

Action! Photo by Frog Mom

At the end of the yellow train, groups of kids were striking poses in front of big locomotives "a la Flashdance." True, the wax figure of a 1940s female worker was a tempting backdrop. We walked around a small wooden station and I saw an old guy looking down on an open book. Was he for real? I got closer and he looked at me, "Can I help you?" Dang, now I had to think of a question. Yes, well, what time is it? "It's on that clock," he replied, pointing at a big clock. I thanked him and walked away.

"Why did you ask about the time?" asked my kindergartner. That was a darn stupid question, I always wear a wrist watch. Just because would only lead to more questions. "Look, you can climb up in the locomotive!" I said, pointing to a big engine next to us.

The diversion worked and my girls ran up the stairs to the locomotive. What a beautiful machine it was. Beautiful and shiny and massive, headlight on. The inside was crammed with people waiting in line to take pictures of their kids at the wheel, or pulling on a cable, or blowing on a whistle. It's the 1901 Southern Pacific Cab Forward No. 4294 whose cab design allowed for better visibility in sharp curves.

Kid and train. Photo by C.G.

To give you an idea of size, here is an interesting little photo, the kid and the train.

To me, part of the trains' appeal is the monumental size of these machines compared to, say, a car or a bus or a tram, all of which kids see regularly on San Francisco's city streets. When you take them to see a train (here or in the Santa Cruz mountains, in Sonoma, in Suisun City or in Jamestown), kids get exposed to something that's mostly out of sight in our daily cityscape and a reminder of days when people traveled at a slower pace - and watched the landscape. Even writing this I'm seriously considering a train trip down the coast to San Diego.

Meat or fish darling? Photo by Frog Mom

Oops, I got sidetracked. Back to the museum where we continued our exploration.

The Fruit Growers Refrigerator Car was a fun walk through with wooden boxes stacked inside and an icing dock, but my girls' favorite was the Dining Car No. 1474 Cochiti, a bullet-type diner-dining car showcasing menus, china settings from the museum's collections, and a docent dressed as a butler. Since you can walk through the entire car and gaze at the various china designs (Santa Fe, Rockies, Western National Parks...), it was very popular with visitors and we had to get in line to enjoy it.

Train kitchen. Photo by Frog Mom

Next to it is the killer sleeper car on a rocking mechanism, a car where you actually feel like the train's zooming past stations and rocking you to sleep at night. Berths are made-up with white linen and beige blankets, a passenger is fast asleep in his compartment, the rhythmic clicking of the wheels is interrupted by the occasional whistle - it's a sensory experience.

Other cars nearby can be viewed from the outside, showing kitchens that look like home kitchens, or kitchens that look like industrial kitchens, or Victorian lounges with tea sets that are worthy of westerns. The visual treats don't stop on that floor. When you've had your fill of oversize engines, climb to the second floor of the museum where everything is miniaturized and kid-sized. For children, this is the real fun.

Thomas the Train-land. Photo by Frog Mom

When I purchased our tickets, the cashier had whispered to me: "There is a Thomas the Train room upstairs. Don't tell them now." Oh I understood well enough. Once they were in that room dedicated to all things Thomas the Train, it was very hard dragging them out.

One of the displays was especially fun as it consisted of an elevated oval train set mounted around a clear plastic bubble where kids could poke their heads and watch the train go choo-choo from inside the loop.

Miniature trains. Photo by C.G.

As I said, it was hard to drag them out of there. I had to play the "Come check out the Hogwarts Express!" card to get any results. Alas, the Hogwarts Express was a disappointing small Lego set but we were moving and that was good.

All the second floor is dedicated to miniature trains, in particular Lionel trains, and several big scale train sets with buttons to push had the kids drool with envy at the engines in motion. From toddlers to school grade kids, they were all captivated by the small trains. Who wouldn't? Some are such exquisite mechanisms with tons of details, it's hard not to stop and start scrutinizing them from every angle.

This was the last stop on our tour, until we exited through the museum shop ... and purchased a few toy trains for my nephew. Great museum!

Details: The California State Railroad Museum

• www.csrmf.org
• The museum is open daily (except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day) from 10am to 5pm.
• Corner of 2nd and I Street in Old Sacramento.
• Accessible by car (parking lot a block away) or aboard Amtrak.
• All Aboard! Steam-Powered Excursion Train Rides from April through September, every hour on the hour on weekend from 11am to 5pm (details here)