When I told people I was taking my nine-year-old and four-year-old to Paris on holiday, they were surprised. They must have thought, "You're crazy attempting an overseas city break when your daughter is still so little."

I figured if it's possible to experience successful and memorable outings with the kids at home in London, it should be possible to do the same in Paris. If it's a complete nightmare, we'll know not to do it again.

So how did our first overseas city break with the kids go?

Read on to find out whether we were crazy to attempt it, and for some helpful tips we discovered during our trip.

The Plan

We would be in France for six nights and our plan was to spend two days at Disneyland and the rest of our time exploring Paris. We booked a two-bedroom Airbnb within 1km from Disneyland, and a train ride away from the centre of Paris.

We would catch the Eurostar from London St Pancras Int'l to Disneyland Paris (Marne-la-Vallée Chessy) with one change at Lille Europe. There used to be a direct service from London but Eurostar scrapped it in June 2022, citing the adverse effects of Brexit and the knock-on effects of the pandemic.

Before kids, city breaks involved me planning an itinerary designed to make the most of our time away. My approach is different now. I've learnt how to go with the flow.

Tip #1: By all means have a list of things you want to see and do, but lower your expectations for the ground you will cover. Be content with seeing one new thing a day and only tackle additional sights and activities if time (and your children's mood) allows.

Getting to France

It was our first time on a train as a family of four. I was anxious even before we got to the train station. I'd read the night before it was mandatory to label your luggage on French trains. We have never bothered with luggage labels, even when flying, so were unprepared for this. I needn't have worried as nobody checked.

London St Pancras Int'l feels like an airport as you enter it. It's a bit of a trek to board the Eurostar from the taxi drop-off point.

There were no trolleys for our luggage. My four-year-old insisted on pulling one of the suitcases which is trying when you need to navigate through a busy train station and board the train at the correct carriage. You then have the faff of locating luggage racks with enough space to store all your cases.

Tip #2: The Eurostar is a bumpy ride. Make sure your children are seated forward-facing and pack bags if your children are prone to motion sickness.

As the train pulled into Lille Europe, I expected there to be an announcement with directions on where to go for our connecting train to Disneyland Paris. There was none.

We stepped off our train to join the dawdling tourists while locals walked briskly and purposefully around us. I looked around scanning for any English signage telling us where to go next.

The answer came from my four-year-old. She needed to pee.

Tip #3: Use the toilet before you get off the Eurostar because at Lille Europe it will cost you 1 Euro. I was charged 2 Euros to take the kids with me.

It's at times like this when I think small thoughtful acts of kindness can go a long way in making the world a happier place. For example, if you're a toilet attendant and you see a parent with a kid who is about to pee their pants, be a human and perhaps let them use your toilet without charging them extra.

Getting around after arrival

Tip #4: Carry cash with you. The taxi driver at the train station charged 25 Euros for contactless payment and 20 Euros when we paid in cash.

You can use the Citymapper app to work out how to get to places, but we were clueless about what ticket to buy when travelling into central Paris. A good starting point is the RATP (Paris Transport) website.

The station nearest to our accommodation and Disneyland was on the RER in zone 5. The RER is the rapid transit system that serves Paris and its surrounding suburbs. It is a separate system from Paris's main metro network which serves zones 1–3.

After a bit of trial and error, the conclusion we came to was it wasn't worth purchasing a Navigo Easy or Paris Visite zones 1–5 pass as all our trips into Paris were single journeys. Children under 10 can travel with reduced fare tickets at 50% discount. For our family, it worked out to 5 Euros each way for adults, and 2 Euros 50 for children.

One fascinating discovery we made when travelling on the metro was the high-tech toilets (les sanisettes). They're free to use and at first glance, look like a lift. Step inside and you'll find a bathroom with an automated washing and disinfecting system and a door that automatically unlocks after 20 minutes.

Seine River Cruise

As we made our way towards the Bateaux Parisiens ticketing booth at the Port de la Bourdonnais, my children and I gasped as we caught our first sighting of the iconic Eiffel Tower.

We stopped off at a busy market for a pricey cheese wheel pasta lunch. We grabbed the opportunity to sit down when space at a table became free. It was only after ordering our food we noticed the prices were all blank.

Perhaps like a task on the television show The Apprentice, the pricing varies according to demand. Maybe we were unlucky with the timing of our purchase and got ripped off because we were tourists.

Once we were on the boat, we had a restricted instead of the panoramic view promised in the online description of the cruise. The seating upstairs was closed because of the high tides. We didn't bother with the audio commentary on the app you could download on your phone, choosing to venture outside into the drizzle and a narrow walkway to get a better view of the scenery.

Due to the weather conditions, we didn't get to Ile de la Citè to see Notre Dame Cathedral. Instead, we saw a quarter-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty which was given to France by US citizens living in Paris in 1889.

My children's excited voices echoed as our boat glided under Paris's picturesque bridges. My next tip comes from something the character Yas says about waving at strangers in the movie Rye Lane.

Tip #5: If people on a boat wave at you, you have to wave back. It's the law. There are two types of people in this world. The ones who wave at boats, and the ones who hate joy.

Disneyland Paris

We had a two-day pass for Disneyland and the neighbouring Walt Disney Studios Park which took the pressure off trying to squeeze in as much as we could. The late closing of both parks also helps (11 pm for Disneyland and 9 pm for Walt Disney Studios Park).

Tip #6: Download the Disneyland App so you can see the waiting times for all the attractions. We didn't need to pay extra for Premier Access to skip the queues. The longest queue we waited in was 35 minutes.

No scooters are allowed at Disneyland so I was nervous about how my four-year-old would cope with being on her feet for long periods. The excitement of the next ride was enough fuel for her. Whenever she got restless, we gave her a snack or her LCD writing tablet so she could draw while we waited.

Tip #7: All the rides at Disneyland have space for you to store a backpack in front of you so it's worth taking one. It's super useful for carrying snacks, water bottles, rain jackets, and a Tupperware box for sneaking in pastries and other portable snacks for later if you're eating at one of the all-you-can-eat buffet restaurants (a tip I've learnt from my late mother-in-law).

The Frozen and Lion King shows were amazing although a couple of disturbing movie analogies popped into my head while we were waiting. First, the awful scene in the Schindler's List movie when women are herded into a shower room expecting to get gassed, only for water to come out of the shower heads. Also, how everyone swarmed like the scuttling scarab beetles from The Mummy to bag themselves a seat once we were inside the auditorium.

You can read more about my thoughts on Disneyland Paris here.

Galeries Lafayette

The Galeries Lafayette department store is the equivalent of Selfridges in London. I wanted to go there not to shop but for the view of the city from the seventh-floor terrace. My eldest was excited to visit because I told him it's like the Galeries Gourmet featured in the Wonka movie.

Tip #8: Why pay for a panoramic view over Paris when you can enjoy it for free from the rooftop at the Galeries Lafayette?

On floor R+1 Coupole next to the duty-free area, there is artwork entitled Stairway to Heavens by French artist duo Gaëlle Gabillet and Stéphane Villard from Studio GGSV adorning one of the beautiful staircases. It's inspired by the British rock band's song by Led Zeppelin and spans from the ground floor to the fifth floor.

At one point during our visit, my four-year-old lay on the floor in protest at Mum and Dad for refusing to carry her, forcing shoppers to dodge around us. Part of me wanted to join her in what would have been the best position to admire the stunning Art Nouveau steel and glass dome (Coupole) the mall is housed under.

Jardin du Luxembourg

When you're travelling with kids, you need to balance sightseeing with playtime. What better place to do that than a park some consider as having the best playground in Paris?

The gravel paths don't make it the best place to bring a child's scooter. Our daughter treated the paths like a beach and spent ages shifting the tiny stones into piles with her feet. I give up rushing at times like these. I took the opportunity to look around and admire the pretty surroundings.

Our visit to what some call the prettiest park in Paris was spoilt by the fees charged to use the playground (even adults have to pay) and sail model yachts, two activities we can do for free in London. Nevertheless, both were highlights of our children's trip to Paris.

Tip #9: Use the toilets in the playground while in the Jardin du Luxembourg because they're free. If they're going to charge you an entrance fee to use the playground, at least save some money by using the toilets there instead of those in the main park.

So were we crazy attempting an overseas city break with a four-year-old in tow?

A little. Our holiday to Paris was super tiring and I came home feeling like I needed another holiday to recover.

The challenges you face with any outing with young children are amplified by the unavoidable disruption to routine when travelling, especially when it's to an unfamiliar destination where the language and culture are different.

Tip #10: When it all gets too much for your kids, seek out one of the many sweet treats Paris has to offer: ice cream, macarons, or pancakes are sure-fire ways to cheer everyone up. My favourite treat in Paris was the best Crème brûlée I've ever tasted.

Paris was where my children discovered the deliciousness of a butter and jam baguette (something they had previously rejected as chewy bread). It's been a staple snack for them since we got back home.

In Paris, I felt like the legal alien in Sting's song Englishman In New York.

I don't drink coffee … I take tea … And you can hear it in my accent when I talk

Language was never a barrier on our trip. The English spoken by people we encountered was often better than my French.

It was still fun trying to speak the language and discovering the French I learnt at school was good enough to have people answer back in French. "Je suis Anglais" (I am English) or "Parlez Vous Anglais?" (Do you speak English?) were phrases I turned to when I couldn't understand what people were saying to me.

It's hard being a tourist. It's easy to get ripped off. You find things out the hard way by learning from trial and error. But there is value in this.

After visiting somewhere as a tourist, you're left with a greater appreciation of where you're from. In London, the pleasure of eating outside on a balmy evening isn't spoilt by smokers surrounding you, kids can travel for free, and they don't have to pay to use the playgrounds.

You see pesky tourists in a new light. You return home wanting to be more tolerant and sympathetic towards people who like you, have been brave enough to take themselves out of their comfort zone so they can explore and learn about the best of what a different country has to offer, despite not speaking their language.

We've returned from Paris armed with enough memories for our life's catalogue to make another city break worth our while. After all, going on an overseas city break with kids is like many things that come with bringing a child into the world.

You soon forget the pain and things get easier as your children get older.