During our trip to Paris in July we spend a day at the Jardin des Plantes. It is a centuries old botanic garden and a popular destination not only because of its beautiful gardens but also thanks to the small zoo, the Natural History Museum and the labyrinth that are located here.

The museum is actually one of my favourites in Paris because it is so beautiful. The main attractions are the Hall of Evolution, the gallery of paleontology (dinosaurs, giant birds and insects) and the gallery of mineralogy (600 000 minerals, giant cristals and royal precious stones).

The whole museum is kept dark and makes the Galerie d’Evolution even more impressive.

There are some very informative videos and books around and my daughter spend ages to watch a video of a penguin family and how they protected the penguin baby. There are 7000 animals displayed and the whole museum is very kids friendly. There are lots of lifts to take a buggy up and down, the hallways are large and the cafe is overlooking the animals.

The Menagerie is a lovely small city zoo. It is very cute and charming and even so you might not find the most exotic animals, your kids will be happy with the ostrichs, elephants and flamingos. You can feed goats and the cafe is just next to a very nice playground.

Address: 2 place Valhubert/57 Rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris

PS: If you take the exit next to the museum you have La grande mosquee de Paris just opposite and that is definitely worth a visit as well.