A word about children: While many parents, teachers and Boy Scout/Girl Scout leaders have highly recommended this tour for children and, in many cases, brought children with them it is important to note that the younger the children, the more likely they will begin to be somewhat restless toward the midpoint (after about an hour and twenty minutes). While children should not be discouraged from taking the tour, accompanying adults may wish to either break it into two separate events or end early and do the rest of the route later on their own.

On sunny days the Garden of Luxembourg offers a nice resting area for both, parents and kids. There are plenty of activities for younger and older kids: rent a toy-boat on the central basin, ride a pony, or watch a marionette theater play. 

When it is not so sunny you can seek refuge at the Manga café on 11 rue des Carmes (open daily 10.30am - 10:00pm) which is about 15 minutes away from the last stop of the tour.

After the tour, if you feel like having some rest and refreshments, slip into the Luxembourg Gardens (when you’re facing the John Paul Jones plaque, the Gardens are to your right, at the end of Rue Tournon, across Rue de Vaugirard). You can sit on a bench under the trees, look at the beekeeping hives and depending on the season watch amateur basketball and tennis games, attend a marionette show, see children riding ponies and frolicking on playground equipment, observe bocce games, enjoy drinks and munchies at a little outdoor snack area and more. Below is a selection of bistrots in the area, which also serve meals.

Café des Beaux Arts

The Café des Beaux Arts has become the unofficial midway-point rest stop for this tour:  If it’s crowded (as it often is a good sign!), you might want to wait until the itinerary takes you inland toward and into the tight knot of Saint-Germain bistros and cafés, where you’re sure to find refreshment and relief! (During the tour we indicate when and how to get to the Café des Beaux Arts.)

• 7 Quai Malaquais - 75006 Paris
• +33 (0)1 43 54 08 55
• www.cafe-des-beaux-arts.com

Café de la Tourelle

This small and charming restaurant is housed in one of Saint Germain's oldest buildings, dating from the XVIth century, which still a small tower on its facade, which gives the name to the bistrot.

• 5 Rue Hautefeuille - 75006 Paris
• +33 (0)1 46 33 12 47
• Menu 21-24 €

You can follow the tour of the Founding Fathers at any time of day. If you wish to visit on special occasions, you may choose either the 4th of July or September 3rd, the day when the Treaty of Paris, which marked the end of the war with Britain, was signed in 1783. Given that the tour is 100 per cent outdoor we recommend avoiding a rainy day.

The tour lasts approximately 2,5 hours and you will not have to walk long distances between each stage.

Not enough time to visit? See the main attractions… The main attractions of the tour are: The statue of Jefferson (stop 1), The Hôtel de Salm (stop 2), The Most famous Man in the World (stop 3), The Two Treaties, Ben at his Best (stop 5), The Procope (stop 10), Thomas Paine at the Odéon (stop 11) and Two Foreigners in Service to America (stop 13). You can complete this tour in 1,5 hours.

Le Procope

The most famous and oldest historic restaurant in town: from Voltaire and Rousseau to our stars, Franklin and Jefferson were regulars. The restaurant is on all tourism guides.French cuisine

• 13, rue de l'Ancienne Comédie - 75006 Paris
• +33 (0)1 40 46 79 00
• Open daily until 11:30pm
• Menu 25-35 €

Ladurée

At 21 Rue Bonaparte, at the intersection of Rue Jacob and Rue Bonaparte, you will see one of the branches of the pastry shop Ladurée. Not only does this establishment make deliciously exquisite and exquisitely delicious macarons (these are not exactly the same as "macaroons") in general, but also it was the macaron supplier to Sofia Coppola’s 2006 film Marie Antoinette, whose title character seemed to bathe in these little treasures! If you don’t want to interrupt the tour to explore this temple to pastel sweetness, you can either return here or catch up with a Ladurée on the Champs-Elysées, on Rue Royale (not too far from Maxime’s) or in the Printemps department store.

Rue des Saints-Pères

As for distractions en route, as you walk along Rue des Saints-Pères especially, let your eyes feast upon the shop windows featuring beautifully bound old books and often exotic objets d’art. While not all were “antiques” back then, they were the types of items that Thomas Jefferson a known spendthrift liked to acquire.