Planning a family trip to France? TripNest turns it into its own app: 10 narrated story podcasts about France for the drive, games and a quiz for the kids, an audio phrasebook, and the day-by-day plan and map the whole family shares.
How Paris learned to love its iron giant
When the Eiffel Tower went up, famous writers and artists signed a letter begging the city to tear it down. It was only ever meant to stand for twenty years. Find out what saved it - and why it still sparkles after dark.
The cave artists of Lascaux
Four teenagers and a dog followed a hole in the ground and found a cave covered in galloping horses. The paintings had been waiting about 17,000 years. We'll ask who made them, how they mixed their colours, and why no one is allowed inside the real cave today.
Mont Saint-Michel and its racing tide
Twice a day the sea rushes in and turns this spiky stone village into an island. Monks have lived on the rock for over a thousand years. Bring your boots - we're walking out onto the sand before the water comes back.
Life inside the Palace of Versailles
Imagine a house with a hall of mirrors, a canal for boat rides and a garden so big you need a map. Hundreds of people lived there just to help one king get dressed. We'll find out what a day at Versailles actually sounded like.
The Loire Valley and its towers
One castle is built right across a river. Another has a double staircase where two people can go up without ever meeting. The Loire has dozens of them, and each one hides a trick. Pick your favourite as we go.
Why these painters left the studio
A group of painters got laughed at for making blurry pictures of ponds and railway steam. They were trying to catch light before it changed. We'll visit the green bridge and water lilies that one of them planted on purpose, just to paint.
Inside the fortress city of Carcassonne
Carcassonne has two rings of stone walls and more than fifty towers, and you can walk between them. We'll look at how a castle was designed to be hard to get into, from narrow windows to heavy gates, and spot the clever bits from the ground.
The story of the Tour de France
It started as a stunt to sell newspapers, and now it's the biggest bike race in the world. Riders climb mountains that cars struggle with. Learn what the different coloured jerseys mean so you can shout for the right person.
How France eats
A real baguette has a crackly crust and only a few ingredients, and there are rules about how it's made. We'll wander a market with you, sniffing cheeses and counting fruit, and work out what to order at the bakery without pointing.
The French Alps and Mont Blanc
Marmots whistle, glaciers creak, and cable cars carry you above the clouds. We'll meet the animals that survive an Alpine winter and find out why mountain guides read the weather so carefully. Look out of the window - that white shape might be Mont Blanc.
Lyon / Paris / Marseille / Bordeaux
As a radio mast / As a lighthouse / For the 1889 World's Fair / As a king's palace
The Mona Lisa / The Starry Night / The Scream / Sunflowers
The France podcast has 10 narrated story episodes for the car or the plane: The Tower Everyone Hated, Paintings in the Dark, The Castle That Floats, A Thousand Rooms and One King, Castles Along the River, Monet's Garden, Knights, Walls and Wobbly Towers, Three Weeks on a Bicycle, Bread, Markets and the Morning Queue and Up Where the Snow Lives.
"Merci beaucoup", said mair-SEE boh-KOO. It's one of the phrases in the France audio phrasebook, recorded so the kids can hear it before they try it.
112 (Emergency (all services)), 15 (Medical (SAMU)), 17 (Police) and 18 (Fire). TripNest puts it in your trip's contacts page next to your own contacts.
Every trip starts free: the day-by-day plan, map and contacts. Premium adds the France podcasts, kids' games and the audio phrasebook for $24, once per trip - no subscription.
No. Your trip is one link that opens on everyone's phone, grandparents included, without an account. You can add it to your home screen so it works offline once you land.