II.4. FAMILY VISITS

MENU: 2.4. Family visits

WAYS TO SHARPEN THEIR GIFT FOR OBSERVATION 

Rue du Moulin des Prés, 13th

Street art, a mini-forest, diversity and the Louvre  

• Kids follow signs and pictures

• A wood where children play

• New horizons

• The Louvre, with kids (or without them)

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Next,

Kids follow signs and pictures

II.4.1. KIDS FOLLOW SIGNS & PICTURES

MENU: 2.4.1. Kids follow signs & pictures 

 PEOPLE COME TO PHOTOGRAPH  THE WALLS OF "BUTTE AUX CAILLES,"* ON THE SOUTHEASTERN FRINGE

* "Quail hilltop"

Photos taken in 2020: The pictures change, the spirit doesn't.

For kids a game,

for adults discovery of a neighborhood

and its walls.  

• Signs and a true story

• Start at this market

• Comme to a "castle"

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Signs and a true story

SIGNS AND A TRUE STORY

KIDS RELATE TO TEEN-AGED LOUIS XIII, AND THE DRAMA OF HIS TAKING POWER INTRIGUES THEM*

*Click Fatal passion at the Louvre

 

Maurice Leloir in Richelieu by Théodore Cahu, 1901, a history of France for children

The court ignores him and he pretends to be retarded...

He threatens to shoot his toy cannon at ladies-in-waiting.

But a few allies know differently and when he is 15, help him put through a coup d'état:

   "At last I am king!" he cries from a palace window. 

Louis has left signs so that his followers can join him at the castle where he hides. 

The children look for them. 

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Next,

Start at this market...

START AT THIS MARKET

ON TUESDAY, FRIDAY OR SUNDAY MORNINGS AT THE CORVISART MÉTRO STOP

Adapted from a Google map

The street behind the flower stand is filled with pictures:

 Rue des Cinq Diamants

The enclave has no bank or post office, just a grocery at the crossroads:

At the grocery turn right (on "Main Street," rue de la Butte-aux Cailles) to come to a crossroad ("place de la Commune"):

More here.

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Next,

Come to a "castle"

COME TO A "CASTLE"

WALK DOWN THE LANE WHERE THESE NEIGHBORS CHAT

(RUE BUOT)

Turn back...

Pass the grocery and take rue de la Butte-aux-Cailles in reverse, past cheerful cafés and restaurants... 

A crêperie

Descend the next small street to the right (passage Boiton)...

A bike wheel is attached to the wall.

Saint-Anne's in the Butte-aux-Cailles: more later.

At the church, return to the restaurants and continue down the street:

At its end, the young king's hideaway... 

A swimming pool of the 1930's

And rewards:

Continue at 

the magnificent parc de Choisy

and have dinner in Chinatown.

End of this section.

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Next section,

II.4.2.

 A wood where children play

II.4.4. THE LOUVRE WITH KIDS (OR WITHOUT THEM)

MENU: 2.4.4. The Louvre with kids (or without them)

MESSAGES INVITE OBSERVATION

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault, 1819

Stories encourage kids' sharp eyes

and adults' ability to look beneath the surface

• The Mona Lisa, one masterpiece among a multitude

• Art that tells stories

• Finding your way through the huge museum

• Reward sharp eyes

• Save the blockbusters for last

• Outdoor ending

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Next,

The Mona Lisa, one masterpiece among a multitude

II.4.2. A WOOD WHERE CHILDREN PLAY

BEHIND THE GREENERY IS THE WALL OF A CEMETERY WHOSE TOMBS TELL STORIES 

(PLEASE CLICK AND SCROLL DOWN) 

Adapted from a Google map

The greenery itself is the edge of a small forest ideal for kids.

Square Henri-Karcher
165 rue des Pyrenées, 20th, m° Gambetta

"Do not take tritons, tadpoles or frogs. They are protected species."

Based on a philosophy opposite that of the "jardin [garden] à la française..."

Pamela Spurdon

Park of a 17th-century château (in Sceaux, southeast of Paris)

This park makes nature the star. 
(Since 2007) 

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Next,

II.4.3.

New horizons

 

THE "MONA LISA," ONE MASTERPIECE AMONG A MULTITUDE

RESIST THE ARROWS

Concentrating on a particular work is arbitrary, for the Louvre exhibits at least 300 masterpieces:

   The Gallery of the Louvre by Samuel Morse, 1830-1832 / zoom

Morse (the code's inventor) 

included it in his imaginary museum,

but as one work among others.

We begin the visit with less-known works

whose influence on art history

— and on history itself —

 has been much greater.

And children love the monsters and drama.

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Next,

Art that tells stories

II.4.3. NEW HORIZONS

VISITS THAT LET THE YOUNG SEE BEYOND WHAT IS FAMILIAR...  

 # # #

The royal heritage at the Saint-Denis Basilica, with its tombs and leading to it, France's first straight street.

• This knight is not dead but awaiting resurrection.  

• To reach the church, walk through the medieval fair ground next to the métro. It is now a vast market and kids love its raucous energy (on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday mornings).

The Schoolbook (in French)

Harald Wolff 

 

# # #

The traditional Jewish neighborhood a Sunday afternoon 

(At and around des Rosiers, 4e)

• Before the Occupation the district spread as far as Île Saint-Louis, midway across the river. Deportations reduced it to a few streets, where synagogues, restaurants, bookstores and kosher shops multiplied after the war. 

•  Today brands have mostly taken over. But people come from all Paris and the suburbs for the traditional establishments that still exist, especially on Sunday afternoons:

Photos taken toward 2015 

(Prices have risen)

• For teens, the outstanding exhibits of the Shoah Memorial make this visit memorable.

Immigrant vigor at La Goutte d'Or  

Anonymous, Echomusée

 

• Children will like the barbershop signs and young tailors, adults the "wax" prints.

  Balandou Coiffure, 42 rue de la Goutte d'Or, near the rue Dejean market

Ibo
27 rue Richomme

• End at square Léon, after visiting the excellent bakery at its edge

# # #

...to make them want to see and know more.  

End of Part II.

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Part III,

Why is a city with no natural beauty so grand?