II.4. TO DO WITH KIDS (OR WITHOUT THEM)

MENU: 2.4. To do with kids or without them

Rue du Moulin des Prés, 13th

Street art, a mini-forest, 

diversity and the Louvre  

• If you come with little boys (adapt to little girls)

• Street art and a true story

• A wood where children play

• New horizons

• The Louvre through kids' sharp eyes

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If you come with little boys (adapt to little girls)

IF YOU COME WITH LITTLE BOYS (ADAPT TO LITTLE GIRLS)

TAKE THEM ALONG THE MEDIEVAL TRADE ROUTE

Rue Saint-Denis: account here

Chosen for boys because it passes next to Europe's most important site for boys' and young men's casual clothes:

It comes from a cemetery, where everyone came to meet, fight, sell, flirt, party.

  

Tell them about the "Court of Miracles" next to it.

You will walk toward an arch of triumph that towers over the route: the link takes you to its story.

 

That France's most famous king (Louis XIV, the Sun King) was sorry he'd gone to war is a way to end the story.

'My child, you will be a great king; do not imitate me [...] in the taste I had for war; try on the contrary, to have peace with your neighbors [...] and to relieve your subjects, which unfortunately I did not do.' "

# # #

The arc is a few steps away from

where lived a witch,

who destabilized the Sun King's court.

 For the story please click here, 

and for the background here.

Show them the pictures.

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Next,

II.5.2.

Street art: signs and a true story

II.4.2. STREET ART AND A TRUE STORY

MENU: 2.4.2.Street art & true story

 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 discovering a neighborhood

• Kids relate to the troubles of a teen-aged king... 

• Start at this market

• Comme to a "castle"

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Kids relate to the troubles of a teen-aged king...

KIDS RELATE TO THE TROUBLES OF A TEEN-AGED KING...

AND HIS COUP D'ETAT INTRIGUES THEM*

*For how Louis XIII came to power, please 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)...

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 THROUGH KIDS' SHARP EYES

MENU: 2.4.4. Louvre through kids' sharp eyes

PAINTINGS SEND MESSAGES VIA ROMANS, OLD TESTAMENT FIGURES OR THE GODS  

Adults show kids how to look beneath the surface... 

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault, 1819

And benefit from their gift of observation:

        Dante's barque,1822

 

"Mommy, look at the vampire!," an eight-year-old cried out:

 

"That's the best part of my painting!," 

the artist had said.

-- Eugène Delacroix, age 26

For adults, more coming.

Here, starters for children

• The Mona Lisa, one masterpiece among a multitude

• Art that tells stories: Rubens's series for a queen

• Snapshot for adults

• Finding your way through the huge museum

• Rewards

• Save the blockbusters for last

• Outdoor ending

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Next,

The Mona Lisa, one masterpiece among a multitude

II.4.3. A MINI-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.5.4.

New horizons