Frida et Moi

So much has happened in the past few days that I find myself needing to catch up.  I'll begin with a trip the boys and I took to the Centre Pompidou on Monday.  I had mentioned that I was going to start off with a children's museum to get them ready for something a little more formal and this seemed like a perfect opportunity.  The Centre Pompidou is the museum of modern art here in Paris and you can't miss it because it looks like a building that's been turned inside out with pipes in bright, bold colours running all round it's exterior.  On the first floor they have a Galerie des Enfants where hands-on activities help introduce children to the work of a specific artist.  The current exhibit, Frida et Moi, is all about the surrealist Frida Kahlo.

 

The boys loved the chance to sit and draw on these large white boards.

 

This little area was supposed to teach children about how the outdoors were significant to Frida--it's supposed to look like a grove of trees and it had nature sounds piped in.  My boys were just glad for the chance to jump and run a bit.

 

A photo booth with changeable backdrops and interesting props was a fun place to play.

 

At this station you pushed buttons to start a narration explaining the different pieces.  They were, of course, far more interested in the buttons than in the objects.

 

When we finally had our fill of the Galerie des Enfants it was time to ride the covered escalators with their view of the city.  You'd have thought this was a carnival ride the boys were so excited.

 

We ventured into some of the main exhibits but the boys were immediately frustrated by the taboo on touching.  Luckily we happened upon this quirky room that was meant to be explored and touched.  We found it just as a noisy school group of children not much older than Eliot was making their way out.  We spent a good chunk of time here.

 

Eliot and Peter do really well considering they're two energetic little boys.  Last week Spencer took Eliot out to a museum of science and technology during Peter's nap.  As they left I ran to our balcony and snapped this photo of them walking away down our street (can you see them?)  It was so sweet to see Spencer striding purposefully along with Eliot by the hand.  Eliot had the wriggly movements of a puppy and was looking at everything.  Sometimes it's good for me to step back like that and see them with a more distant eye.  It reminds me that they're just little boys trying to take in this great big world.