BIG day today. Back to the Louvre.
We scheduled the Louvre on Friday because a) fewer crowds (thanks Rick Steves!) and also because of the late hours. Technically, if something happens, like a giant line or a meltdown, the Louvre allows for multiple entries within the same day so we thought “just in case” we didn’t get to see everything and had to come back that night we could.
With museum passes at the ready, we played the “what entrance to try this time?” game on the way to the Louvre and decided to at least walking by the pyramid entrance for the kids. Our daughter is in love with the pyramid so even if we just scoped out the line and went underground (as we did in 2012 and 2014 it would work out. All this planning and there was seriously zero line. To the Louvre. On a beautiful sunny day. We’ve never seen such a thing. We took the escalator downstairs, crammed our winter coats into one locker and we were off!
Louvre Strategy
Our “must see” list was predictably a bit longer for this magnificent museum. The kids had Venus di Milo, Mona Lisa, and some French paintings (“shipwreck” and “France’s flag!”) from their not-quite flashcards they had to see. Dan had the Venus too and other Greek antiquities but also the Géricault and the Delacroix and, time permitting, Claude Lorrain’s Seaport at Sunset. (Lorraine was a favorite of English painter JMW Turner, in turn, mentioned previously on this blog because of Dan and our son’s obsession with Hannibal. Which comes full circle shortly.) Betsy was just game for the whole experience and for making sure we kept the entire visit around 90 minutes (not an easy task!).
We went directly to the Venus di Milo. Beautiful. Minimal crowds, great lighting. The kids asked if they could sketch her (what have we started?!) but this time we stayed against a wall in the background. They drew for 15 minutes, comparing progress and with a little how-to lecturing from our son to his sister.
Meanwhile Dan made a quick lap around the other Greek sculpture galleries to visit Homer bust, Aphrodite, and the others. He can’t wait to go back when the kids are a bit older. Maybe even after a family trip to Greece some time.
When Dan got back we packed up the portable art stations and were on our way to out when the kids caught another artist, this time a grown man, sketching a different statue. “This is what you were talking about!?” Yes. Real artists study the masters. You are real artists just like this man. They watched him in awe for a few minutes and then it was prime time upstairs.
The long Denon wing was pretty busy but tolerable. Dan got distracted by some da Vinci’s having recently read Issacson’s new biography but we’d see them again on the way out. The kids wanted to see the Mona Lisa. Always a crowd there and our daughter needed a break so the boys went in first. Lots of people, small painting, hard to see. But they loved that they knew what it was and that they had seen it. After Mona we took a break in the long hall and sat (in real seats) and drew a bit, practiced letters, and rested while Dan (again) took the small window to explore. Upon his return we made a beeline for the French paintings to see the “shipwreck” and “lady liberty.” The works are enormous and seemed to revitalize us all. The latter has a tiny Notre Dame hiding in the background that the kids already knew about so they were excited to try and find it now that we knew our apartment was nearby (almost 200 years after the painting was completed anyway).
A few more quick stops on the way out before grabbing our gear from the lockers and we were out in the brisk sunshine ready to have our packed lunch in the Tuileries Garden. Perfection.
Tuileries Garden
Once the front yard to royalty, now just 2 min walk from the pyramid for everyone to enjoy. The place is huge. Flowers, walkways, giant fountains, all surrounded by a scattering of those iconic green chairs.
We pulled 4 chairs together, passed around the handsanitizer, and talked about the successful trip to the Louvre over sandwiches and fruit. Someone dropped a ½ sandwich that was immediately jumped on by some friendly but greedy birds. One in particular had a very unique shine to his feathers and the kids named him Francois. “You know, because he’s from France” they told us. He didn’t seem to mind.
Trash away, we walked, per our plan, to the wonderful playground area at the far side of the park. Tall slides, cargo nets, and a host of other activities, including a merry-go-round and a trampoline…environment? Whatever you call eight trampolines connected in one place with a bunch of kids in different languages bouncing around. The weather was cooling down with some added cloud cover but we kept warm climbing and jumping and playing. The kids had a great time and we were in no hurry to get anywhere.
Well done, we told ourselves.
Next we had a decision to make: head home or make a (quick) stop at the Musée de l’Orangerie, which is at the far end of the Tuileries Garden, to see Monet’s Water Lilies. Betsy remains our voice of reason and having just eaten and played we thought we’d give it a shot. But first(!), we had to make a quick stop at one of the many statues that line the main walkway through the Tuileries Garden. Months ago Dan saw an Instagram post of a Hannibal statue in the Tuileries, bookmarked it, used Google Earth to locate it in the park, and added to our Paris 2018 Google map. Seemed ridiculous at the time but, as you can see (left), Dan and our son were very excited to see that Carthaginian warmonger. Fun.
Musée de l’Orangerie
Vastly underrated, this modest museum houses the enchanting Water Lilies of Claude Monet as well as other Impressionist and modern artists like Picasso. Like the Notre Dame, Mona Lisa, and Lady Liberty, we had prepared for the Water Lilies and so started with that, like a dessert before a meal. The Picasso and Renoirs downstairs would be optional.
Museum passes covered our entry, checked coats and bags, opted out of audio guide, and with portable art stations in hand headed into the very unique oval-shaped rooms that house Monet’s masterpieces.
It’s whisper quiet in these rooms with several security guards. On previous trips there were no cameras allows but looks like that ban was compromised to a “no flash!” policy. We walked up close to the walled paintings and talk about how we could see the many colors and the brushstrokes and how Monet really did have a garden and that he painted many versions of his water lilies.
After a quick walk through the few rooms they grabbed a seat and began sketching their own copies. Scratch, scratch, scratching the colored pencils in Impressionist style. Our (for the moment) perfectly behaved children caught the attention of mom and young daughter who kindly smiled and said hello. Dan immediately offered the young girl (4 years old it turns out) if she’d like to draw too. She said yes before the mom could politely decline so here were three wonderful kids sketching away. Very neat.
We eventually made it downstairs though admittedly spending barely 15 minutes to walk through. We’d seen much of this art previously but we (the grownups) were pretty tired by then and were going through the motions a bit.
That is, until the kids started shouting “Notre Dame! Notre Dame!” There was a diptych (had to Google that term) that included a Notre Dame.
The kids were oddly excited to see this. Maybe it was the pride of not having to have it pointed out. Either way, on the border of grumpy, tired, and hungry, their little identification in unison gave us the boost we needed to hop a bus and head home (making a special stop back at Berthillon as we did a couple days before).
talk soon,
Dan & Betsy
Lessons learned:
Louvre
- portable art stations are amazing
- kids have actual and lasting favorites (Venus di Milo, Winged Victory, and the shipwreck, in particular)
- must-sees first strategy is a keeper
Tuileries
- packed lunch a big highlight for everyone (cheap and easy too)
- playground could be a day in and of itself
- Hannibal!!!
l’Orangerie
- everyone like water lilies
- great as addition to Louvre, but might be pushing it for 3 and 5 year old with jet lag (parents too)
- underrated
Full disclosure: We back date our on-trip posts for two reasons. First, to give you a better picture of the day-to-day family travel experience, and most importantly, when we travel as a family we are focused on our own activities and experiences. Upon return home we gather up notes and pictures and then post. Hope you’ll understand:).