On Monday afternoon I went with S's class to the Salvador Dali museum in Paris's picturesque Montemarte district. We climbed the steps towards the giant wedding cake of Sacré Coeur and you couldn't help but be reminded of Madeline with all the little kids holding hands and in a line.
The kids toured the museum for about fifteen minutes with a guide who asked them to look for things in the lithos and sculptures "do you see a snail? a bird?" and then they went upstairs and did a little atelier of painting. The atelier was well done if not a little messy. They should have warned some of the parents because all of the kids were dressed smartly for their big day out and in fact it was like the messiest day of preschool ever, oops.
This museum is nice but it's more of a tribute museum with mostly lithos and maybe eight bronze sculptures scattered about. There's a Dali museum near my hometown in St. Petersburg, Florida that's truly mindboggling (you leave cross eyed!), so I was kind of disappointed that there were none of those huge floor to ceiling canvases. There are no canvases for that matter and to really appreciate Dali I think you have to delve into one of his worlds through paint not ink, or at least it's lots more fun that way. Ah yes, alas I'm a Dali snob I guess.
The kids still had fun though and the museum itself is in a wonderful spot and has an interesting interior. I'll drag Little S to the big one in St. Petersburg next time time I visit home so he can see more of le messieur avec la moustache because I'd pretty much never thought about how attractive a personality like Dali can be for children.
6 comments:
I too found the one in St. Pete crossed my eyes. My husband loved it, but I found it a bit overwhelming. And yes, I am not far from your hometown - about an hour east on "the corridor". And now you understand my school concerns ;)
My daughter took her girls aged 6 and 4 to the one just over the border in Spain. http://www.salvador-dali.org/. they loved it.
I think French school kids have the best outings ever!
hexe - I think drinks are in order next visit.
Peggy - I'm adding that to my tour of Spain list. It looks really interesting.
Meredith - Yes they do and if we're lucky we can squeeze in as assistants which I totally did. There were six assistant parents!
What a great outing for the kids and parents, too! Recently in the Washington Post Travel section there was an article about the "off the beaten path" art scene in and around Paris. They seemed like interesting spots, nmaybe not all suited for exploring with children, but interesting.
hmm I'll see if I can find it online. Thanks.
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