Monument jeu d’enfant

After a leisurely morning of marketing and house keeping, we brought a picnic with us to the park, wanting to take advantage of the nice weather while it lasts. It's fun to see how confident the kids have become at the playground. Ella climbs up the climbing walls easily and even Jonah climbs ladders like a pro (he gets a lot of practice climbing because of going to child care on Montmartre!). On the way, the street performers were out in force (also taking advantage of the nice weather). We watched a good juggler and a terrific 5 piece big brass band set up on a bridge leading to the ile-de-la-cite.

We then went to one of the events planned for the Monument jeu d’enfant. This was an organized effort to get children to visit some of the nationally owned monuments. We went to the event at the Conceigerie, the prison where among others, Marie Antoinette was held until her execution. They had organized a festival of entertainment of the Middle Ages, primarily featuring mime and marionettes. We watched a fantastic puppet show (in one scene: one hand was the sculptor who shaped the other hand into a sculpture of a person, who then became the artist), and then Ella went to a pantomime atelier. They pantomimed walking like giants, carrying heavy trays, juggling, getting dressed in knight's armor, and so on. She had a blast. Both kids got to try out working a marionette, and did a stained glass art project. We also got to look around the prison a bit which was quite interesting - they have replicas of various cells (those for poor prisoner, rich prisoners, famous prisoners, etc), and fascinating historical information.