Day Two – “I could do that.”

Today was Big Museum Day, beginning with the Louvre. Ruby began by sketching in the Egyptian antiquities area. We spent a lot of time with the ancients, but thought the human mummy was a let down. The cat and fish mummies were much cooler. We stormed through the Italians, French and Spanish painters. Two of my favorites: the famous French “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite” painting – by the way, why does France’s symbol of freedom storm into battle with her bosom hanging out? – and one by Panini.

We finally found the Mona Lisa, but Ruby seemed disappointed by the crowd and the distance we had to keep from the painting. It’s kind of small and not exactly overwhelming. We liked the other stuff much better.

Before we got to the museum we made a list of 20 things to find in the paintings – things like a dead fish, a girl in a fancy dress, a pope, a soldier, etc. We found everything but an umbrella, Marie Antoinette and the painting of the Card Sharper. The scavenger hunt was really fun.

Outside the Louvre, Ruby had fun playing hide and seek in the bushes. The garden logic here seems to be dubious: you can’t walk on the grass, but it’s OK to dive in and out of the bushes at the world’s most famous museum?

On to the Pompidou. Ruby loved this stop. Not for the modern art. For the performance art. Outside we watched a very funny juggler, a woman playing a didjeridoo, and a man playing a kind of inverted steel drum. She found that much superior to the Picassos, Klees, and Chagall’s inside. Ruby’s most common comments: “I could do that,” and “I don’t get it.” Ah, we are raising a sophisticate.

A long, meandering walk took us to a plaza with a giant stone head that Ruby and a bunch of other kids clambered all over. Some of her favorite moments here have just been hanging out with other kids, playing. She’s almost 10, but she’s still a little girl.