Ecomusée de la Foret

Yesterday was a red-letter day: the first time I took Gregory to a museum. Ever since I heard I was going to get a nephew, I imagined the time when Auntie E would have a small person to go to the museum with. To start what I hope will be a beautiful tradition, we visited the Ecomuseum of the Forest.

This outdoor ‘museum’, between Aix-en-Provence and Gardanne, consists of a trail through the forest with different activities at intervals, plus an exhibition inside. The trail is pretty long for someone only just two, but Gregory was great company. He skipped through the forest, for all the world like Christopher Robin. (Does that make me the bear of little brain?)

He carefully considered the artworks,

And the little cabin in the woods.

He checked out the yurt, and the stripes made by the shadows.

And – oh, I love this photograph – every now and then he looked up at the metal slats of the roof and just laughed.

He assembled – against all the rules – a collection of sticks. (I had to dispose of it in secret later.)

When he got tired, I carried him on my shoulders. And every now and then he would lean down and give me an unsolicited kiss on the cheek. It’s enough to make an aunt’s heart grow three sizes inside her chest.

Then we went back to the information centre and the permanent exhibition. This wall was great: different stations where you could touch specimens, smell smells (good and bad) and hear the sounds of birds and animals. Though some of these were a bit too real for Gregory who wasn’t at all sure that a big animal wasn’t hiding behind the wall to come and get him.

Sadly the café was closed for renovation and we were both thirsty so we left shortly afterwards. The forest was beautiful but I wouldn’t rate the Museum that highly … but that didn’t stop us having a great time together.