The other day we woke up in Belgium to a rainy cloudy sky. We hadn’t really made plans for the day so we decided to drive to Lille, France to visit the Lam Modern Art Museum. After wrestling the kids out of their pajamas and into normal clothing (they wanted to stay home and read comics all day) we made it out the door.
Luckily the French border is mere minutes from where we were staying and we made it to the museum in less than half an hour. The kids were slowly getting over their dismay at being forced out of the house and by the time we saw the museum they were actually excited to visit it. They kept asking whether the “beetle-guy” (Jan Fabre) would be exhibiting seeing as it was a modern art museum. Unfortunately for them he wasn’t.
The Lam Musee d’Art Modern is a great museum to take kids. It has some really lovely permanent collections as well as temporary ones. The museum isn’t too big which means the kids can visit all the collections without getting too tired or “bored”.
The museum offers modern art collections as well as contemporary art collections. The kids loved all the cubist pieces and the way they evolved over time. I always find it amazing what kids notice in art and they way they communicate what they see. When they were looking at the Modigliani paintings they were commenting to each other on the ladies he painted and their long necks and noses, their blank eyes and sloped shoulders. They also really enjoyed the room with art brut. They loved reading the stories of the untrained artists and their life stories.
The museum offers (for a small fee) ipods for kids, teens and adults with guided tours of the museum. Our girls took the French version of the teen tour (after 4 years of French as a second language!).
After our successful trip to the museum the kids were motivated and excited to walk into town with a box of charcoal and some paper to do some sketching at the local convent.
They all found a little spot with a view and sketched away for the rest of the afternoon.
After the drawings were finished we headed to the local waffle shop (of course). All in all it was a perfect ending to our Belgian summer vacation.
Jillian In Italy 
Hi Jill,
lovely pictures from the kids. Lille is a very nice city to visit. Unfortunately it’s been quite some time since we’ve been there. Caroline likes to go there as well… to do some shopping off course 🙂
I like reading your articles! You’re very good at it. Congratulations.
Say Hello to Tom and the kids from us.
Looking forward to your next article…
Bye now,
Guy
Thanks Guy. Hope to see you guys next time we’re in Belgium. We missed you this time!
The convent sketches are fabulous – could you perhaps show them?
The kids left them for Mami. I’ll ask her to take a photo.
hope one of your new Travelling with Kids blog is about making the most of a trip to a museum. “Battling the ‘I’m Bored” syndrome.
Ah! This took me right back to our trip there many years ago. I had taken the kids into Lille on the train from Kortrijk, but we only had lunch. I was a bit overwhelmed by that point.
Your kids are quite the artists! Lovely sketches.
I still can’t believe you’ve been to Kortrijk. I find that so funny! Lille is a great city to have lunch and do a little bit of shopping. We go there almost every time we visit Belgium.
I do really Love the pics! Bravo! First visit to the LAM for me: http://www.organik-case.com/?p=205, trying to improve my level at photos… All the best, Clemjou
Great photos Clemjou! LAM is a great museum. We’ve been there several times and always enjoy it. Thanks for the visit.