5 exhibitions to see with the family in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse and Bordeaux

CULTURE – They are here! The first vacation of the 2024-2025 school year begins this Saturday, October 19 and will end on Sunday, November 3. The opportunity to relax with family, but also to learn about yourself in museums with our selection of exhibitions in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse. On the program: comics, LEGOs, statues, photos, an audiovisual experience and even a contemporary art fair.

1. Silex and the City at the Museum of Man

For this first invitation, go to the Paleolithic era, 40,000 years in the past. If that’s a bit far, you can always go to the Foyer Germaine Tillion at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. The 200 m² space shows behind the scenes of the creation of the comic strip Silex and the City. In it, the designer Jul recounts the adventures of the Dotcom family and their friends by mixing the life of the first Homo sapiens and contemporary references from the internet or pop culture. For a perfect prehistoric presentation, lithic tools and other objects from the museum’s collection are also on display.

The exhibition Silex and the City lasts until December 29, 2024 at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris. Entrance costs between €12 (reduced) and €15 (full) and is free for under-26s and certain professions.

2. Rodin / Bourdelle. Melee

At the Bourdelle Museum in Paris, the student is exhibited alongside the master. The sculptures of Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929) are compared with those of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), of whom he was a practitioner for fifteen years. Four sections and an epilogue bring together the most beautiful works of the two French sculptors who spanned the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. A collection of 160 works, 60 of which are on loan from the Rodin Museum, and which brings together 96 sculptures, 38 drawings, 26 photographs and 3 paintings created by the two artists.

Accessible free for under 18s, entry for Rodin / Bourdelle. Melee varies between €8 and €10. The exhibition is open until February 2, 2025. Access to the permanent collection of the Bourdelle Museum in Paris is free for everyone, all year round.

3. The Art of the Brickbricks and brock

From Los Angeles to Paris, via Tokyo, New York, Zurich or Hamburg, The Art Of Brick has traveled to more than 80 cities covering all continents since its creation in 2007. But since the beginning of September, the traveling exhibition has been installed in the Hôtel-Dieu in Lyon. A perfect place to admire the 150 LEGO sculptures created by artist Nathan Sawaya. Ranked among CNN’s 10 must-see world exhibitions in 2011, it required more than a million bricks.

Located at the Grand Hôtel-Dieu hotel in Lyon, The Art of the Brick displays prices ranging from €10.90 to €13.90 per entry. A VIP pass containing skip-the-line entry, an exclusive poster and pin is also available for an additional €7.

4. Open your eyesto take in the sights

After its one-month break between the end of August and the beginning of October, the Musée des Abattoirs in Toulouse is exhibiting 300 photographic works, in collaboration with the Galerie Le Château d’Eau. There you can (re)discover the work of famous photographers including Hans Bellemer, Robert Doisneau, Agnès Varda and Jean Dieuzade, illustrating the history of photography from its beginnings in the 20th century until today. The thematic tours are complemented by a selection of artists’ books and rare works from the libraries of the two public establishments.

Direction Les Abattoirs, Museum – Frac Occitanie Toulouse to admire Open your eyes and its hundreds of photos on display until May 5, 2025. The reduced price starts at €6, while the full price is €12, access is free for children under 12 years old.

5. The Little Prince: The immersive Odyssey

A plane trip that ends up in the desert, the drawing of a sheep that makes crates, a fox and a snake talking, a rose to be preserved from planet to planet… Go back to childhood and discover the plethoric world of the book The Little Prince through the watercolors and words of its author Saint-Exupéry, which come to life on the floors, walls and in the enclosures of the Bassins de Lumières de Bordeaux.

To see and listen The Little Prince: The immersive Odysseyit costs between €7 for holders of the Bordeaux Métropole youth card and €15 for adults. Reduced youth and senior rates are also available. You have until February 2, 2025 to go to the Bassins des Lumières in Bordeaux.

Bonus. Art Basela weekend dedicated to contemporary art

Since its first French edition in 2022, the contemporary art fair has taken place in the Grand Palais in Paris for a weekend filled with artistic events and exhibitions. This year, the event returns with more than 200 exhibitors.

For lovers of contemporary art, access to the Grand Palais in Paris is from October 18 to 20, for €26 to €44 per entry. Free exhibitions are also offered all weekend in places across the capital.

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