A Trip to France

Bon Voyage!!!  You are going to take a trip to a very exciting
place and learn some new art techniques and project ideas while 
you are there.

Here are a few French words you will need to know on your journey:

Bonjour or Salut means Hi, Hello or you can say Ca va "How's it going"
L'artiste is an artist, and there have been many great one's in France.
La peinture is a painting and that is something that we will create
on this "voyage".  Yes, you know lots of French words already.
There are a number of American cities founded by French explorers, like
Detroit, Michigan, Baton Rouge, Louisana, and St. Louis, Missouri that
have French names.

DID YOU KNOW?

That it was a French architect, Pierre L'Enfant who designed the layout
of Washington D.C. and that the wonderful Statue of Liberty was a gift
from the French people to the people of the United States.

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT FRANCE

France is the largest country in Western Europe.  Its capital is Paris.
It has a long beautiful coastline with the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterrean
Sea.  It borders Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, and 
Belgium, and is divided from Great Britian by the English Channel.

Politically, France is a Republic, the French flag is tricolor-blue,
red, and white and was first used in the French Revolution of l789.
The money currency is the French franc.   La Marseillaise, created
by a solider, is the French national anthem.  Bastille Day on July
14 is an important festival day celebrating this Revolution where masses
of ordinary French citizens stormed the Bastille prison in revolt.

French cooking, art, and fashion are recognized all over the world.
The Eiffel Tower is a landmark of Paris, France and is 1,000 ft. 
high.  Another high and popular place in France are the French alps.
Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the alps-it is 15,781 ft. high.

France is known for it's perfumes which use locally grown wild lavender, jasmine, violets,
orange blossom and more.  You can create your own perfume sachets using
recycling techniques in this fun project.

Handmade Perfume Sachets

THIS IS AN ADULT SUPERVISED PROJECT

1.  Place chamomile, rose, and lavender in a saucepan.
2.  Cover it with about l and l/2 cups of water or until the water
just slightly covers the flowers.
3.  Place the seting on a low heat and simmer for about an hour.  You
don't want the recipe to boil.  
4.  Set the perfumed water aside.
Optional:  A non-cooking way to create the perfume is to use potpourri
(about a cup) as the perfume by mixing it with the mixture below.
Now you need to make the paper for the sachets.

1. Find old envelopes or old test papers or your parents junk 
mail and tear enough to fill a blender to the top.
2.  Next pour your perfumed water into the blender and mix until
you finish counting to 30.
3.  Next lay a paper towel flat and place a plastic yarn screen
(you can get them for about 30 cents in the craft supply store)
on top of the paper towel.  Pour out enough of your perfumed pulp
to cover the screen and paper towel.
4.  Next lay a paper towel on top of the perfumed pulp that you
have spread onto the plastic screen and pat out excess water.
5.  Now flip the entire plastic screen over and pat the other 
paper towel, exsponging as much water as you can.  You can use
a sponge instead of a paper towel.
6.  Repeat this step until you can see that your perfumed pulp
has turned to a sheet of handmade paper.  
7.  Let it dry in the sun preferably, and cut into smaller pieces of
sachet.
8.  You can make bookmarks and keychains also.

Visit a real life French Perfum Museum Virtually and take a tour.

Grasse's Museum

http://www.museesdegrasse.com/MIP/fla_ang/mip_accueil_html.shtml

French Costume Design

Paris is the fashion capital of the world and you can create your own
model and fashions using the following ideas.

1.  Lay out a large sheet of butcher paper and lay down on it face up.
2.  Ask a friend or parent to trace the outline of your body.
3.  Cut out the shape and laminate it.  You can find laminating machines  at most
Teacher Supply stores.
Now you have a model of yourself that you can dress for a fashion
show.

Next, you will need fabrics.  Using butcher paper create designs
in crayon and then paint watercolor or tempera over the designs.

Now it is time to create unique fashions for your model.

Pointillist Paintings

Georges Seurat was a French pointillist painter and you can
learn more about him and do a french pointillist painting by
following the link entitled Art History for Kids below.

You will Find Lots of Information about France on these Pages & More Art Ideas