Looking to the Future!

Last Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of our move to France and we wanted to do something memorable and fun.  A decade is quite a milestone and although we have on several occasions flirted with the idea of moving back to England we're still here!

There are things I miss about English life - family, friends and good old English pubs to name but a few - but as the years go by whenever I have enjoyed a visit England I'm always happy to be back on the French soil I now consider home.

In my line of work as a brocanteuse I spend much of my time looking back to the past so I thought it would be a good idea to shake things up a bit and look to the future for a change.  There is an attraction not too far from us that does just that - Futuroscope (the clue is in the name!)

The entrance to Futuroscope

Futuroscope is a high-tech amusement park that has many attractions, many of which are 3D experiences. These experiences are often educational as well as fun and although the queues are incredibly long you do learn a lot while you wait.

Les Lapins Crétins (bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!)

One of the only attractions that didn't have an educational slant was Les Lapins Crétins (The Raving Rabbids) which was completely bonkers and light relief after having learnt about the polluted oceans, collisions in the universe and the trials of a 1930s US airmail man who, having crashed over the Andes, undertook a harrowing journey to get home (Disneyland it is not!)

The 3D and in some cases 4D experiences (Arthur was 4D and probably the best attraction!) were amazing and we couldn't stop grinning as we got chucked around on moving armchairs or vibrating platforms and sprayed with water or jets of air (all perfectly synchronised with the story).  

The 'Wings of Courage' (the aforementioned airmail film) was just beautiful.  This 3D movie in the IMAX cinema style transported us back to the 1930s and I felt as though I was in the bar as elegant dancers passed before my eyes.  I particularly loved the period costume, all the vintage trucs and the glamorous interior design.

I must add a little word of warning - it's best to avoid some of the attractions straight after lunch as you do get jiggled about a lot!  For a more gentle experience we went on La Girotour which took us up 45 metres for a panoramic view of the park.  I am a little scared of heights so was a bit anxious but it wasn't too bad once I got used to it and I think it does me good to get the old adrenalin going and face some fears once in a while (within reason!)

View of the Park from La Girotour

One thing we did notice was that although many of the attractions said that they provided headphones in different languages these were not on offer.  For us this wasn't a problem as after ten years we have learnt just about enough of la langue française to understand the majority of what was being said but it would have lessened the experience if we hadn't.  I'm sure that in high season these headphones are made available so it wouldn't be an issue and from what I saw I think we were the only foreign people in the park so I could see why they didn't bother.  

One attraction that I would like to forget was 'The 8th Continent', a game where you had to shoot with a laser gun pollutants of the sea. For the first round I settled myself astride a jet-ski and began to shoot at the screen as monsters made up of rubbish that had been jettisoned into the sea. To be honest I didn't know what I was doing and having scored a sorry 50 points I was singled out as the crappiest shooter in the room and my picture was put on the big screen (of shame!).  I did make up for it on the second round as I realised that my strategy of aiming at things wasn't working and just pulled the trigger as much as I could. Annoyingly Spike was in the top 10! 

All in all it was a really fun day but very tiring and I would recommend a two day pass to get around everything and make the most of it.  I found the queueing difficult and was staggered at the patience of the children and at how well behaved they were (I started playing up towards the end and I'm 44!).  There are premium passes available where you can skip the queues but these obviously come at a cost and the daggers looks that these quietly apologetic families received may have taken the shine off a bit!

The ancient city of Poitiers just 15 minutes by car from Futuroscope 

I would definitely struggle at Futuroscope in the summer with the crowds and the heat but the attractions are so wonderful (especially The Little Prince which in my opinion was completely magical) it's well worth a visit and if you have the time the nearby ancient city of Poitiers is also a must see.