France Miniature

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This unusual park west of Paris contains a gigantic map of France spread over five hectares (twelve acres) of land arranged in the shape of the country. The map is peppered with more than 2000 models, including 150 models of French landmarks at 1/30 scale. The models are outdoors and are arranged on the giant map/park in roughly the same relative position that they occupy in real life. Lagoons simulate the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

The models in this park are extremely well executed, and if you squint a bit it is easy to forget that they are just models (at least until a 60-metre giant walks in front of them!). The models are not entirely static, either: trains run throughout the park, following the same routes they would follow in real life, with the same rolling stock; cars speed down highways; boats move in and out of harbors; and even aircraft taxi around airports. Some of the models are necessarily huge, too: The model of the Eiffel Tower is three stories high and had to be brought in by helicopter. Models include people, vehicles, animals, and the like (although the living creatures are not animated—they are pretty small at 1/30 scale).

The park is open during the summer and during most of the spring and fall, and admission is only ten dollars or so (12.50 €, last time I was there, but it keeps going up). It’s a good value. In addition to the giant outdoor map of France, there are several restaurants and snack bars, and a large indoor exposition of extraordinarily detailed miniatures.

I visited this park on a nice day in May, and it was quite crowded. Tourists know virtually nothing about this park, so almost all the visitors are French. It’s a great way to see the major attractions of France if you don’t have the time or resources to visit them all in person. Even Paris and Versailles are quite impressively covered, despite the fact that the real landmarks are only a few kilometres away. (Note that you are not likely to ever see the real landmarks from this perspective!)

This park is owned by the same company that owns the popular Parc Astérix north of Paris.

You are looking approximately northwest in the photo, from the southwest corner of “France” near “St. Tropez.”

Photographed on May 7, 2000.