Parks, Gardens and Sites

Theme Park

Disneyland is Paris' biggest attraction. It is located 20 miles from the centre of Paris and it is conveniently connected by public transport. The magical world of Walt Disney will please children of all ages. It offers superb entertainment, sports and leisure facilities and other attractions : day and night parades, shows, a variety of shops and restaurants.

Leisure Park

The France Miniature is an outdoor park easily accessible from Paris. It displays the different faces of France in miniature scale. It has over 200 models. New models are added every year. All the major sites, castles and monuments can be toured very "quickly" in this special park. It is particularly aimed at children and designed to be educational and fun.The aquatic sound and light show were added in 1999.

Amusement Park

Besides Disneyland the other popular theme park is the Parc Astérix. It is located about 35 kilometres north of Paris in a beautiful setting. It is easily reachable from Charles de Gaulle airport. The park is based on comic books and you can meet the heros : Astérix, Obélix and friends. There are plenty of rides, water rides, hair-raising rides and the new Oxygenarium ride in inflatable boats. There is also a dolphin show. It has many other attractions for children and adults. There are restaurants and take-away outlets.

Cimetiére du Pére Lachaise

At begining the Père Lachaise" was a poor district, with many outlaws, winding streets, shady avenues. It's located on a old hill of ?Champ l'Evêque", where a rich merchant built his house in 1430. In the 17th century the Jésuit, converted it into a hospice for members of their order. It became a meeting place under influence of ?Père Lachaise" Louis XIV's confessor. In 1803, under Napoléon, the Prefect of Paris bought it to built a cemetery. It was an incredibly successful piece of land speculation. Nicolas Frochot, the urban planner who bought the land, persuaded the civil authorities to reburied Molière, La Fontaine, Abélard and Héloïse in his new cemetery. Quickly the Père-Lachaise became the ultimate symbol for the rich and successful. Ironically Frochot, even sold a plot to the original owner for considerably more money than the price he had paid for the entire site. Even today, the rates are still extremely high. Some of the most celebrated dead have unremarkable tombs while those whose fame died with them or who were nonentities to start with have the most expressive monuments.

Jardin du Luxembourg

The Jardin du Luxembourg is one of Paris' most beloved parks, offering a myriad of fountains, statues of queens and poets, as well as tennis courts and spaces for playing boules. Children enjoy its parc à jeux (playground) and the théâtre des marionettes (puppet theater).

Jardin d'Acclimatation

In 1854, three scientists got from Emperor Napoleon III, 37.5 acres in the Bois de Boulogne in order to breed different sorts of animals to be used either for industrial, commercial or educational purposes . The Jardin d'Acclimatation was inaugurated on october 6, 1854.

In 1952, a new firm took over the "Jardin d'Acclimatation" and created the very first family entertainment park in France. It offered both the scientific and educative side inherited from Napoleon III and the entertainment side of Luna Park. As years went by the "Jardin d'Acclimatation" remained cultural and educationnal : in 1970 creation of a farm whith it's domestic animals, in 1973 "opening of a Theater" and in 1977 appeared a Museum dedicated to initiate children to Art "Musee en Herbe".

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