Joie de vivre ... some of the park's wild architecture.Credit: AFP
Judith Woods finds carpet 'rides', virtual creatures and thrilling cuisine in technology-driven theme park.
MY DAUGHTER and I are hurtling in a car along a narrow cobblestone backstreet, pressed back into our seats by a combination of g-force and fear, the wind billowing in our hair. Pedestrians are screaming and flinging themselves out of our way; the local flower-seller leaps for safety as we plough into his barrow; and when someone sneezes we are showered with liquid.
Then the lane starts narrowing to an apex and I howl in terror - until my seven-year-old grabs me by the arm and stage-whispers: "It's all right, mummy, it's only pretend."
This was our thrilling introduction to Futuroscope, France's phantasmagorical theme park near Poitiers, which, as its name suggests, offers a futuristic vision of land, sea, sky and cosmos, using state-of-the-art technology.
Now, I must lay my cards on the table and state for the record that, for me, a day at a theme park - any sort of theme park - has always qualified as the seventh circle of holiday hell.
Yet Futuroscope is at once exhilarating, engaging and (don't tell the children) educational. The very skyline of the place - space-age globes, prisms and a towering crystalline auditorium - hints at an experience that's out of the ordinary and it's certainly worth the €35 ($50) an adult and €26 a child ticket.
Looking ahead... Futuroscope rides take visitors into a bold new world.Credit: AFP
We began with The Future is Wild, a Jurassic Park-style safari that took us on an interactive journey to see the creatures that may be inhabiting Earth 5 million, 100 million and 200 million years hence. Wearing binoculars containing an integral camera and interactive sensor bracelets, we settled into our expedition vehicles and set off.
Traversing virtual steppes, marshland and tropical jungle we saw spitfire birds, carakillers and toraton, although I couldn't honestly say which was which, because I had my eight-month-old baby squirming away on the seat beside me and there was a real risk she might topple out onto the computerised tundra and be devoured by a virtual squibbon.
Thanks to the sensor bracelet, my elder daughter, Lily, was able to reach out and "feed" the creatures.
Something small enough not to be too scary appeared to land on her hand, which was apparently a huge thrill, and then we all appeared to be transformed into tentacled giant squid. Without hesitation she pronounced this to be her favourite ride of the day.
Until, that is, we went to the Magic Carpet, where a unique underfloor projector meant that as well as watching the breathtaking wildlife cinematography on the screen in front of us we could see it below us, so we felt immersed in the film of seabirds and whales. This too was the favourite ride of the day - for several minutes.
Roll on dizzying treat number three and Dances with Robots. I assumed this would be a chance to take to a dance floor for a jerky jive with R2D2 and dispatched father and daughter for some bonding. Instead, it turned out to be a ride where they were strapped on to a seven-metre-high robot, which rocked, rolled and flipped them upside down to the tune of La Bamba. This was most definitely not Lily's favourite ride and her father was white as a sheet afterwards.
And so the day continued; there were boat trips featuring mounted water guns, an IMAX cruise along the Nile and cosmic explosions as the Andromeda galaxy crashed into the Milky Way.
By early evening we still hadn't seen everything but we were in need of a break, so we dined at Le Cristal, a fabulous Heston Blumenthal-meets-Willy Wonka restaurant, where the food smoked, foamed, fizzed and tricked both eyes and taste buds. There was foie gras mottled with cocoa, gelled chorizo with the texture of Edam, dual-cooked beef tenderloin in syrah polyphenols and petit fours that popped in the mouth like space dust. Even the baby's organic yoghurt had been aerated into such an extraordinary froth that I tried to return it to the kitchen because I thought she had been given a plateful of whipped cream by mistake. Needless to say, she polished off the lot.
Although it was a pricey €87 before wine, it was such a hilarious, memorable meal that I would wholeheartedly recommend it as top value for money. Each evening there's a spectacular show of music, lights and lasers devised by Yves Pepin, artistic adviser for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics. But after a day of multi-sensory stimulation, the baby wanted her bed, so we reluctantly headed home (wishing we had booked an on-site hotel) just as the first jets of flame illuminated the heavens. It was a fabulous day and we couldn't decide which ride was our favourite, vowing instead to return and try those we had missed. If Futuroscope is the shape of theme parks to come, I'm all for them.
Trip notes
Getting there
Air France partners with Qantas to fly from Sydney to Poitiers via Singapore and Paris, priced from $1980. 1300 390 190, airfrance.com. You can fly direct to Poitiers from London (Stansted) with Ryanair. Poitiers is 325 kilometres from Paris (take the A10). The TGV from Paris takes about 90 minutes.
Staying there
On site, the Hotel du Futuroscope, Hotel du Parc, Hotel Jules Verne and the Novotel all have rooms priced from €96 ($138) a person, twin share. +33 (0)5 4949 1111, hotels-futuroscope.biz.
Playing there
Futuroscope is open daily from February 6 to November 14. The evening show is included in the entry ticket price. +33 (0)5 4949 5906, uk.futuroscope.com.
Further information
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