"ELANCOURT" Élancourt by aliante1981

Elancourt is a charming little town near Paris, mostly famous for being the site of 'France in Miniature' park. Going there I felt like Gulliver in the land of Lilliput. In just one glance, I could discover the finest jewels of the architectural and historical heritage of France.

The France Miniature Park is in the shape of a relief map of France, spread over an area of 5 hectares. It is animated by planes, trains, ships and cars. Certain monuments are illustrated by a sound track and music. In short, it is an entire country on a reduced scale, making it a lively lesson in geography, history, and art.

From the Eiffel Tower to the Ch?teau of Versailles, from Fort Boyard to the Stadium of France, from the Ch?teau of Chambord to the Arena of Arles, you can discover many different facets of French geography, history and architecture.

I can imagine how difficult it was, given the wide variety of historical monuments and picturesque villages in France, to select the most attractive sites and present them in the manner of a photo album (but in relief). These monuments and villages form the memory of France; they are the deep roots of the country and relate more than 2000 years of its history.

'Must See' tips on this page cover each individual monument I can remember from the park ? I guess it?ll take me time and memory effort to complete this one. Just be patient with me, OK? And in the meantime, feel free to enjoy the descriptions of the miniatures I?ve already posted here.

FRANCE IN MINIATURE IN FIGURES

This is the biggest miniature park in Europe covering a map of France with a surface area of more than 5 hectares

- More than 150 French landscapes reconstituted

- 140 representations of the finest monuments

- The longest outdoor miniature railway network.

- 60,000 figurines, 20,000 miniature trees, 5 rivers and estuaries and 10 other rivers and 5 acres of sea.

- More than 100 boats and ships, windsurf boards, a motorway with moving vehicles, the Montmartre funicular railway, a fairground and so on

- The Palace of Miniatures

- The interiors of 50 unusual or prestigious places reproduced down to the tiniest detail.

• In a nutshell:A delightful place to visit for adults, and a possible break for kids after Louvre and Orsay museums:))