The largest miniature park in the world is located in the nearest suburb of Paris, 10 kilometers from Versailles and is called “France en Miniature” (France en Miniature). It is interesting for both adults and children, especially if you are just starting to explore this magical multifaceted country – France.
Wonder Park was created by the famous master of miniature Dan Ohlmann. Alsatian by birth, living in Lyon, he turned miniature into a real art. Each tiny piece on display here is made of several hundred tiny parts. Sometimes, it seems that this reduced world is more real than the one we live in, because you can see it up close! The master worked on his creation for fifteen years.
The creation of the park required huge financial investments and time. For example, the model of the Château de Chambord took more than 2000 hours of work and cost about 500 thousand francs. On the model of the stadium Stade de France (Stade de France) near Paris you can see 50,000 figures of spectators, and all of them are hand-painted. The full realization of the project of the park of Versailles (Parc de Versailles) took about a year. And parts of the Eiffel Tower (la tour Eiffel), located in the central part of the park, were assembled by helicopter!
If to tell about this sight in the language of figures, it will turn out that: as many as 160 historical monuments representing all regions of France, 60 000 different characters, more than 25 000 thousand trees – dwarf trees so that they did not cover the panorama when viewing, 5 rivers flow through the territory, 100 ships float on 2 hectares of the sea, cars move in opposite directions on the highway, the imagination is amazed by the funicular of Montmartre – it is working! All on a scale of 1:30.
The main purpose of the park is to give visitors an idea of the main sights of France, what is worth seeing during their stay in this country. All exhibits are located in accordance with their actual position on the map of France and are not only miniature copies of famous sights, but also fragments of cities and regions of the country, lagoons with piers, railroads and bridges!
The park is very conveniently organized: all objects are numbered, and if you go around it as it is recommended in the brochure given at the entrance, you can go around all the objects of the park, having seen it completely. And knowledge of the language, as, however, and always when visiting tourist objects of France, you practically will not need.
Every year the number of beautifully made mini-masterpieces increases and their location allows you to use the park as, by and large, a living map of magnificent France. The plants planted around the models represent the real flora of each particular region and are selected and cultivated exclusively by specialists.
Unfavorable weather conditions harm the miniature exhibits and therefore the park is closed during the sad cold months from November to March. Before traveling, you should be sure to check the park’s schedule – just in case.
