Puy du Fou Part1

My stepmom gave me a pretty neat birthday present this year. A trip to a French  attraction park called the "Puy du Fou". The park is located in Vendée, about 750 km  from here, so quite a long drive but totally worth it.
Though it was elected "best attraction park" in the world, I am suprised it is so little known...and quite frankly I didn't know what to expect either.
The park as no rides, only shows...but what shows. It is loosely based on history, a very romanticized version of history...so you'll have Vikings, Knights, Romans, Mousquetaires...
On top of  the park shows  (which all last about 30-40 minutes), twice a week there's an extra show called the "Cinéscénie"...held around a lake with an actual Renaissance Castle. That show alone would be worth the trip to the Puy du Fou. It is pretty hard to describe...if you've seen Fanstamic at a Disney park, it is in the same style...only at least 10 times bigger, with about 3000 (yes, thousands) actors (most are volunteers from the area), horses, all sorts of other animals, fireworks, boats, sets coming and going. It lasts 1h40...and it feels like 10 minutes ;)  The show covers the history of Vendée, from the Middle Ages to the second World War. Though it is entirely in French, translations are available.

Before the show

Pictures are not allowed during the show so check here if you want to have a vague idea of what the show looks like. 

Our hotel

Inside court, all rooms have a view on it.

Scary looking exhausted me after the 11 hour drive 

That was our first evening at the park...we were staying at one of the four themed hotels, the Gallo-roman villa...
Like the park, the details are really neat...all the employees are in very realistic costumes...so cool (says the girl who took 6 years of Latin in high school). I am glad I didn't see any Yul Brynner look-alike or I would have freaked out a little (if you haven't seen the movie WestWorld, you'll have no idea what I am talking about)

To be continued...