Parc Astérix: From France to Gaul

Yesterday I drove a bunch of kids to Parc Astérix, about ten minutes north of CDG airport.

I had bought the tickets online and had to go into the Maison de l'Oise, off to one side, to pick them up. It was also the VIP entrance and I noticed a series of little menhirs autographed by French stars-- the only name I could see clearly was Eddie Barclay.

Parc Astérix is about the same age as the Disneyland here, and really it's benefited from Disneyland. The French who go to Disneyland all feel that for patriotic reasons they should also visit Astérix. Both parks got a deal with the autoroutes that the toll road starts after their entrances.

I think it's a much more charming park. It has more real rides, and you don't have to wait in line as long; in the summer, there are several big water rides, and it also has the biggest rollercoaster in Europe, Goudurix, which goes upside down seven times. (The French call rollercoaster  montagnes russes, or Russian mountains. I wonder why.) The park is divided into sections of the ancient world, with Greece and Rome, Egypt and Gaul, and comes complete with Latin graffiti on the walls and a Crédit Latin instead of a Crédit Lyonnais. Just as at Disneyland, the characters appear and walk around, only instead of Mickey Mouse and Cinderella, it's Obélix, Falbala, a hapless Roman from the nearby military camp of Babaorum, or the ear-splitting bard Assurancetourix.

I'm a big fan of Astérix and I think we own every volume of the comics. They're funny for adults as well as for children, full of puns and winks at politics, and everyone in France understands jokes based on them. The Astérix and Cleopatra movie was quite good, and a new Astérix cartoon movie is coming out any minute. The posters are all over Paris.

All the same, I was happy to drop everyone off and drive home to Paris, quietly listening to the radio. La galè'e a''ive d'oit su' nous!

Comments

[sycamore]

Nice and Impressive blog.

[L'Amerloque]

Hi Sedulia !

The French Wiki has an exhaustive entry … http://tinyurl.com/zjfhn …

Le concept de "montagnes russes" vient des courses de luges se déroulant sur des collines de neige spécialement construites pour, particulièrement dans les environs de Saint-Pétersbourg.

Best,
L'Amerloque