Freda Wild

Le Grand Parc de Puy du Fou

Well I got the name wrong but I did get up in time thanx to the kindness of a neighbour and fellow day tripper who rang me at 5 am. Everything went well until I'd loaded the car and returned to close the door and switch out the lights. I realised that I was not wearing my specs.. I searched the house from top to bottom, twice. I knew the coach would leave without me if I wasn't there on time. I grabbed an old pair and was the last to arrive. There remained one empty seat on the coach. Fortunately it was the front seat. I was pleased.
How do I describe Le Grand Parc? Can you imagine something between Alton Towers and the Edinborough Tattoo?
The best thing was that there were no 'rides' like Alton but lots of mature trees. The worst for me was the Grands Spectacles. There were five of these. I saw one at ten in the morning and deciced that enough was enough which is something the designers of these shows do not understand. Suffice it to say that this was called Richlieu et Les Mousquetaires and it took place in a building not unlike Versailles. In the finale the stage was flooded and the mousquetaires on real horses of course galloped around the dancers who splashed and danced in the water. I thought that it was certainly the most over the top production I would ever see. I was to be proved wrong later.
Avoiding the other four spectacles I did enjoy the less spectacular more. Wandering around the reconstructions of the medieval village and the 18 th century villages I enjoyed watching the skills of the old trades being performed for us to marvel at today. A very skilled wood sculptor almost tempted me to buy a beautifully carved panel. ( I decided I should save the money for my much needed dental work.) It was ok to have real crafts men and women but disappointing to see live animals squashed into small spaces in the heat with no water. I enjoythe medieval magician whose tricks were astonishing. I didn't enjoy watching the squealing piglet being made to disappear and reappear.
There was a memory tunnel which told the history of Puy du Fou very powerfully. The most enjoyable for me were the too mini performances of music. One was of old instruments all of which are still used today, accordians, violins and guitars. The musicians were also comedians. Unfortunately my French never gets the punch lines. The other was a quintette of brass. They played on a stage with a back drop of a huge lake. The music was brilliantly executed and the lake played a continuous water ballet of fountains a la Versailles.
'Les Oiseau de Spectres' really was spetacular. Taking place in an ampi theatre in front of about 3000 people with a hot airballon hovering above I witnessed falconery for the first time. There were at least six falconers placed around the theatre amongst the audience. The most beautiful birds astounded us with their swooping, diving, circuling and skimming just overhead. Occasionally one would appeared from the balloon and 3ooo pairs of eyes watched and waited as one falconer tempted it to land on his arm. The finale was a ballet of birds in which dozens danced together, crisscrossing in pairs and groups and never colliding. However the dancing bear left me speechless. I thought that they had disappeared from Europe. I hope the birds are not unhappy as the many notices beseeched us to believe. It certainly took a long time for some of them to return to their perches to which they were secured at the end of the day.
I just managed to find my way to the Hall de Renaissance 5 mins before the alloted time for the evening meal to discover that the leader of the group was searching for me. It seems that although frequently events here begin at least an hour later than the advertised time the same is not true for meals. In fact I am getting used to the fact that if one wishes the best choice of seats it is best to arrive early!
The meal itself was in no way spectacular but the cabaret certainly was. Live horses were involved, galloping in front of the tables between courses. There was a competition between the French and English which began with a Tug of War with teams made up from the guests. Me being the only English person in our party I was unsure who to cheer for. The english were disquallified from this round for cheating as extra men joined the team when it was clear that they were going to lose. The next round was crossing the pole and trying to knock of the apponant with a staff. The English won. Last but not least a 'spectacular' sword fight, obviously choreographed à la Errol Flynn. It reminded me of my child hood when I was a film fanatic.
And this was not the end of the day. It was 10 pm now and 14,000 of us filed into the CineScenic. The seats were arranged in a semicircle. The stage was a field, a large field and a lake. The back drop was a castle flanked by other buildings and the night sky. I believe their were 3000 performers not including the animals, pigs, dogs, sheep, cows, geese and bullocks. And of course at least 50 cavaliers who had plenty of space to gallop freely and frequently throughout the performance around the field and across the lake in front of the castle. We were told the history in detail of Puy Du Fou in detail. we learned of the many times that its men have gone to war and not returned and how the village continually revived its traditional way of life in agriculture and joie de vie by dancing. But It seems that today that technology has replaced the simple things and endless pyrothechnics and ceaseless fountains are the way to celebrate.
It was memorable as I looked up and thought that I was going to disappear in a shower of stars but for me I prefer to take part in a modest performance of dancing or playing than to watch great numbers of others perform.
Luckily I was able to sleep on the return journey. The first thing I saw when I walked in my kitchen was my specs. I crawled into bed at 4am.

posted by Victoria Wild @ 1:12 pm