There are a number of hotels within minutes of the park they range from the one-star Hotel du Futuroscope
There are a number of hotels within minutes of the park; they range from the one-star Hotel du Futuroscope (00 33 5 49 49 37 37), which costs about £25 for a double room, to the swish four-star Hotel Park Plaza (00 33 5 49 49 07 07), with double rooms from about £90.You can hire a car from Poitiers airport from Hertz (00 33 5 49 58 24 24) for about €84.50 (£52) per day. It is a 10-minute drive from the airport to Poitiers itself and five minutes’ drive between Plan? Futuroscope and town. Buses 16 and 17 shuttle passengers between the park and Poitiers’s town hall. Contact the Tourist Office at Poitiers (00 33 5 49 50 10 50, ).I like the idea of space travelAnother theme park you might like to visit is the City of Space in Toulouse. The park opened a few years ago (00 33 5 62 71 64 80, ), but is about to launch a new feature at the end of April; visitors will be able to track a satellite, SPOT 5, and view pictures as they are taken from space.The theme park can provide the answers to everything you ever wanted to know about space, including how to launch rockets, how to get weather forecasts, how telecommunications and television work and what a satellite is made of. As well as sky shows, you can participate in the deployment and flight of a satellite and learn how to use meteorological instruments. Cosmic Oceans is a more recent addition to the City of Space, where you can learn about the role of the planets in ocean tides.Talking of the sea…This year, the Normandy port of Cherbourg has undertaken an impressive project and reinvented itself as a tourist attraction with the Cit?e la Mer.
What was once the Gare Maritime Transatlantique, a starting point for many legendary liners sailing to the New World, houses an aquarium and a museum of naval history to celebrate man’s conquest of the sea. Many naval artifacts will be on show, including Le Redoutable, France’s first nuclear submarine, launched by General de Gaulle in 1967, and the largest submarine in the world open to the public.In addition you’ll be able to see Europe’s tallest cylindrical aquarium, which will allow visitors to witness the evolution of underwater life step by step in an educational walk around the blue planet. Other features will include an exhibition of naval technology and underwater exploration, where you can learn about everyday life aboard a submarine, underwater navigation, diving and modern oceanography (00 33 02 33 23 31 60, , not fully operational yet).And deep within the planet?How do volcanoes and mud holes appeal? The much-delayed Vulcania (00 33 4 73 19 70 00, ) has just opened in the mountains of the Auvergne and is an educational and entertaining theme park entirely dedicated to volcanoes. Two-thirds of the site is underground and attractions include a volcanic garden, the Theatre of the Universe, mud holes, the Lava Tunnel, burning rivers and the Magic Pool. In addition, there is a reconstruction of a volcanic eruption.Guided tours are provided around the 60-hectare site, which also houses three restaurants offering panoramic views for those who have wimped out of the mud holes The park is based 20km from Clermont-Ferrand airport. Admission costs €18 (£11.15) for adults and €12 (£7.40) for children.Air France (0845 0845 111, ) flies from London City airport to Clermont-Ferrand for £176 return and up, or take Eurostar from London Waterloo or Ashford to Paris, and then the “classic” train to Clermont-Ferrand; again, book through Rail Europe.
The park’s official inauguration is on 22 June.What about nouvelle cuisine?If you’ve had your fill of theme parks and wish to broaden your gastronomic horizons, why not sample some (new) nouvelle cuisine? Many Paris-based cooks c?bres are continuing to lead the way in culinary innovation and new flavours.How do chicken glazed in Coca-Cola or carrot juice topped with Roquefort appeal? You can find these dishes (and more traditional cuisine) at Korova Restaurant in Paris, run by the French television presenter Jean-Luc Delarue (00 33 1 53 89 93 93). It has a quirky Austin Powers/Stanley Kubrick sort of decor (Korova Milk bar was in A Clockwork Orange),designed by the ultramodern architect and interior and furniture designer Christien Biecher.For a spectacular view of Paris, try the recently opened La Maison Blanche (00 33 1 47 23 55 99), run by the Pourcels, the three-star twin brother chefs of the Jardin des Sens in Montpellier. La Maison Blanche is found on the rooftops of the Th?re des Champs-Elys? on Avenue Montaigne.Jean-Georges Vongerichten has just opened his 11th restaurant, Market, just off the Champs-Elys? (00 33 1 56 43 40 90). This is Vongerichten’s first restaurant in France, although he is renowned in America, London and Hong Kong.
With subtle, original and eclectic dishes at reasonable prices, he is satisfying France’s demand for new flavours.Further south, Alain Ducasse is opening a new Spoon Restaurant at Byblos in St Tropez on 24 April, while the Pourcel brothers opened Brasserie La Compagnie des Comptoirs in Montpellier, Provence last year (00 33 4 99 58 39 29).Nightlife?The big new idea to hit Paris has the strange name “Un before”. This is a kind of amalgamation of club/bar/restaurant/nightclub, and it is sweeping across the hippest arrondissements. In a chilled-out atmosphere you can socialise, eat, drink and dance. The newest “before” is Claude Challe and Thierry Bourdoncle’s Nirvana, at 3 Avenue Matignan in the 8th district (00 33 1 53 89 18 91) It is open seven days a week until 4am The psychedelic decor is courtesy of Jonathan Amar It is open all day and lays on a plush breakfast. Challe has recently released a soundtrack of the music that resonates through this Zen club while people dine. Nirvana is a continuing theme of Challe’s other “before”, called Buddha Bar, at 8 Rue Boissy d’Anglais.Another new “before” is Atelier-Renault, 53 Champs-Elys? (00 33 1 49 53 70 00), where the innovative music is chosen by Nova records.Shopping?Paris is one of the most fashionable places in the world; there are boutiques everywhere, and some endeavour to nurture fresh talent.
