Paris Is Making One Of Its Oldest Playgrounds A $90M Steampunk Theme Park

There are a million excuses to visit France.

Half of those reasons involve croissants.

And now, there’s another reason why the sophisticated destination ought to be on your ‘go as soon as financially possible’ bucket list.

Paris is getting a brand spanking new, $90-million-dollar amusement park next year.

The project is led by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the French multinational conglomerate that owns pretty much every luxury brand under the sun, and their plans to reinvent the city’s Jardin d’Acclimatation have just been approved.

Despite the fact that LVHM own fashion favourites Kenzo, Fendi and Céline, the theme park won’t be fashion focused.

Instead, it’s gonna be a full-blown steampunk paradise.

Steampunk is a style of design and fashion that combines historical elements with anachronistic technological features inspired by science fiction. Think Mad Max, The Wild Wild West and some of the goggle-themed fashions at Burning Man.

At the moment, the Jardin d’Acclimatation is a 19 acre park – the country’s oldest leisure park. It was opened in 1860 by Napoléon III as a zoo before becoming a children’s leisure park, complete with rides, in the 1930s.

The park already boasts an archery range, house of mirrors, miniature-golf course and pony riding among its attractions, as well as a puppet theatre, shooting galleries, a science museum, and an art museum for children.

Around 17 new Jules Verne-inspired steampunk rides and attractions will be built between 4 September and 1 May 2018 as part of the AUD$90-million-dollar upgrades.

Delphine Pons, head of development at Compagnie des Alps, said at a press conference that the goal of the park is “to rank second or third among theme parks in France.” (Of course, they’d be going up against Disneyland Paris, no mean feat.)

Full-steam ahead, baby.

Itching to visit Paree and take in the sights and sounds of the world’s most romantic city? Contiki’s London & Paris trip will see you enjoying West End musicals, nibbling cheese under the Eiffel Tower and exploring the Notre Dame Cathedral. Très bien!

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