13 Marvelous Maps That Go Way Beyond Paper

"Many of France’s greatest monuments are compactly spread across 12 acres in a western suburb of Paris. A meandering road leads visitors through this France Miniature, an outdoor park mirroring France that allows guests to traverse the country and delight in its landmarks in less than a day. With 116 of the most notable structure at a 1/30 scale, the France Miniature offers a strange but delightful Lilliputian view of the country. The Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, Chateau at Versailles, Lourdes, the Chateau of Chambord, La Rochelle, L’abbaye du Mont-Saint-Michel, and the Amiens Cathedral are just a few of the monuments placed almost exactly relative to one another in their real life locations. Carefully chosen music complements select monuments to enhance the roughly three and a half hour trek. Nearly 150 regional landscapes sprawl across this miniature map, intersected with 3.5 kilometers of railroad lines consisting of 13 animated trains. Additionally animated by planes, cars, and ships (over 100), visitors can steer model boats on ‘Atlantic Ocean’ and ‘Mediterranean Sea’ lagoons that border the park, or admire the hand painted figures that fill the Stade de France. An indoor area showcases the interiors of 50 more prestigious places, faithfully reproduced to the most minute detail. It took nearly fifty model makers and landscape architects to create this interactive downsized country, complete with 60,000 figurines and 20,000 dwarfed trees, 5 rives and estuaries, and 5 acres of ‘sea.’ A small theme park is also located in the area, offering more appropriately sized rides. A 9 meter slide, roller coaster, twirling swing, rise and drop tower, small gondola, slip-n-slide climb, and go kart driving are available to both children and adults. France Miniature is owned by the same company, Grevin & Cie., that operates the Parc Asteriz, an amusement park notable for its collection of unique roller coasters." - ATLAS_OBSCURA