Royaume des Enfants Cergy 29th July 2017

Our itinerary for today was planned around the need to be at Charles de Gaulle Airport by early afternoon. We'd intended to get to Mer de Sable for opening, but Bruno decided it was worth swapping things around to visit Royaume des Enfants Cergy first, mainly because it was further away. This was definitely the right call, albeit for a different reason; it meant that we didn't have to allocate a set window of time to a place that was always going to be a quick hit. We lost perhaps twenty minutes of our morning due to a small typo when programming the GPS, but it actually made no difference to us in the end as we got to the coaster before an operator did.

The park is one small part of the Île de Loisirs Cergy-Pontoise, a large recreational facility in the outskirts of Paris with an assault course, a boating lake, mini-golf, an outdoor cinema, pony rides, and a lot more. It was mildly annoying to be hit for a €6 parking fee, though it was perhaps understandable given the range of activities on offer. Those making regular visits have the ability to purchase a season pass for just €39, and that option is evidently popular as three of the five vehicle lanes are reserved for passholders.

The amusement ride area is targeted almost exclusively at young children. The largest attraction by space is Safari Aventure, a custom convoy ride with dinosaur theming, followed closely by Canoe Aventure, a flat boat ride with pirate theming. The imaginative naming scheme continues with Souris Aventure (#2356), a standard layout Wacky Worm with a tyre drive lift and a striking black and yellow train that was barely making it around the course today. The undulations on the upper level were negotiated with almost comical slowness, and we had plenty of time to laugh about them as we were treated to a total of five laps.

The park has about a dozen inflatable slides that take up one whole side of the facility. Beyond that the only other attractions are a full size Bateau Pirate and the Zozo Caroussel, an antique machine dating from the 1900s with hand-carved wooden horses and a barrel organ. Today the ride was in need of paint, but despite that managed to look far better than the characterless modern equivalents with shiny fiberglass horses and no soul. With luck the hardware will get the refurbishment it so richly deserves during the off-season.