Thursday, May 21st
4 day weekend!! We spent the day at the history theme park which is located an hour away from Angers. It is called the "Puy du Fou" and it's huge! They have built villages from different centuries, they have an old castle ruins, and they built a gladiator stadium!
They have many blacksmiths, an illuminator, a baker, a shoemaker, a potter, and many other craftsmen. During the day they have many shows (battles--Gladiators, Vikings, Musketeers, and a recreation of a battle from the Hundred Years War) which are incredible. We saw the most amazing trick riders who did the craziest things while riding horses at breakneck speeds. Also their special effects were the best I've ever seen (Viking ships rising up from the lake, real lions in the gladiator scene, moving castles, and buildings lighting on fire).Their website is: http://www.puydufou.com/uk/
In addition to the huge park, they have the biggest outdoor show which is performed every friday and saturday night throughout the summer. The cast is 1,200 people (who are all volunteers) and the set consists of a lake, castle, and little village. The show tells the history of the Vendée region (they were the people who fought the counter-revolution and were very catholic and monarchist). The show is called "CinéScénie" and you can check it out on the website.The weekend of May 16-17 we took an excursion with 9 people from our program and all the people in the Notre Dame program along with my history teacher from the university. The teacher is part of the CinéScénie, so we got to meet the head director of the show and he gave us a tour of the "backstage." We got to try on some costumes and he (my teacher) demonstrated his fire breathing, which he does in the show! It was really, really amazing.
Maria and I talked to the head of the show about the possibility of us working there (at the Puy du Fou) for a summer and performing in the CinéScénie. He said it would definitely be possible! And he also told us that it was very likely they could find us a family who would be willing to lodge us (for free). It's all volunteer, so we wouldn't be earning anything. But it would be an incredible experience and we would improve our French greatly!It was pretty much the most exciting thing to find a whole theme park dedicated to history and a bunch of other people who love re-enacting every day. :)
-Natalie
photos? http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010699&id=1451010052&l=b3be4843ba
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