by Anna Selby

It was with some astonishment that I discovered the other day that Britain's top visitor attraction is not Westminster Abbey or Shakespeare's birthplace or even the Tower of London. It's a tower of quite another kind. Alton Towers.

The rise and rise of the amusement park has been relentless since the birth of Disneyland and its child appeal crosses all ages from the very young to teenagers who, though normally cultivating a look of boredom for the sake of their street cred, scream with delight at the sight of a rollercoaster. For most parents, though, the idea of theme parks seems rather more resistible. And, for me at least, the thought of spending a day in the company of human-sized mice and chipmunks or being flung around the sky at breakneck speed in an open cart holds little allure.

What I had in mind was a trip to Paris. What seven-year-old Christian had in mind was a trip to a theme park. We decided to compromise and, in a long weekend, we both achieved what we wanted with a surprising degree of success. At this point, most people will put two and two together - in the form of Paris and amusement parks - and, in the answer Disneyland, Paris, make five. We decided if we were going to Paris, we wanted to be in France, not America. So we went instead to Parc Asterix.

Asterix the Gaul is enjoying quite a revival in Britain. He has just burst back into child consciousness courtesy of the film 'Asterix and Obelix take on Caesar' and this has led in turn to Asterix books racked up on the shelves in children's stores and bookshops. Meanwhile, the Parc itself has been given a facelift to celebrate its tenth anniversary with the opening of new attractions and a new hotel.

Just 35km outside Paris, Parc Asterix delivers a uniquely Gallic twist to the theme park. There are Druid stones, medieval villages, and at the gates to Asterix's own village, Roman legionnaries on stilts warn visitors to avoid the crazy people within - Asterix, Obelix, Unhigienix, village beauty Vitalstatstix, the dog Ideefix and the memorable magician, Getafix, whose potion gives the Gauls their superhuman strength to beat the Romans every time. (One of the joys of Asterix is it offers jokes for grown-ups, undreamt of by Mickey Mouse.) Once past the legionnaries, there is a world of colour and noise - stalls and jugglers, tombolas and shows. There are workshops, too, where you can make masks (with an ancient Greek look) or bracelets and necklaces (with a Roman design).

The Romans have their own area of the park complete with a magnificent amphitheatre with great outdoor shows, and a huge pool with a dolphin and sealion show. The Roman Empire is, in fact, a good place to start as you can get an overview of the whole park on the 'Spies of Caesar' ride, a leisurely pedal around a track built high above all the attractions.

There are rides to suit all ages. Tinies have their own little fairground and gentle water rides through tableaux of Asterix stories. Slightly older children make for the bumper cars, side shows (lots of variations on the coconut shy) and the smaller rollercoasters. Christian loved the Oxygenarium. You're hoisted up a long ramp to go spinning down the 'rapids' in a circular liferaft. Getting soaking wet is definitely part of the fun. Thrill-seeking teenagers can try the Towers of Zeus, Europe's second biggest - but surely first scariest - rollercoaster.

When you want a break from the rides, there are plenty of shows. My favourite was a marvellously swashbuckling 'Three Musketeers' with sword play through the audience and daring leaps from balconies. Or you could try 'The Great Mona Lisa Caper', a stunt-filled chase featuring the theft from the Louvre of the world's most famous painting.

By staying at the Parc's Hotel des Trois Hiboux (Three Owls), we could spend the entire day in the park and by the end we were tired, grubby and somewhat damp from all those water rides but we'd both had fun and bought the T-shirts. The hotel is built of wood and stone and stands - though only minutes away from the amusment park itself by shuttle bus - in the middle of a silver birch forest. Not surprisingly, the hotel itself is very much geared to families. The rooms are designed so they all have an uninterrupted view through the forest and, by clever positioning of a central bathroom, the grown-ups side of the room is separated from the children's. The children's section is delightful with built-in Breton-style box bedsteads and a moveable ladder to the top bunk. There are also quite a few unusually child-friendly little touches - child's height door handles and a pull-out step in the bathroom to make it easier to reach the basin. The massive thousand-year-old tree trunk next to the hotel exerted a magical pull on my son and all the younger children and is even part of the legend of the Three Owls that gives the hotel its name.

It would be easy to fill a second day at the theme park but we decided to visit a few other very French attractions while we were there. France Miniature was a great success with both of us. Essentially a giant map of the country, the large site is covered with perfect miniature reproductions of the most famous buildings in France, with Breton ports and Provencal hillside villages, all connected by a network of trains and canals. There are even sound effects - the cries of seagulls at Port St Malo, the chirping of cicadas and the music of choirs pouring out of the ancient abbeys.

At the centre of France Miniature stands the Eiffel Tower and my son was so excited by the replica we decided to spend our last afternoon visiting the real thing. In fact, we took in quite a few Parisian sights, had lunch in a typical caf&eactute; and ambled down the boulevards in the sunshine just absorbing the atmosphere.

I still can't say that amusement parks are ever going to be my favourite kind of holiday but Parc Asterix was a thrill a minute for Christian and had enough Gallic wit and charm to keep me amused. (Though sadly Gerard Depardieu - Obelix in the film - did not put in an appearance.) Christian thought Paris was wonderful and was surprised how different it all felt from London - and said on his return that his French teacher was green with envy having always wanted to go to Parc Asterix!

Travel Information
Parc Asterix is open April-August every day (except bank holidays) and in September and October at weekends. By car, it has its own exit off the A1 Paris-Lille motorway. By train, you can go to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle TGV station and then by bus direct to the park. One-day tickets cost £17.50 for adults, £12.50 for children up to 12, under-threes free. There are family packages available for a two-day visit plus one night at the Hotel des Trois Hiboux. Call 00 33 3 44 62 34 34 for details.

France Miniature is open most days from April to mid-November (check from September onwards). By car from Paris, take the A13 towards Rouen, then the A12 towards St Quentin en Yvelines and finally the N12 towards Dreux and follow the signs for Elancourt and France Miniature. By train, take the train from La Défense or Montparnasse to La Verrière and take the 411 bus to France Miniature. Adults £7.50, children (4-16) £5. Call 00 33 8 36 68 53 35 for details.