Have a Roman holiday at Parc Asterix

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.