Vulcania

The town of Clermont-Ferrand is ringed by ancient volcanoes. Sitting on our balcony, we can easily see their silhouettes against the sky. The volcanoes have been silent since pre-history, but the university here has an active volcano study program, and there is Vulcania, a local theme park that another professor explained to us is much more akin to Kennedy Space Center than to Disneyland. \

They had several movies with good volcano footage, some of them with 3-D glasses and moving seats.

My favorite part of the whole park, though, was the grounds. They have fountains to operate--and run through.

Large swaths of the grounds were left as wildflower-studded meadows. And we loved the playgrounds dotted around the grounds.

Not quite what we'd expected from our day at Vulcania, but happy memories.