Elementary my dear Watson ! Five treasure hunts to discover a city

Play “Pékin Express” in the Latin Quarter, look for paintings by Cézanne “stolen” in Aix-en-Provence, hunt “Z’animaux” in Vincennes… Five visits as playful as they are instructive, for young and old alike.

An outdoor escape game, in the Latin Quarter in Paris

It is Place Saint-Michel that the adventure begins. Our guide gives us a map of Paris, a question book, a notepad, a pen, a tablet… and sixty minutes to find it somewhere in the Latin Quarter. In children, excitement is at its peak: “It’s like in“ Beijing Express ”! ” The principle is simple: the clues form a password, and each password reveals a photo, which will help us track our guide.

First mission: observe the Saint-Michel fountain and its statues. Then, rue de la Huchette, it is on the historical information panels of the city that we find clues. While playing, we discover the oldest tree in Paris, in the charming square Viviani, the bullet holes on the observatory on rue Saint-Jacques. And we tell children, while walking, the Roaring Twenties of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Liberation, May 68 and the Sorbonne… An hour already? We have the five photos, we know where the guide is! A final sprint to cap the other three teams on the post, which have a slightly different course from ours. Won!

“My Urban Experience”, escape game “The Mysteries of the Latin Quarter”, 80 euros for a team of 6 people maximum. The course is accessible for children from 8 years old. Montmartre’s escape games and covered passages offer specific children’s courses for 5-8 year olds.

A rally in the ramparts, in Bordeaux

The Grosse Cloche de Bordeaux, belfry of the old town hall, is one of the city's flagship monuments.

On three occasions, ramparts were successively built around Bordeaux in the IIIe, XIIIe and XIVe centuries. This 7 km autonomous rally, including 2 km by tram, allows you to discover the medieval city, tracking the remains of its old fortifications, its gates, ditches and strongholds.

Booklet and pen in hand, alone or with others, the start is given at Place de la Bourse for twenty stages to be carried out in an established order. At each step, a question will find its key in the observation of architectural details of a monument, or in the reading of a plaque or an information panel.

No trap, a little common sense, and a good dose of imagination to erect the Château Trompette place des Quinconces, complete the wall of the third rampart behind the Douves market or even catch a glimpse of the Gallo-Roman port which preceded the Place Saint- Pierre, a few steps from the Porte Cailhau – this one and the Grosse Cloche remain the only two to testify to the entrances to the city of the 14th centurye century. This last rings six times a year and every first Sunday of each month at noon. Will you hear it?

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