We spent a lovely day at the Chateau des énigmas (Chateau of puzzles ) with my two boys, 14 and 12 and my niece (11) and nephew (9) . It was a fun day that kept us all interested and would of been suitable for much younger children and toddlers too with mum and dads help.
The web site describes the Le Château des Énigmes as ” a new kind of theme park,
which is both fun and educational: come and discover this splendid Italian
Renaissance Chateau with your family or friends. You will take part in a journey adventure in the castle, the wooded park and its little farm.” This year, the chateau d’Usson , registered as historical monument invites you to join Willy the pirate in his treasure hunt to seek for the enigma of the castle and have fun learning how to be a pirate whilst following the trail.
The trail at the Chateau des énigmas
There are 27 puzzles or tasks to complete. The tasks are usually quite simple and allow younger children to feel as though they are participating fully in the puzzle without it being too complicated. With the pirate them these tasks involve pirate skills like knot tying, walking the plank, climbing etc You are free to do the skills or not as they do not constitute part of the puzzle.
The real puzzles vary in difficulty but not so hard that the children get bored. Each puzzle has an answer. At the end of the trail you enter these answers into an interactive screen. It’s not the end of the world if you have a few wrong as you can correct your answer. Each correct answer will give you a clue. When you have all these written down you have to work out the ‘énigma’ – there are three levels of difficulty. You could do all three to help but there were queues for the screens so we didn’t want to hold up others from entering their answers.
At the end you give your answer and receive a certificate (even if it’s wrong !) plus a 2€ voucher off your next entry. It was a really fun day which we all enjoyed. We would definitely recommend it as a good family day with the whole family.
Location of Chateau des énigmas
There are two Chateau des énigmas in France. Our closest is situated in Pons in the Charente-Maritime (Poitou-Charentes or Nouvelle Aquitaine as the region is now known),
The Château des Énigmes is less than 30 minutes from Saintes / Cognac / Royan, and within an hour of several of our larger towns – Bordeaux, Angoulême, Niort and La Rochelle. So from our family friendly holiday cottages here at Les Vallaies and La Grange du Moulin it’s about a 50 minute drive.
The second is in Fréteval in the Loir-et-Cher, at the heart of the Val de Loire and registered as a site of UNESCO the Château de Rocheux is host to this chateau des énigmas park.
History of Chateau des énigmas
In 1536 Jean de Rabaine commissioned one of the greatest architects of his time, Nicolas Bachelier, a pupil of Michelangelo, to build a château. The Château d’Usson, with all the characteristics of a classic Renaissance château was built in the village of Echebrune in Charente-Maritime, 8km from it’s present site. It has had a troubled but interesting history best described on the web site here but needless to say it eventually ended up in it’s present position . During the 1980s the Château was stripped of some of its ornaments by its then owner. The State intervened and put the Château up for sale.
1998 that Philippe Lapouyade bought the Château d’Usson with the idea of creating a giant treasure hunt which would allow visitors to discover this lovely Renaissance château and its grounds : The Château des Enigmes Activity Park opened its gates the following year. The chateau now welcomes more than 50,000 visitors a year, making it the most visited château in Charente-Maritime!
Practical info for Chateau des énigmas
We would recommend taking a picnic with you. The course lasts around 3 hours but longer if you stop for a break or enjoy wandering the grounds. There is a small snack bar which is open in July and August; offering chips, crisps, sandwiches, ice creams and drinks but we had to wait a while even eating at 3pm so I expect at lunch time the queues and wait would be a bit on the long side. There are plenty of shady picnic areas and if we go again that is what we shall do. There is also this little play park at the café
The chateau des énigmas is open daily non-stop from 1st April to 5 November 2017, from 10am to 7pm (8pm in July and August). We paid 14€ per adult and 11€ for the 4 to 12 yrs (under 4 yrs free)
There is a small wooden toilet block (3 loos) so go when you are passing as it’s a long hike with a child that needs a wee from the other end of the park (although there are plenty of trees and bushes for a quick toddler wee !) No baby changing facilities or disabled facilities as far as we could see.
There is plenty of parking immediately outside the park. Take a pen unless you want to pay 50c for the souvenir one. You will need one to fill in your answers.
All in all a good day out for all the family when staying at our family friendly holiday cottages
content by Wendy Blakeman
