Mirapolis, France's first big theme park, lasted four years

Mirapolis opened on 21 May 1987 at Courdimanche near Cergy-Pontoise, inaugurated by Jacques Chirac as France's first major theme park: 55 hectares themed on French literature, crowned by a 35-metre Gargantua statue. More than 700 million francs had been invested; the plan needed 2.5 million visitors a year, revised to 2 million, against a break-even line of 1.1 million.

The crowds never got close: 600,000 in the first season, a Club Med-run million in 1988, then down a third in 1989. The Paris-Parc company stopped payments in December 1989 with cumulative losses of 330 million francs; financier Ghaith Pharaon withdrew his backing, and the park passed through Club Med to a fairground collective, then to a rescue owner, Cergy-Parc, for 115 million francs in October 1990. One last season drew 400,000 visitors; Mirapolis closed for good on 20 October 1991.

The end was total. Rides were dismantled within three months and sold to parks in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium — Spreepark Berlin alone bought thirteen. The demolition permit came in October 1993, and on 1 September 1995 the remains of Gargantua were dynamited.