Virtual or augmented reality, immersive theater, digital cultural exhibitions, everywhere in France, immersive experiences are multiplying. An innovative way to take a new look at tourist sites and attract a wider audience in search of new sensations. Here is an overview of the immersive experiences you must try.
The Apaches of Paris: Pretending to be a Peaky Blinder at the Grévin Museum
At the Musée Grévin, the artist collective Les Sculpteurs de rêves has created an experience that combines immersive theater, a theme bar and role-playing for a return to the Paris of the Belle Epoque! The visitor disembarks in 1900, in the capital's general headquarters of organized crime, and takes part in a 1h30 adventure in the middle of the French "Peaky Blinders", the Apaches of Paris. Investigate at the Musée Grévin with Les Apaches de Paris
Ganymede: Saving humanity in a space mission
The mission is quite classic: you must save humanity! Using the latest virtual reality techniques, this escape game plunges you into a science fiction universe. Robots, planets, unknown threats: equipped with a helmet, controllers, and standing on a vibrating station, you are the hero of this adventure to be lived by four players.
Ganymede(the premises are located in a temporary location in the 11th arrondissement of Paris)
Notre Dame is burning: Fight the fire of Notre Dame de Paris with Illucity
April 15, 2019: the whole world, dumbfounded, witnesses the fire that ravages the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral on live television. Thanks to this virtual reality escape game, inspired by Jean-Jacques Annaud's eponymous film, put on the uniform of the Paris firefighters: you are at the heart of the fire! In pairs, you must fight your way through the flames and save a precious relic.
Bassins des Lumières : Admire great projections of digital art in Bordeaux
In Provence, there are the Carrières des Lumières; in Paris, the Atelier des Lumières: the Bordeaux version of Culturespaces' immersive works opened in 2020, in a former submarine base dating from the Second World War. With four 110-meter long basins, 12,000m² of projection surface and 90 video projectors, the Bassins des Lumières are recognized as the largest digital art center in the world. Projected on the walls, the works are reflected in the water for a breathtaking play of mirrors.
FlyView 360 : Fly over France in virtual reality
After having proposed a flight over Paris and its iconic monuments, the start-up FlyView proposes a new experience in virtual reality to tourists and visitors passing through the capital: the flight over the whole of France and its most beautiful cultural sites such as the Mont Saint-Michel and the Loire Castles. An immersive experience that is worth the detour thanks to the jetpack transmitting sensations of flight. Ready for takeoff?
Bon Marché Rive Gauche : Introduction to immersive theater in a Parisian department store
Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche offers a unique and immersive experience to celebrate its 170th anniversary. At closing time, the oldest department store in Paris is transformed into a gigantic immersive theater scene, bringing back to life Emile Zola's literary masterpiece, Au Bonheur des Dames. The public is invited to mingle with the actors.
The Office of Legends: Pretending to be a secret agent for France
All we know is that you have to go to the Odeon district. "Don't trust anyone", says the organizers' website. Welcome to an escape game like no other, inspired by the successful French series The Office of Legends. In this experience halfway between escape game and immersive theater, you play an agent of the General Directorate of External Security (DGSE), in other words the intelligence service of France, in the middle of an investigation. Talk with the characters, solve riddles, make the right choices... Two hours of play, for 3 to 6 players in a 300m² cinema setting.
Take part in an immersive escape game inspired by the series The Office of Legends
Jam Capsule: The Earth as you've never seen it
After a great start, the JAM Capsule experience is back this winter at Porte de Versailles in Paris. This 360° scenic device allows spectators to immerse themselves in a sound and visual work for the duration of a 50-minute film such as "Legacy: The Courage of Truth", an extraordinary journey directed by Yann Arthus-Bertrand to admire the beauty of the Earth while becoming aware of its fragility at a time of climate change. Among the other capsules presented this year, an artistic dive into the masterpieces of the Flemish painters, a fairy-tale equestrian show or an odyssey around the Earth to understand the influence of the moon on our environment (starting February 17).
The Secret of the Mines: In search of the Templar treasure at Louvre-Lens
Collecting clues and solving puzzles with the help of your smartphone to unravel the mystery of the Templars is the challenge awaiting (young) visitors to the Louvre-Lens museum until the end of 2023. An immersive experience through time inspired by the successful video game series Assassin's Creed to be lived in augmented reality to learn while having fun. Throughout the adventure, players discover the works of the museum and the emblematic monuments of the city. Captivating!
The Secret of the Mines at the Louvre-Lens Museum, in Hauts-de-France
Eternal Notre-Dame : Discover the construction site of Notre-Dame de Paris
Equipped with an immersive device, visitors explore Notre-Dame de Paris through the centuries. The Parisian monument is completely recreated thanks to a 3D digital model. We discover the secrets of the cathedral, its emblematic characters, and we admire its masterpieces. A real journey through time, from medieval times to today in only 45 minutes, to be discovered just a step away from the cathedral, under the square of Notre-Dame or within the Cité de l'Histoire, a new space dedicated to immersive experiences whose inauguration was in October 22, 2022 under the Grande Arche de La Défense, in Paris.
By Caroline Revol-Maurel
Journalist passionate about wild nature, travel and rock. As happy to write about bearded vultures as Lou Reed. Often accompanied by my two best critics, my daughters.
