Le Village des Automates near Aix en ProvenceThese two large, adjacent play parks, one outdoor, one indoor, are an ideal destination for families with small children.

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Located 17 km / 10.5 miles north-west of Aix en Provence in the small town of Saint Cannat, the Village des Automates is a wooded park with over 400 mechanical toys. It was founded in 1986 by Bernard Brémond, an enthusiast who formerly made mechanical toys for department stores.

The Village des Automates has been run by the same family ever since and remains a popular local institution. It has been joined more recently by an indoor game park, Montopoto, on the same site: click here to read more about it.

Each marionette takes three weeks to create. Some adults find the concept rather old-fashioned. But small children seem to love its appealingly nostalgic, gentle quality and its setting, concept and secondary attractions should keep them happy for an hour or two.

The larger automata are set in the eight hectare / 20 acre gardens and include an open-air installation based on Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

Elf garden, Village des Automates, Saint Cannat near AixHowever most of the machines are smaller and are housed in brightly-coloured cabins behind glass panels; you have to press a button to get the figures moving and trigger a little scene that comes accompanied by songs and music.

There are several dozen different themes including the story of Pinnochio complete with whale, pirates, dinosaurs, an elf garden, pictured, Sleeping Beauty's castle and Mexico.

You are given a map at the ticket office to help you navigate around. A more rcent addition is a phone app with games (details on the Village des Automates website).

Among the other features are numerous picnic and play areas, toboggans, pedal cars and "safari jeeps" for kids, a monorail, a little train (for which you have to pay extra) and a small petting zoo with "happy farm animals" such as goats, sheep, ponies, donkeys, hens and ducks.

Petit train, Village des Automates, Saint Cannat near Aix en ProvenceThe Village is well-shaded with plenty of trees, a real plus point in summer, and there's space to move around with a pram or pushchair / stroller.

The adjacent Montopoto has an Amazon theme and claims to be the biggest indoor play park in France.

It offers most of the rides you expect from centres of this kind: a ball pool, trampolines, toboggans, climbing frames and so on, plus slightly more unusual ones such as pedal-powered "helicopters" which run on a raised monorail.

It bills itself as aimed at children aged from one to eleven, but is most suitable for kids aged three plus, although there is an area reserved for very tiny tots. Some rides such as the electric cars come at an extra charge.

However visitors to both the Village des Automates and Montopoto can enjoy a free musical show on certain days during school holidays. Staged in a separate room, it's inspired by children's classics such as Peter Pan or The Snow Queen and lasts around 45 minutes. Check the website for dates.

Birthday parties can be catered for if booked ahead and there's a snack bar and a very well stocked toy shop. Visitors, adults included, have to remove their shoes, so bring socks (though, if you forget, you can buy them on the site).

The Village des Automates and Montopoto are open daily between April and mid-September and on Wednesdays, weekends and school holidays in winter.

In both cases entrance can be pricey but you can make savings by buying a combination ticket to them both.

Website for Le Village des Automates and Montopoto

Where: Le Village des Automates and Montopoto, chemin de la Diligence, RN7, 13760 Saint Cannat. Tel: (+33) 4 42 57 30 30. There's a spacious free car-park.

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