Simply off the Champs-Élysées, a brand new immersive exhibit introduces us to basic literary fables the place eloquent animals debate self-importance, energy, and satisfaction. Framed inside the setting of King Louis XIV’s courtroom, their phrases might simply as simply apply to at this time’s world. That’s the sensation I got here away with after a go to to the Cité Immersive des Fables, a brand new everlasting exhibition that brings Jean de La Fontaine’s Seventeenth-century fables vividly to life via an formidable mix of theater, digital scenography, and historic context. The result’s one thing between a museum, a play, and a philosophical theme park, and it’s much more subversive than its fairy-tale premise suggests.
Tucked away behind a nondescript procuring gallery on the Rue de Berri, this immersive “metropolis” reintroduces La Fontaine’s Fables — the intelligent, poetic tales that each French youngster research at school — to a brand new technology of holiday makers. English audio system often learn about Aesop’s Fables, but La Fontaine’s variations — written for the courtroom of Louis XIV — weren’t ethical nursery tales however razor-sharp social commentaries wearing verse, which had been thought of leading edge of their time. It could appear to be a household attraction, however by the top of this exhibition adults will acknowledge La Fontaine’s Fables as one of many sharpest critiques of energy in French literature.
The Expertise
First Impressions
I can’t say that I used to be optimistic getting in. I remembered tales in regards to the ant and the grasshopper and the fox and the crow, however I didn’t actually know a lot about La Fontaine and why he’s so universally adored by the French. I truly went to see if it was really as accessible for English audio system because the press contact had assured me, and if I might truly be taught one thing as an alternative of being merely entertained by an summary sound-and-light present such because the Atelier des Lumières. However I used to be fortunately stunned that this exhibition someway succeeds in making France’s literary heritage each enjoyable and thought-provoking.
There’s just one dwell actor, proper originally, to welcome friends and clarify how the exhibit works (“Take all the time you need in every room, however don’t go backwards, solely forwards,” he tells me in his correct however closely accented English. “Do you get a number of English guests?” I requested. “We get folks from everywhere in the world,” he tells me, whereas indulging my request for a selfie (however I’ll admit I didn’t hear a phrase of English from the opposite friends on the morning I attended).
What You’ll Discover in Every Room
The expertise unfolds via a sequence of rooms, every with its personal theme, temper, and solid of characters. On the heart of every one is a brief, filmed scene illustrating a fable with celebrated French actors — Charles Berling (the sly Fox), Arielle Dombasle (a scheming Wolf), Marie S’Infiltre (a useless, influencer-style Frog), and Alexandre Astier (a weary Lion). La Fontaine himself, performed by Laurent Stocker of the Comédie-Française, seems all through as narrator and observer. They’re performing in French, after all, however you’ll hear their phrases translated into English via your headset.
For those who get there earlier than the movie begins (there’s a timer exhibiting how lengthy to attend), there’s lots else to see and do in every room, together with interactive actions for kids, quizzes, and academic panels and movies for adults. English captions and translations seem on each display screen and signal, making the present absolutely accessible to worldwide guests.
“The Lion’s Court docket” introduces La Fontaine’s favourite theme: energy. “On the Lion’s Court docket, will you be highly effective or powerless?” one wall asks. Right here, the lion isn’t all the time noble — generally unhappy, generally manipulative, all the time symbolic of authority. The poet used the jungle as a mirror for Louis XIV’s Versailles, the place courtiers competed for royal favor. “A land the place individuals are regardless of the Prince needs — or at the least attempt to seem so,” one inscription reads, echoing the performative politics of the Solar King’s courtroom.
“The Frogs Who Requested for a King” feels unexpectedly trendy. The story, informed with humor and irony, depicts stressed frogs who demand a ruler from Jupiter — solely to remorse it when a tyrant devours them. “Higher an idle ruler than an oppressive one,” reads the wall textual content. Actress Marie S’Infiltre’s modern model of the frog is a social-media influencer who can’t cease performing for consideration. If she appears absurd, verging on annoying, it’s as a result of she’s clearly meant to be.
One room is devoted to the various fables starring the fox, one in every of La Fontaine’s favourite animals, that are all about flattery and survival, classes that haven’t aged a day. Throughout the room, a bilingual panel quotes La Fontaine’s most well-known traces: “The world is filled with fools like these, after all: bourgeois copy dukes, dukes copy lords.”
The present culminates in a big projection room with a couple of chairs and huge cushions scattered on the ground, the place acquainted tales — The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Hare and the Tortoise — swirl throughout 360° partitions to a soundtrack by Bon Entendeur. This half is just like the Atelier des Lumières expertise, and is an efficient place to only relaxation for a second, or await others in your entourage to catch up.
The Tales Behind the Animals: Extra Than Leisure
Whereas the youngsters had been enjoying video games, dressing up for selfies or coloring animals, I methodically learn via each data panel. Many unpack the real-world allegories behind the fables, for instance explaining how The Lion and the Rat mirrored the social hierarchies of French society. Others gave much-appreciated historic content material to the whole lot from the key gamers in Louis XIV’s courtroom, to the aristocratic girls who presided over their very own literary salons, to the timeline of La Fontaine’s moderately chaotic profession path.
One panel pays homage to La Fontaine’s contemporaries — Molière, Racine, Boileau, Madame de Sévigné, and Lully — the minds that outlined France’s Grand Siècle. Within the turbulent mental world of Seventeenth-century France, La Fontaine was each insider and outsider: admired by his friends, he printed witty erotic tales that mocked the clergy, however then renounced them late in life below Church stress, and partly to realize admission into the Académie Française. The exhibition treats this with nuance, portraying him not as hypocrite however as a person negotiating survival in an age of censorship. “Mockingly,” one panel notes, “the person whose entry was so contested is now probably the most celebrated figures in French literature.”
I believe the exhibit can be moderately flimsy with out all of this extra background data, however then once more, I’m a journalist who likes to know the entire again story, so take into account your personal stage of curiosity earlier than deciding if that is for you. 😉
A Mirror for Each Age
La Fontaine’s genius was to show fables into social commentary. His animals — usually borrowed from Aesop and even older Jap and Center-Jap traditions, all credited via a panel exhibiting their world origins — lived in a world of politics disguised as parables. “The world is outdated,” one panel quotes, “and but we should nonetheless amuse it as we’d a toddler.” The poet’s humor made him secure to learn, however his which means was clear: in a world dominated by kings and courtiers, solely an animal might safely communicate the reality. Relatively than attacking authority outright, La Fontaine let absurdity do the work. As one show explains, “He stood out for the subtlety of his stance: by no means confrontational, all the time unbiased.” His verses had been witty sufficient to outlive royal scrutiny however trustworthy sufficient to endure.
By the top of the 90-minute expertise, it’s clear this exhibition is about greater than nostalgia or simplistic ethical classes. Sure, youngsters will delight within the speaking animals and interactive shows, however adults — particularly these of you who’ve already dabbled in French historical past — will simply perceive the layers of irony and perception. The English translations are glorious, and lots of the interpretive texts pose questions that resonate at this time: What’s energy? Who defines justice? Can humor problem authority?
One panel quotes La Fontaine straight: “These fables are a mirror the place every of us is portrayed.” It’s a becoming message for our occasions, when storytelling — and a heavy dose of satirical humor — stay as vital as ever.
If You Go
Cité Immersive des Fables
5 rue de Berri, eighth (métro George V, Line 1)
Open Tuesday 2–7:30pm, Wednesday–Sunday 10:30am–7:30pm (final entry 6pm). I extremely advocate going very first thing within the morning, ideally on Tuesday or Thursday, to keep away from the crowds.
Length: about 90 minutes (I spent slightly below two hours there, however I’m a gradual reader).
Tickets from €19.90 (youth €13.90, below 3 free).
There’s a small present store, restrooms, and some lockers (however these had been all full once I obtained there, so attempt to keep away from coming with too many luggage or layers).
Wheelchair accessible.
A Notice on Funding
French media have reported that one of many exhibition’s buyers is Pierre-Édouard Stérin, a rich French businessman recognized for supporting conservative causes, together with Projet Périclès (usually known as the French “Challenge 2025”). The curators emphasize that the content material within the Cité Immersive des Fables was independently developed below tutorial supervision, with no ideological affect on the exhibition itself. I didn’t detect any hint of his extremist views within the exhibit or I wouldn’t be recommending it, however I nonetheless assume it’s good to regulate this stuff, so I’m sharing it right here for transparency.
