The road to 600 credits | Part 1- France

I entered 2020 with 563 rollercoaster credits and had big plans for this year's trips. I should have been to Germany (again), LA/SoCal and Finland (both for the first times) by now and would have hit 600 easily a few weeks back somewhere between Matterhorn Bobsleds and Taiga.  Yeah; meh. Obviously the first priority in a global pandemic is to stay safe but those of us theme park inclined people are going to wonder what 2020 means in terms of our great hobby which lead me to the thought.....

Was it still possible for me to reach 600 credits this year? 

Well....one can try! Consider the challenge accepted! Here is part 1 of my "Road to 600" chronicles!

Whilst most UK enthusiasts were booking slots at Alton Towers in mid July, a couple of friends and I looked at a nearer option. Mainland Europe. Yes, indeed it was actually closer to get to France than Alton Towers! The covid levels were lower than the UK at this time and parks there had been open a couple more weeks than ours so were likely better prepared with the new procedures. The eurotunnel was our transport mode of choice as you don't (and cannot due to Covid rules) get out of the car on the train so it's as safe as driving somewhere in the UK. This worked really well, was quick and easy and before we knew it we were changing sides of the road over in Calais.

Parc Bagatelle

This was a park I'd heard quite negative reviews of, mainly because the line up isn't super exciting. The park's largest coaster is a Vekoma Invertigo and there are also 4 other credits.

The park by far exceeded expectations; it's leafy, pretty and there is some decent theming on quite a few of the rides- good enough that I thought Gaz Express was about 15 years younger than it actually is!

The park is home to some elusive Soquet creds, found pretty much exclusively in France (except for one credit in Poland). This was a new manufacturer for me and it was nice to try something a little different from your average run of the mill coasters. The Vekoma Invertigo was as you would expect and completed my set of of the 3 invertigo creds. We enjoyed the pirate ship with it's nice fog effect and were unfortunately spited by the wacky worm (no adults allowed without kids) but still had a nice time in the park. I'd definitely recommend it as a half-day stop if you're in the area or want to mop up a few creds in a pleasant atmosphere not far from the crossing.

Dennlys Parc

We nearly didn't include this park on our route as we weren't sure if we had time (or if it was worth it) but I think I speak for everyone when I saw we were really glad we made the stop. The park has a similar vibe to Parc Bagatelle, leafy, cute, with some theming, but has lots of rides packed into a small area by a stream in a small french village.

Similarly to Parc Bagatelle this park also has a Soquet coaster as well as duelling mobius wild mouse mine trains. Yes, you read that right! Thankfully this coaster takes you around both sides without you having to get off so there is no cred anxiety about making sure you ride both sides! I had never seen anything like this before so was pretty pleased to ride it and it was good fun!

Other rides of note include the portable rapids ride that was full of water and had a tidal wave at the bottom, the pleasant drop tower and of course my favourite, the Technical Park "Acrobat" ride, which is essentially an enterprise style ride with sky fly style seats on that you can spin yourself using the paddles or "wings". This was really fab, and wasn't too hard to get spins on. The ride motion meant that you ended up with prolonged inversions as you went over the top if you timed it right. This was really fun and my favourite of these invert-your-own style rides! I even went back for a reride!

After collecting a gratefully received +7 and making it to 570, it was the end of day 1 of the trip. Stay tuned for part two of the road to 600 creds!