Espace Notre Dame - Éternelle Notre-Dame — Attraction in Paris

Relatives had recommended Eternelle Notre Dame before we came to Paris, but I would have visited it anyway. If you have ANY interest in Notre Dame, this is a MUST DO! Eternelle Notre Dame is a fully immersive 3D virtual experience. In reality, you are walking around in an underground parking garage wearing 3D virtual headgear. But with the 3D virtual goggles, you are fully immersed in a 360-degree virtual reality. A computer manages all the groups (1-4 people in a group, we went as a couple), such that (mostly) no groups bump into each other (when you get close, virtual ghostly avatars let you know there is someone else there, so it is easy to avoid any close encounters). You start near the beginning, early in the construction of Notre Dame in the middle ages (circa 1200). Various people will talk to you as you progress - priests, architects, and your guide. You will virtually experience the construction of key portions of Notre Dame and get an engaging and informative history lesson about the Cathedral. As you progress, you will see the Cathedral take form, meet key architects and hear why the Cathedral was built the way it was. You will tour parts of the Cathedral that even heads of state can only visit virtually. Visit the bell towers and see the bells - visit the inner choir area and watch out for the priests walking past (and through) you as the prepare for a Mass. At the end, you will participate in the symbolic re-opening of Notre Dame after the fire and reconstruction. The virtual experience is phenomenal. While intellectually you know you are walking around on a flat floor, when there are steps down from one level to another inside the Cathedral, you will find yourself tentatively placing your feet out to make sure it doesn't really drop down in front of you. When there are (virtual) holes for you to crouch through, you will feel like playing along and crouching to make it through the virtual hole. Because you are generally moving along with the virtual environment, you shouldn't have problems with motion sickness or vertigo. If you do have any problems, you are just to stop and raise your hand and they will help you quickly. I have a bit of acrophobia, and looking over the virtual parapets and the virtual elevator platforms was a bit unsettling (but fun!).

Make reservations - even if booking on the same day. If you show up early with reservations, you might get to start at an earlier time, but if you don't have reservations, you may not be able to buy tickets on the site (especially at the busier Notre Dame site). If you cannot get reservations for the one at Notre Dame, consider the one at La Defense - the experiences are the same at both locations. There are free lockers for your coats, hats, scarves, etc., so you can dress in layers in the winter but do the experience in normal street clothes.

You wear a 3D headset that completely covers your eyes (and your glasses - I have glasses and the headset was worn over the glasses without much difficulty). The headset is actually not as heavy as I was expecting, and is fairly easy to adjust.

• MAKE SURE you have a good, clear 3D view with the headset on before you start the experience. When they put on the headset, adjust it until it is comfortable and make sure that the view is clear - no fuzziness or problems with focusing. It is easy to change headsets before you start - not so easy after that. MAKE SURE the fit is comfortable - not too tight or too loose. In my first experience, I had problems keeping the headset in the right position for the clearest vision, and wound up holding it/moving it throughout the walk. I had no such problems the second time. However, my wife had no problems the first time, but had to keep wiggling her headset at the second experience. The lenses in each headset may be slightly different, so if you have problems with one, don't hesitate to ask for a...

Nous étions 6 à faire cette visite en réalité virtuelle le vendredi 25 janvier. L'expérience est surprenante et on se laisse prendre au jeu.C'est magique... quand ça fonctionne! Attention toutefois pour les personnes, comme moi, sujette au vertige et légèrement claustrophobe, ça peut être compliqué voire angoissant au début. Par contre pour 2 des personnes qui m'accompagnaient, l'expérience a été très négative même dangereuse. Les casques ne fonctionnaient pas et n'indiquaient pas les obstacles ! Mon mari s'est cogné à un mur et s'est blessé au nez. La personne qui devait intervenir en cas de problème a mis beaucoup de temps à arriver et mon mari a dû insister et signaler plusieurs fois les dysfonctionnements pour qu'on lui change son casque Après avoir appelé plusieurs fois la personne responsable de la sécurité dans la salle, elle aussi, ma fille a dû menacer d'arrêter l'expérience, pour qu'on lui change son casque qui ne fonctionnait pas, qui arrêtait de transmettre les images et ne lui indiquait pas les personnes à côté d' elle... Ils n'ont, ensuite, bien sûr pas pu profiter sereinement de l'expérience, ont raté une grande partie de l' histoire racontée et toujours avec la peur de se blesser encore une fois. A la fin de la séance, aucunes excuses n'ont été faites, aucun geste commercial proposé à part l'offre de 2 invitations pour une prochaine séance (nous habitons en province, nous étions là pour 3 jours) et de toute façon, mon mari n'est pas du tout prêt à refaire une expérience de réalité virtuelle n' ayant plus du tout confiance dans la fiabilité du matériel et la sécurité mise en œuvre pour protéger les personnes. (Pourquoi, par exemple, ne pas habiller les arêtes des murs de mousse, comme ça existe dans certaines salles?...) C'est vraiment dommage car ce moment en famille aurait pu être un bon moment de partage et...

The experience was great, until it stopped working. We were instructed to raise our hand if we needed help. I raised my hand, waved both arms around, and eventually yelled “help” at increasing volume until someone who worked there noticed me. I was told I needed a new battery. This took some time. By the time I was up and running again, I had about 20 seconds left of the experience before I reached the exit. There were two people at the desk when returning equipment. I mentioned that my pack had stopped working and was not even offered an apology...