A bizarre idea has sprung to the mind of François Ruffin, a left-wing MP from La France Insoumise (LFI) and candidate in the 2027 French presidential election: France needs a “left-wing Puy du Fou.” A surprising project, to say the least, which reflects the fierce battles to control the meaning of history that continue to be fought in France, more than two hundred years after the French Revolution.
Puy du Fou is an amusement park with large live performances paying tribute to French history, founded in Vendée in 1978 by conservative politician Philippe de Villiers. It has enjoyed unwavering success since its creation, celebrated with multiple international awards—an unmitigated success story that the Left cannot stomach.
For years, Puy du Fou has been the target of multiple attacks by left-wing politicians and the mainstream media. Accused of all manner of evils, it is constantly criticised for “betraying history” and presenting a biased and ideologically marked version of it—’reactionary’ and Catholic, even though it continues to attract ever-growing audiences. Puy du Fou is indeed guilty of celebrating the monarchy—1,500 years of French history, no less—and of not glossing over the terrible episode that was the Terror of 1793. Every year, millions of French and foreign visitors flock to the park and enjoy this so-well staged narrative. Every visitor will tell you so: the entertainment experience offered to visitors warms the heart and delights the eyes.
Philippe de Villiers has taken up the ‘national narrative.’ He tells stories drawn from history that speak to the hearts of the French people, and he tells them remarkably well. He believes in the educational virtues of beauty, courage and greatness—it is a crime that the Left, which would like to reign supreme in the imaginations and hearts of the people, cannot forgive him for.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games ceremony breathed new life into the old quarrel over French history. On this occasion, the Left, in charge of this public spectacle through socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, was able to indulge in presenting its own vision of history during the grand sound and light show intended to open the games. And it was not brilliant. On the banks of the Seine, spectators were confronted with a violent, vindictive and bloody history of France, where national pride was measured in the number of heads cut off. Behind this sordid staging was Thomas Jolly, a director adored by the LGBT community, and Patrick Boucheron, a militant historian who has never made a secret of his desire to re-educate the masses with Masonic propaganda.
In recent years, Puy du Fou has inspired others, and local historical shows inspired by the spirit of Villiers’ pilot project, a model of conservative success in cultural entrepreneurship, are multiplying throughout France. Local left-wing politicians are alarmed and want to fight back. But this is no easy task. Patrick Boucheron decided to propose a re-education project at the Château de Chambord, the Renaissance jewel of the Loire Valley. Outraged by the ‘far right’s’ stranglehold on history, he intended to offer an alternative vision of France’s past, promoting “equal rights, justice, and democracy.” The château’s management ultimately decided against it, refusing to allow François I’s residence to become a battleground between activists on both sides. The cost of Boucheron’s project was also deemed prohibitive. Other, less obvious reasons must certainly have been put forward: it is not given that crowds would have turned out en masse to hear about the ‘values of the republic’ during their holidays, already extolled from morning to night in the public media.
Following in the footsteps of Boucheron and Jolly, LFI MP François Ruffin took it upon himself to combat the infamous by inventing a “left-wing Puy du Fou.” He explained his reasoning in a speech at the International Performing Arts Biennial in Nantes on January 22nd.
He considers Puy du Fou to be dangerously appealing. “People on the left, people who go with their children, think it’s great, they have a wonderful time.” All this is inevitably suspect, and an alternative model must be proposed—hence the idea of a left-wing Puy du Fou. But in 2026, we are no longer in the era of the 1989 commemorations, when, on the bicentenary of the French Revolution, children were invited to joyfully sing and dance the Carmagnole dressed in sans-culotte striped trousers and armed with rubber pikes. In the embittered world of 2026, even the merry commemoration of revolutionary atrocities could become suspect. We need darkness, repentance and suffering. That would be the menu for the left-wing Puy du Fou, if we are to believe François Ruffin: “I want us to have our own narrative that deals with our dark pages.” To hell with the Sun King! A bit of slavery, a bit of collaboration: that would definitely be fine!
Ruffin has, however, sensed something profoundly true. His observation is undeniably lucid: “Our country is in depression. We will not lift it out of this state with pay slips alone.” That is certain. We need dreams to tear us away from the mediocrity and ugliness of our daily lives, which are falling apart. No one talks like this anymore—except, perhaps, Villiers, who is more effective as a cultural entrepreneur than as a politician.
“Today, we have no political will, we have no narrative to say, ‘this is the direction we want to go in,’” continues Ruffin. I agree, even if he and I are not going in the same direction.
“There is no political discourse on culture,” he concludes. Here, we no longer follow him. This is a statement that neither Zhdanov nor Goebbels would have denied. It is the eternal problem of the Left. It is incapable of seeing culture as something free—not subsidised, let’s not get the terms wrong—in the service of beauty and goodness.
Take up the challenge, Mr Ruffin. Go ahead, get the ball rolling, throw yourself into the fray with your good will and your little arms—and please, without thinking first about putting together a grant application. Create your left-wing Puy du Fou, and let’s see if the public will follow.
One piece of advice, however, before you start. It comes from Nicolas de Villiers, son of the politician behind the show and the amusement park, now at the head of the project. Success comes from the fact that the story told there speaks to everyone’s heart. Given the visitor numbers, it is impossible to believe that only political supporters of the sovereigntist Villiers, a former minister and former MEP, come here.
“In a family, there are no family memories if you spend your time talking about quarrels that may have existed in the past,” Nicolas de Villiers also explained.
What Ruffin failed to understand is that Philippe de Villiers never had any intention of creating a ‘right-wing Disneyland.’ He wanted to convey his passion and inspire other French people to listen to the adventures of a land he loved. Moreover, there is no shortage of dark pages in the history evoked at Puy du Fou. The show dedicated to the Vendée general Charette, for example, does not hide anything about the bloody decisions of the Convention and the mass massacres of the Terror. But this dark history is sublimated into beauty and grandeur: that is the secret. But is it accessible to a left-wing MP?
A Leftist Puy du Fou? What a curious idea!
Armed procession of the Women of the Market, on their way to Versailles, October 5, 1789. An event of the French Revolution.
Anonyme, graveur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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A bizarre idea has sprung to the mind of François Ruffin, a left-wing MP from La France Insoumise (LFI) and candidate in the 2027 French presidential election: France needs a “left-wing Puy du Fou.” A surprising project, to say the least, which reflects the fierce battles to control the meaning of history that continue to be fought in France, more than two hundred years after the French Revolution.
Puy du Fou is an amusement park with large live performances paying tribute to French history, founded in Vendée in 1978 by conservative politician Philippe de Villiers. It has enjoyed unwavering success since its creation, celebrated with multiple international awards—an unmitigated success story that the Left cannot stomach.
For years, Puy du Fou has been the target of multiple attacks by left-wing politicians and the mainstream media. Accused of all manner of evils, it is constantly criticised for “betraying history” and presenting a biased and ideologically marked version of it—’reactionary’ and Catholic, even though it continues to attract ever-growing audiences. Puy du Fou is indeed guilty of celebrating the monarchy—1,500 years of French history, no less—and of not glossing over the terrible episode that was the Terror of 1793. Every year, millions of French and foreign visitors flock to the park and enjoy this so-well staged narrative. Every visitor will tell you so: the entertainment experience offered to visitors warms the heart and delights the eyes.
Philippe de Villiers has taken up the ‘national narrative.’ He tells stories drawn from history that speak to the hearts of the French people, and he tells them remarkably well. He believes in the educational virtues of beauty, courage and greatness—it is a crime that the Left, which would like to reign supreme in the imaginations and hearts of the people, cannot forgive him for.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games ceremony breathed new life into the old quarrel over French history. On this occasion, the Left, in charge of this public spectacle through socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo, was able to indulge in presenting its own vision of history during the grand sound and light show intended to open the games. And it was not brilliant. On the banks of the Seine, spectators were confronted with a violent, vindictive and bloody history of France, where national pride was measured in the number of heads cut off. Behind this sordid staging was Thomas Jolly, a director adored by the LGBT community, and Patrick Boucheron, a militant historian who has never made a secret of his desire to re-educate the masses with Masonic propaganda.
In recent years, Puy du Fou has inspired others, and local historical shows inspired by the spirit of Villiers’ pilot project, a model of conservative success in cultural entrepreneurship, are multiplying throughout France. Local left-wing politicians are alarmed and want to fight back. But this is no easy task. Patrick Boucheron decided to propose a re-education project at the Château de Chambord, the Renaissance jewel of the Loire Valley. Outraged by the ‘far right’s’ stranglehold on history, he intended to offer an alternative vision of France’s past, promoting “equal rights, justice, and democracy.” The château’s management ultimately decided against it, refusing to allow François I’s residence to become a battleground between activists on both sides. The cost of Boucheron’s project was also deemed prohibitive. Other, less obvious reasons must certainly have been put forward: it is not given that crowds would have turned out en masse to hear about the ‘values of the republic’ during their holidays, already extolled from morning to night in the public media.
Following in the footsteps of Boucheron and Jolly, LFI MP François Ruffin took it upon himself to combat the infamous by inventing a “left-wing Puy du Fou.” He explained his reasoning in a speech at the International Performing Arts Biennial in Nantes on January 22nd.
He considers Puy du Fou to be dangerously appealing. “People on the left, people who go with their children, think it’s great, they have a wonderful time.” All this is inevitably suspect, and an alternative model must be proposed—hence the idea of a left-wing Puy du Fou. But in 2026, we are no longer in the era of the 1989 commemorations, when, on the bicentenary of the French Revolution, children were invited to joyfully sing and dance the Carmagnole dressed in sans-culotte striped trousers and armed with rubber pikes. In the embittered world of 2026, even the merry commemoration of revolutionary atrocities could become suspect. We need darkness, repentance and suffering. That would be the menu for the left-wing Puy du Fou, if we are to believe François Ruffin: “I want us to have our own narrative that deals with our dark pages.” To hell with the Sun King! A bit of slavery, a bit of collaboration: that would definitely be fine!
Ruffin has, however, sensed something profoundly true. His observation is undeniably lucid: “Our country is in depression. We will not lift it out of this state with pay slips alone.” That is certain. We need dreams to tear us away from the mediocrity and ugliness of our daily lives, which are falling apart. No one talks like this anymore—except, perhaps, Villiers, who is more effective as a cultural entrepreneur than as a politician.
“Today, we have no political will, we have no narrative to say, ‘this is the direction we want to go in,’” continues Ruffin. I agree, even if he and I are not going in the same direction.
“There is no political discourse on culture,” he concludes. Here, we no longer follow him. This is a statement that neither Zhdanov nor Goebbels would have denied. It is the eternal problem of the Left. It is incapable of seeing culture as something free—not subsidised, let’s not get the terms wrong—in the service of beauty and goodness.
Take up the challenge, Mr Ruffin. Go ahead, get the ball rolling, throw yourself into the fray with your good will and your little arms—and please, without thinking first about putting together a grant application. Create your left-wing Puy du Fou, and let’s see if the public will follow.
One piece of advice, however, before you start. It comes from Nicolas de Villiers, son of the politician behind the show and the amusement park, now at the head of the project. Success comes from the fact that the story told there speaks to everyone’s heart. Given the visitor numbers, it is impossible to believe that only political supporters of the sovereigntist Villiers, a former minister and former MEP, come here.
“In a family, there are no family memories if you spend your time talking about quarrels that may have existed in the past,” Nicolas de Villiers also explained.
What Ruffin failed to understand is that Philippe de Villiers never had any intention of creating a ‘right-wing Disneyland.’ He wanted to convey his passion and inspire other French people to listen to the adventures of a land he loved. Moreover, there is no shortage of dark pages in the history evoked at Puy du Fou. The show dedicated to the Vendée general Charette, for example, does not hide anything about the bloody decisions of the Convention and the mass massacres of the Terror. But this dark history is sublimated into beauty and grandeur: that is the secret. But is it accessible to a left-wing MP?
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