The dinosaurs musem of Espéraza :

THE DINOSAUR MUSEUM

Where is it ? :

It's located in Esperaza , France.

 The dinosaurs museum is the first French museum entirely dedicated to dinosaurs .

Opening times:

 The museum is open everyday from 10:30 am to 12:30 and from 14:30 to 17:30 pm .

Prices :

Adults : 8,70 euros

Kids (5-12 years old ; students ; disabled adults ): 6,20 euros

Family ( 2 parents, 2 kids ) : 25,80 euros

Under five years : It 's free !

 Fares non-school groups :

Free museum visit ( 10 people ) : 7.20 euros / person

Guided tour of the museum ( 15 people ) : 8,20 euros / person

 Paleontological workshops :

Opening days :

Summer holidays : Everyday from 11:30 , 13:30 , 14:30 , 15:30 ,  16:30 , 17:30 .

School holidays : ( Toussaint, X-mas , Winter , Spring )

Prices :

Search workshop ( 7-12 years old ) : 3 euros

Molding of footprints : 6 euros

Duration : 45 minutes

The activities :

There are many  activities to do in the museum of Espéraza. There is a paleontological workshop ( it's an activity where children between 6 and 12  may conduct searches with the help of an adult ). You can also visit the archaeological digs in Espéraza during the months of july and august with a guide who will tell you stories about the searches but he will also tell you how to find  dinosaur fossils, the different methods, etc...

The story of the museum :

In XX century Campagne was the place where many dinosaurs were found.

The paleontologs Eric Buffetaut and Jean Le Loeuff, are researching a dig in the south of France, and they stopped in Espéraza, in december 1988.

The first researches were in july 1989 on the dig of Bellevue in Campagne-sur-Aude. 10 days later, several bones of a sauropod dinosaur were found. This dig  contained  many bones from different sorts of dinosaurs.

Since then, many searches are organized by DES every year, during the months of July and August on the dig in Campagne-sur-Aude. 

Opening of the first museum of dinosaurs :

Michel Lafitte, the mayor of Espéraza, created a museum in his village ( Espéraza ) in 1992. It's the first museum of dinosaurs in France. This museum has a lot of succes, it attracts  a lot of people and in 1998 they will enlarge the museum because it was to small for all the bones.

In Spring 2007 it becomes the largest museum in the south of France and maybe also in all the country.

Made by Anouk Clijsen, Aurélie Garros and Nina Valada