ALSACE

Little Prince Park (Parc du Petit Prince)
Ungersheim (Alsace)
Opened: July 2014
www.parcdupetitprince.com [2]
This playful and poetic theme park in the heart of Alsace is the first of its kind, an aeronautical homage that promises to fans of The Little Prince a unique emotional experience. Thirty-one attractions and several shows will tackle three themes – flight, interplanetary travel and animals – for immersion in the fantasy world of Saint-Exupéry.

Musée Unterlinden
Colmar (Alsace)
Re-opening: Spring 2015
www.musee-unterlinden.com [3]
A full re-imagining of this museum, the second most-visited regional fine art museum in France, is now underway. Both the former convent and the municipal baths are being redesigned to better present the collections of 12th- to 18th-century art and host special events. A new building is also being constructed to house galleries of modern and contemporary art, as well as temporary exhibitions.

AQUITAINE

A Wine Museum in Bordeaux
Bordeaux (Aquitaine)
Opening: 2016
http://www.citedescivilisationsduvin.com [4]
The Center for Wine and Civilization (Cité des Civilisations du Vin), the first large cultural center based on the theme of wine in Bordeaux, will open its doors in 2016. Halfway between a museum and a theme park, the center will allow visitors to discover wine-growing civilizations the world over.

Lascaux IV Facsimile and the International Cave Art Center
Montignac-Lascaux (Aquitaine)
Opening: 2016
http://www.projet-lascaux.com [5]
Located at the foot of Lascaux Hill, the International Center for Cave Art (Centre International d'Art Pariétal) will house a complete copy of the famous Lascaux cave and place a heavy emphasis on bringing it to life through virtual-reality technology. There will also be exhibits about Cro-Magnon civilization and cave art from around the world.

AUVERGNE

Chateau Lafayette
Chavaniac-Lafayette (Auvergne)
Opening: April 2014
http://www.chateau-lafayette.com/-rubrique29-.html [6]
This fortified 14th-century manor house, also known as Le Manoir des Deux Mondes, is the birthplace of the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolution. A visit introduces you to his childhood, marriage and career. The surrounding park is a rare Haute-Loire garden that is open to the public and has been classified as one of the Remarkable Gardens of France.

BURGUNDY

International Gastronomy Exhibition Center
Dijon (Burgundy)
Opening: Late 2016
http://www.citedelagastronomie-dijon.fr [7]
As one of a foursome of cities hosting Gastronomy Exhibition Centers, Dijon will be the reference on the culture of the vine and wine. Located on the site of the ideally-located 18th-century former general hospital, the International Gastronomy Exhibition Centre in Dijon will notably include a wine sommelier school, a wine exhibition area and food and an eco-friendly neighborhood.

LANGUEDOC

The Camargue: a New Grand Site de France
Aigues-Mortes (Languedoc)
http://www.projet-lascaux.com [5]
The 41 "Grands Sites de France" are exceptional, fragile, protected and listed cultural landscapes that are well-known and emblematic locations whose managers share a belief in their sustainable development. In January 2014, this label was bestowed upon the Camargue Gardoise, including the newly refurbished southern ramparts of Aigues-Mortes. The associated Maison du Grand Site de France includes exhibits, educational activities and, soon, interpreted walking trails.

LOIRE VALLEY

Histopad in 12 Languages
Château de Chambord (Loire Valley)
Launching: Summer 2015
http://chambord.org [8]
The Château de Chambord will come to life like never before through Histopads – tablet computers that offer digital-3D, interactive, reality-augmented reconstructions of the castle. Histopads allow visitors to personalize their visits according to their interests. They can visualize details that no longer exist or are inaccessible. A virtual map lets them know what rooms they have already visited. Games and additional information about the history of the castle are also available and allow visitors to get to the heart of the construction and evolution of the Chambord castle and its domain.

A New Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré
Tours (Loire Valley)
Opening: December 2015
http://www.ccc-art.com/en [9]
The CCC is a recognized art center that presents and produces international artists. After its inauguration in a new building, it will continue its work in a structure able to accommodate monumental installations and with two large spaces set aside for artistic events and experimentation.

LORRAINE

Rebirth of the Verdun Memorial
Verdun (Lorraine)
Opening: Mid-November 2015
http://www.memorialdeverdun.fr/index.php/accueil.html [10]
The Verdun Memorial preserves one small piece of the blood-stained earth from World War I. Displays – large-format projected archival images, background sounds, video, artillery sound effects and more – immerse visitors in an experience of the French-German battlefield. There are also explanations of how the region was transformed and then reconstructed.

MIDI-PYRENEES

La Cuisine, Art and Design Center
Saint-Antonin-Nobleval (Midi-Pyrénées)
Opened: June 2014
http://www.la-cuisine.fr [11]
Located in Negrepelisse Castle, near Saint-Antonin-Nobleval in Aveyron's Valley, a brand new site is dedicated to gastronomy. Cooking lessons, conferences and exhibitions about food are all part of the program here.

Prehistory Museum of Aurignac
Aurignac (Midi-Pyrénées)
Opening: October 2014
http://www.musee-aurignacien.com [12]
The Musée Forum de l'Aurignacien focuses on pre-histology – it's establishment as a new science and the discoveries associated with it, especially the origins and use of bone and stone tools. Aurignacian man was a hunter-gatherer who created such tools and cared for his dead. Museum exhibits in chronological order call into question the place of humanity in the natural order.

New Aeronautical Museum
Blagnac - Toulouse Métropole (Midi-Pyrénées)
Opening: late 2014/early 2015
http://www.manatour.fr/Aeronautical-Museum [13]
The aeronautical, technical and scientific discovery park called Aéroscopia opens its doors soon. Its ambition it to share knowledge, technology and skills through the study of four aviation-history icons: Caravelle, Concorde, Super Guppy and the Airbus A300B. There are also more than 30 historical planes on display, as well as cultural exhibitions, activities, festivals and meetings.

NORMANDY

Mont-Saint-Michel Pedestrian Footbridge
Mont-Saint-Michel (Normandy)
Opened: July 2014
http://www.projetmontsaintmichel.com [14]
Work has shifted from construction to testing on a new causeway leading to Mont-Saint-Michel. The causeway includes a pedestrian footbridge extension over the final part of the route and allows the Mont to become an island again. The footbridge is covered with wooden decking on each side of a central roadway reserved for shuttle service. The work took three years to complete and replaces the 19th-century causeway, which will be destroyed, with work on other access infrastructure continuing through 2015.

Panorama XXL
Rouen (Normandy)
Opening: December 2014
http://www.la-crea.fr/panorama-xxl-de-la-crea [15]
There's a new cultural hot spot in Normandy: Panorama XXL. A circular exhibition center, it includes a rotunda 115 feet high and 115 feet in diameter built right on Rouen's river. This rotunda is large enough to accommodate the monumental 360° frescoes by world-famous German artist Yadegar Asisi, as well as other panoramic art. What's depicted includes great moments in history and exceptional landscapes. The art is executed using a wide variety of techniques, such as painting, drawing and digital photography.

Joan of Arc Historical Museum
Rouen (Normandy)
Opening: February 2015
http://www.rouentourisme.com [16]
Jeanne d'Arc and Rouen are intimately connected, and soon the city's Archbishop's Palace will house a historical museum in her name. There will be two principal themes: to remember the history of this emblematic and timeless figure, and to tell the story of this history through innovative and immersive multimedia scenography created by Clémence Farrel.

PARIS

The Louvre's New 18th-Century Decorative Arts Galleries
Paris
Opened: June 6, 2014
http://www.louvre.fr [17]
The redesign and reinstallation of the Louvre galleries dedicated to decorative art objects from the reign of Louis XIV and the 18th century is now complete. This newly renovated west wing of the Cour Carrée allows the public to appreciate the treasures of the Louvre's extraordinarily large and comprehensive collection mainly featuring works of French origin produced by leading manufactures or independent artisans spanning the period from the reign of Louis XIV until the French Revolution.

Picasso Museum Reopens
Paris
Opening: October 25, 2014
http://www.museepicassoparis.fr/en [18]
The 52€ million renovation of the Picasso Museum in Paris' Hôtel Salé is nearly complete. When its doors reopen, nearly 5,000 works of art – prints, paintings and sculptures – by the 20th-century master will be on display, including dozens of items from his personal collection. New elements in the 41,000-square-foot exhibition space (nearly double what it was) include 13 rooms, a 95-seat auditorium, an art education workshop and El Parrallelo, a cafe on the first-floor terrace.

Louis Vuitton Foundation
Paris
Opening: October 27, 2014
http://www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr/en [19]
In a building designed by architect Frank Gehry that resembles a cloud of glass, the new Louis Vitton Foundation is destined to become a new location for contemporary French and international artistic creation. Located in the Jardin d’Acclimatation, in the northern part of the Bois de Boulogne, The Fondation Louis Vuitton's exhibition galleries will be dedicated to a permanent collection, temporary exhibitions and artists' commissions. Don't miss the unique panoramic views of Paris from the terraces.

La Philharmonie de Paris

The Paris Orchestra will find a new home on January 14, 2015 with the opening of the Philharmonie de Paris designed by Jean Nouvel in the Parc de la Villette. Located in Paris’s 19th district it will join La Villette’s City of Music and City of Science and Industry - www.philharmoniedeparis.fr [20]

RHONE-ALPS

Confluences Museum
Lyon (Rhone-Alpes)
Opening: December 20, 2014
http://www.museedesconfluences.fr [21]
Within the Quartier de la Confluence urban development and reclamation project, which transformed the traditionally industrial tip of the city's southern peninsula into green space, Lyon will open the Musée des Confluence. Dedicated to science, art and society, the museum will feature eight rooms (four permanent exhibition areas and four temporary exhibition areas) with different circulating exhibitions covering topics such as genetic modification, exchange and innovation, origins of life, biodiversity, global warming, geopolitics and social behavior.

Pont d'Arc Cave
Vallon-Pont d'Arc (Rhone-Alps)
Opening: Spring 2015
http://www.lagrottechauvetpontdarc.org [22]
Discovered in 1994, the Chauvet cave is regarded as site of the world's oldest cave paintings (36,000 BC). By spring 2015, a facsimile of the cave and a discovery center where visitors can admire more than 425 paintings and engravings of prehistoric animals will be open to the public.

RIVIERA

National Sports Museum (Musée National du Sport)
Nice (Riviera)
Opened: June 27, 2014
http://www.museedusport.fr [23]
Fifty years after establishing one of the world's biggest sports-history collections, the 45,000 objects and 400,000 documents have been moved from Paris to their new home – a place that does them justice: Allianz Riviera eco stadium in Nice. Through sound bites, video clips of key sporting moments and interactive displays, each room in the museum invites the public to experience physical exertion and the emotions felt during both victory and defeat. This must-see site for football fans, climbing fiends, cycling addicts and other athletes unlocks the door to the secrets and values of sportsmanship.