Couldn't find any mention of this anywhere on Pprune, thought it was worth writing about.
I went to the Helicopter Museum on the airfield at Dax, France yesterday:
Bienvenue sur le site de l'AAMALAT
It's a pretty low-profile affair, from the main road past the airport there's just one tiny sign to it. I've been visiting this area regularly for 20 years and this is the first I knew of it. But they have a fantastic collection of aircraft, mainly helis but also some small fixed-wing stuff. Among other things they have a Sikorsky 55, an Mi-8, a Vertol, a Puma, numerous Gazelles and variations thereupon. They also have a static exhibit including a variety of different rotor-heads that you can poke and prod at.
It's all in French but as fair as the aircraft go that doesn't really matter much.
Dax is the centre of all French military and state helicopter pilot training (army/navy/police/coastguard/etc), a pretty busy place. There's also a flying club there and you might be able to land there with prior permission, particularly at the weekend. (The French official site says "strictly based aircraft only" but then goes on to give details for obtaining PPL).
n5296s