ZooParc de Beauval

This isn’t a really cheerful post, but it has a happy ending. I’m back for day two at the zoo. It covers a lot of land and you really need two days to take it all in, especially if the shows are on and you want to see some of them. At this time of year I think there is the minimum going on, and I still needed two days.

It was extremely rainy. After the rainy walk from the hotel, the first thing I did was find an indoor place to sit in the dry and watch fish go by. I loved this fish (top left) with the big nose.

Then I started down the trail of arrows guiding you through the zoo. You know what’s irritating? When each person in a group gets the largest umbrella they can and then they walk side by side across the entire walkway, as slowly as possible.

I found the pandas. It’s a breeding facility. This is a very impressive habitat for them. I seem to be doing a lot of China in this part of France.

And I found the elephants. Here’s one getting his toenails done by one person, while the other person taps him with a stick and feeds him treats. You have to trust the people your working with here. There was an elephant spectacle in the afternoon but I didn’t stay for it.

It’s a big stretch to get you breakfast.

I was feeling chilly and really wanted a chocolat chaud but none of the food places were open until 11:30. Indeed, a lot of the exhibits aren’t quite ready yet. I’d be happy to come back at the beginning of April and ride the tram. Or maybe next summer when I come back for the swimming pools. 😉

They’re putting a lot of money into the zoo, and it must be an good employer of thousands of people. There’s lots of construction going on.

I don’t really care for the idea of a zoo. I didn’t see a lot of happy animals. This gorilla in the background was probably the saddest. Okay, I admit it… I wanted to set everyone free.

Lots to see. But that early morning with the roosters was getting to me.

The animal getting the most attention from everyone was this little guy here. It was so unexpected that everyone loved it. It was fun to hear how excited people were to see un chat!

Anyway, it was wet and I was wet and tired, and so I decided that rather than take the taxi, then train and then bus back to Loches, I’d just take a taxi.

Here I am waiting for it to arrive.

The driver was a lovely lady and we chatted the whole way. About the fields, and les forêts and what a lovely town Loches was. I was amazed at how much conversation I was capable of with a woman who claimed to have no English at all.

And here’s an accident we came across in the middle of nowhere. Going cross country two vehicles had smashed into each other almost head on at a crossroad. The really badly damaged vehicle is behind this big truck. There were at least four ambulances there.

It made me happy to be home safely, although the taxi fare was 80 Euros! Oh well, I am en vacance after all.

And I bought the makings for chocolat chaud on the way home!

Love to you all.