Just Around the Next Bend: Zoo, Train Station, Mountains, Fortress

   This week I have been on different adventures - a zoo near Bordeaux, a train station in Agen, the mountains near St Bertrand de Comminges - very different places but all were rewarding in their own particular way.
     I have been wanting to visit the Zoo de Bordeaux since I moved here. It takes a little over 2 hours to get there so I needed pretty much a full day for the drive and the visit. I should say at this point that I have not yet received the second GPS that I ordered after finding out that the first one was lost somewhere in northern France. So I have been relying on my map skills and google to get me where I need to go.
     Hélène had warned me about Bordeaux, saying that if at all possible, I should avoid it as it's very confusing to navigate. I checked my Michelin map and found where the zoo is located and it seemed like I could get there without any major difficulties. So Tuesday morning I headed out to find it. (Had no problems finding the zoo, but had a terrible time finding my way out of Bordeaux to head home!)
     It is a wonderful zoo! It's not very big and not many animals. However, the enclosures are very inviting and the animals all looked healthy and happy. The animals I found the most endearing were the white tiger and the two white lions (siblings). They had a number of big cat species which I have not seen in a long time - a black leopard, a serval, cheetahs, fishing cats.
   I enjoyed my encounters with an eclectus parrot who played peak a boo with me and two African Gray Parrots who sang and whistled with me. I loved seeing the tiny baby gibbon. And there's a dinosaur encounter area - with dangerous raptors! In the summer they have scheduled encounters with different animals.   I spent a fun 3 hours there on a rather cloudy day - but that meant that I pretty much had the zoo to myself! Here are some photos for you. Let's start with the big cats.

The beautiful white tiger, Raj

Mawi, the handsome white lion

His sister, Sana

A serval

One of the three cheetahs

The black leopard was having fun with the cone

One of the fishing cats

Here are the parrots that I "conversed" and played with, and the raptor area.

The beautiful eclectus parrot that I played peak-a-boo with

The African Gray parrot who wanted to talk to me

This is apparently an authentic skeleton

Enter to find the raptor area

And there they are!

I also enjoyed seeing the gibbon family with the tiny baby, the African grazing enclosure, the maned wolf and the meerkats.

Learning to climb

Mom, Dad and baby

The grazing area

The maned wolf


The always entertaining meerkats

     A lovely day at the Bordeaux zoo. And trying to find my way home was a sign that I needed to find another way to take the train to Paris. I am NOT going to go into one of the largest cities in France to find a train station - I'd never find my way out! Hélène to the rescue once again! She told me that I can take the TGV train from the station in Agen which is only an hour from me and in a much smaller town.
     So on Thursday, I decided to drive to Agen to find the station so I know what to do to get to Paris - the easy way - or at least, easier. Even without a GPS I had no trouble finding the train station. There's a large parking lot at the station so that's very convenient. And nowadays you can buy your train tickets online. So there's no waiting in line at the station. You show up and wait for your train, and in 4 hours you're in Paris!   Will try that soon.
     Today, I needed mountains. So, CoCo and I took off this morning and drove to St Bertrand de Comminges - a wonderful medieval walled town at the foot of the Pyrenées. So I will leave you with photos of mountains and a fortress. Thanks so much for coming along on my adventures! And, I wish you all a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving. Next week I'll tell you how I spent my Thanksgiving weekend - a road trip. Stay tuned. Merci!