Speak!

La Barben (week 19)

Apparently they don't have the same substitute-teacher infrastructure here as they do at home: David's teacher was "away" today, so David had the morning off school (they don't have school on Wednesday afternoon anyways).  Andrew was swimming, as his class does each Wednesday, so there wasn't any new homework to be done today!

To celebrate, we visited the Parc Zoologique de la Barben.  It is situated between Aix and Salon, so within easy driving distance.  It is a private zoo, so a little pricey (€16 for adults, €10 for children), but it was a pretty good place.  They had the typical suite of animals - lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) - just enough exhibits for an afternoon visit.  They also had some new animals we had never seen before: European grey wolves, European lynxes, meerkats, and the highlight for Craig, a capybara, the world's largest rodent (for an explanation of the last, you would need to know that the superhero The Tick has a capybara for a pet, named "Speak").  There was also a reptile vivarium containing lots of snakes, crocodiles, and turtles.  Another highlight was the talkative macaw - he said hello and also had a very human-like "laugh".

At this time of year, the place was almost deserted, only a dozen or so cars were in the parking lot.  However, it was a nice day (the high was ~15C), so the animals were quite animated and visible, unlike the really hot summer days when they hunker down in whatever shade they can find at the corners of their enclosure.

"You're a wonderful loveable rodent! And there's nothing wrong with that! No, if that's your lifestyle choice then we'll stand behind you all the way."