We woke to grey clouds and the driveway now a trickle, rather than a creek. Umbrellas were packed, along with raincoats and gumboots and we headed off to the Parc Animalier des Pyrenees With low clouds the drive to Argeles Gazost wasn't as scenic as it could have been but I got the idea. I even recognised the area from the television when the tour shoots through it from time to time (does that make me a cycling geek too?). The animal park was great. There were animals from the Pyrenean area and one of the first we saw was the marmot, a small, fluffy creature with short stumpy legs. When it ran it looked very uncoordinated with its big bottom wobbling everywhere, however it was a very cute animal.
The animal Park had another clever one way system, so at times it felt like you had the whole park to yourself. The keepers were at quite a few enclosures keeping the animals interested so the tourists weren't looking at sleeping animals. There were bears, lynxes, wolves, otters, mountain goats (which Heather and I climbed a rather large mountain to see), marmots (which the kids got to sit beside and feed - I resisted), vultures, deer and a variety of birds. It was a very enjoyable morning. We then headed into town for a quick explore and some lunch. It was a very quick explore as once again we had arrived during siesta time. It amazes me that a tourist town closes during the peak season, with shops, tourist bureau and even some restaurants shut from noon to up 3pm each day and that we are still getting caught out by this. Hopefully in our second week in France we will have learnt our lesson and take on the siesta habit. With low clouds forecast tomorrow Neil is tackling the Col du Perysourde which we have already driven over so he doesn't need to see the view again. While he does so the kids and I will spend the morning exploring the nearby town of Arreau.
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