As an animal lover, I always loved going to the zoo when I was a kid- we really only used to frequent one particular zoo in Rhode Island (because anything further away than 30 minutes was too far!). So now that we live near numerous zoos and wild parks, I think I love visiting them as much as my little boy does!
This past weekend, we decided to enjoy the recent sunny weather and take a trip to the Amneville Zoo in Amneville, France. Just under 1.5 hours from our house, it was an easy drive across the French border to the park. The area seems to be a popular place- we parked near a slew of restaurants, an indoor ski slope, a bowling alley, mini golf, and an ice rink.
The zoo itself is pretty big, and the animals have well-maintained enclosures. I won't say the animals looked "happy" because zoo animals never seem happy to me… but that's a whole different conversation. The entrance fee was a hefty 32 Euro per person to enter (LJ was free). They also had popcorn for sale to feed to the animals (or yourself). I saw several food vendors scattered around the zoo, but we did not stop by any to check out what they had to offer...
We wandered around and took our time seeing each exhibit. I loved seeing the white tiger; the male paced back and forth, and each time he passed by the glass was a thrill! There were a couple females, a few cubs, and the male all sharing the space.
We also saw plenty of birds, monkeys, hippos, rhinos, and wild cats. The Rhinos had a large enclosure where we spotted an adorable baby and mama relaxing in the sun!
The polar bear was putting on a show for viewers, diving down and pressing his huge paws on the glass, then pushing off with a huge splash!
The seals were a favorite of LJ- the trainers and seals put on a show for the audience complete with singing and dancing.
My favorite part of the zoo was the gorilla enclosure. The large outdoor/indoor area housed at least 5 gorillas who were casually seen munching on greens, swinging on tire swings, and checking us out as we checked them out. It was the largest gorilla enclosure I've seen at a zoo, and they looked well taken care of.
Overall, we spent about 3 hours here, and then rushed by some exhibits toward the exit to prevent a toddler melt down- you could easily spend more time here, as we skipped the Tiger World (show) and some other exhibits toward the end. We enjoyed this zoo but I think it was a one time visit for us (being a little further away, and pretty expensive)!
I have to mention our trip home- almost as thrilling as the zoo, as we stopped by Cora, a French hypermarket (think CostCo but with endless French cheese, wine, meat, baguettes...oh my). We went a little overboard on chocolate, but also found some great deals on fresh produce and meat!
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