Visiting La Vallée de Singe

We have all taken the weekend off and I think it is the first time we have all been away from Jean Blanc at the same time for a break.

We have some good friends who we met back in 1997 while on holida in France. They have just bought a house in Charante and they invited us up for the weekend.

It was great fun, thanks to Martin and Angela's hospitality we were able to forget about the project and relax.

Driving up on the Friday was a bit tough because of heavy showers but the brilliant countryside was anough compensation to get us bye.

On the Saturday we all went to La Vallée de Singe - valley of Monkey's.

I was expecting to see lots of cages with saddened faces peering through the bars but was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the Monkey's were free to roam at will and even walking amongst us.

The more dangerous such as the Baboons, Gorilla's and Chimpanzees were all on cleverly constructed islands with pathways circling them for good vantage points.

If you are in the vicinity on your holiday's then this is well worth the visit in my opinion.

It costs 13.00 euros for an adult and children 5-13 8.00 euros. Under 5's get in free.

You are encouraged not to touch but the great thing is you can be just inches from many of the 30 species of primates to be found in the park.

Check out their fantastic website (probably the best example of a website I have yet to come across in France). There is an English version, just click on the Union Jack at the top.

For the kids, at the end of the walk, is the farm with more conventional animals such as Goats, Chickens, Pigs, and fabulous Donkey.