Brittany for Tourists

Monday 19 August

The weather is improving daily and after some morning clouds the day ended with blue skies and sunshine once again. We have been so fortunate to have had such brilliant weather all the way around France.  Today Maree was feeling a little tired and achy so she and Melanie opted for a rest day - not difficult in our lovely country house.  Later in the day they walked some of the country lanes that cross the neighbouring fields and found plenty of ripe juicy blackberries to pick.
Jessica, Baptiste and I took to the tourist trail today, starting with a visit to Pont Aven.  Before we left Maree and I managed to find out way to the post office in Treboul which is across the estuary from Douarnenez. What a maze of little streets on the hillsides - poor TomTom could hardy keep up with all the twists and turns.

Looking towards Douarnenez -view from the bridge to Treboul.

 Pont Aven is half an hour by car from Le Merdy and is a smallish town with a river running through the centre.  It is a haven for artists and has been so for well over a century - Gaugin often visited along with several of his contemporaries and the Pont Aven school of painters became established. Apart from its artistic links, Pont Aven is also exceptionally pretty, with the river leading into an estuary which is a delightful mooring place for a few yachts and fishing boats. The estuary is surrounded by woods and fields which makes for a very tranquil scene. 

Estuary at Pont Aven

 The town itself was a bit overrun with people and the many restaurants were filling up for lunch service. In spite of the touristy shops, the walk alongside the river is lovely  - old stone houses, a watermill, flowers everywhere - and it is easy to see why Pont Aven attracts so many visitors. It certainly has the cutest public toilet  building I have ever seen!

Pont Aven

 As we had parked, probably illegally, in the post office car park (P.O. closed for lunch) we decided to drive on to our next destination and eat there.  Parking places seemed to be in short supply in Pont Aven.  About 20 minutes away from Pont Aven is another tourist hotspot, Concarneau, a large town and modern fishing port.  Most visitors go there to see the Ville Close which is a walled medieval village located on an island in the harbour. It is linked to the mainland by a wide stone drawbridge and from the outside looks very forbidding. 

Ville Close at Concarneau

 We were lucky with a car parking spot (legal this time) nearby Ville Close and once over the bridge and though the arched portal in the high walls we found ourselves in a small courtyard - a kind of lobby before entering the main street through another arched opening. Three musicians playing old instruments were providing entertainment in the courtyard and a huge old tree gave a shady spot to sit and listen. The main street on the island is lined with medieval houses but is somewhat overwhelmed with souvenir shops and creperies.  We joined the slow moving throng of people (mostly British, judging by the overheard conversations) and made our way along the street looking for a lunch spot.  We didn't fancy the tourist menus so walked back to the shore hoping for something more interesting.  Alas, all we could find were creperies and pizzerias, so ham and cheese crepes it was.  These are the savoury buckwheat crepes that are usually called galettes in other parts of Brittany and Normandy.  In the Finisterre department galettes are the Breton butter biscuits which are sold everywhere in decorative tins (very nice too).

Ferry landing, Ville Close

With lunch under our belts we returned to the Ville Close for a bit of a trek around.  It is a shame that the tourist shops and cafes are such a dominant feature in the village as they detract from the charm of the old houses and unique character of this place which is indeed closed off from the outside world.  The early residents must have felt very secure behind the high stone walls. The origins of the Ville Close date back to the thirteenth century.

Concarneau

It didn't take long for us to explore and to be over the crowds so we drove on westwards along the coast to the popular seaside resort, Benodet.  On the way we stopped briefly at the Vieux Port of La Foret-Fouesnant which is another pretty little harbour. 

Vieux Port, La Foret-Fouesnant

 Although it was late in the afternoon, there were still a lot of people on the beach at Benodet and plenty of walkers promenading along the seafront. Benodet seems to have plenty of small hotels, resorts and pretty white holiday cottages, many of which seem quite new.  It has the look of a purpose built holiday town and is obviously a lovely place for families.

Benodet 

There is also a casino which no doubt pulls in plenty of customers. Besides the ocean beach there is a wide estuary littered with boats and edged by sandy beaches,  All in all Benodet is a most attractive place although quite different from the quaint fishing ports with which we have become accustomed in these parts.

Benodet estuary beach

With the sun still high overhead we decided to return home via dinner in Quimper.  Darn it - our lovely Le Petit Gaveau restaurant, like many others, is closed on Mondays.  We found a charming courtyard restaurant with a very limited menu but we were happy to have entrecote (again!) in such pleasant surroundings.  The restaurant is part of an ancient Quimper mansion that was formerly the home of the French writer Max Jacob who died in a concentration camp in 1944.  It seems that many celebrated writers and artists frequented this home, including Christian Dior - so there!
Our day out was interesting but I don't think that the countryside we passed by today was nearly as scenic as yesterday's on the Crozon Peninsula.  Glad to find that Maree has enjoyed her leisurely day and feels less achy tonight.

Sunday on the Crozon Peninsula

Sunday, 18 August

We were happy to see an improvement in the weather this morning.  The summer in France has been spectacular and we have become accustomed to clear, sunny days and warm temperatures.  Although there were still some clouds scurrying about there was also plenty of sunshine and in the afternoon it was quite warm - mid twenties, I guess.  After speaking with our hosts, Chris and Rowena, we had a good idea of some of the best places to visit in this part of Brittany and one of these was the Crozon Peninsula which we explored today.  I love the French word for peninsula - presqu'ile which means "almost island" - a very good description!  I thought it would be interesting to check out the local beaches on the way and chose one called Ste-Anne-la-Palud which seemed to be rated highly by previous guests at Le Merdy (there is a guest book).  We drove through the pretty village of Le Juch which is in a valley and is surrounded by beautiful farms - corn, cows and hayfields.  The contrast between the pale gold of the hayfields and the lush green of the paddocks where the cows graze is so pretty.  The rolling hills extend down to the sea - the Baie de Douarnenez - a sailing paradise so Chris tells us.  Today the sea was aquamarine and very calm.
Ste-Anne-la-Palud is a very long, wide, sandy beach  with just a few houses and a hotel.  It is popular with wind surfers (not today though) and is safe for swimming.  Today there were only a few people on the beach and even fewer swimming.  We parked on the sand dunes and walked on the beach but didn't venture to the water's edge - it is a long walk!

The very extensive beach at Ste-Anne-la-Palud

Forty minutes further on and well out onto the peninsula, we came to the very attractive seaside town of Morgat which has a beautiful white sand beach, a small port and lots of pretty white Breton holiday cottages.  

Morgat beach

 Morgat was a busy place today - some kind of festival happening.  We saw a poster advertising traditional Breton music and dancing to commence at 2 pm - sadly they were still erecting the stage and sound system when we left at 3 pm!  I guess the show did eventually get under way - who knows?  Time for lunch and we scored a front-line table on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking the bay.  It was such a picturesque spot we could have sat and admired the view all day. 


Jessica's lunch at Morgat - escargots, mozzarella and tomato salad with a coupe de cidre

 Just nearby was a display of ancient crafts - a blacksmith, linen weavers, wood turners, knitters, all dressed in traditional clothing and demonstrating "metiers anciens" (old skills).  It was fascinating to wander amongst the displays and to see how these old ways are being kept alive by dedicated locals.


Linen weaver at Morgat

 As we wanted to make it to the end of the peninsula, we continued on, taking the main road from Crozon town to Camaret-sur-Mer, once an important fishing port but now relying more on tourism to support its 2500 inhabitants.  The road took us from the southern side of the peninsula to the northern side where Camaret is situated on a large and sheltered bay.  The road passes by a very  inviting little beach called Kerloch (this sounds distinctly Celtic) where there were many people enjoying the afternoon sunshine.



Kerloch Beach

Camaret was also busy with a market stretching all the way along the sea front.  Across the bay we could see a large sea wall with a church and a tower overlooking the calm waters of the harbour.

Camaret-sur-Mer - across the harbour to La Tour Vauban and Rocamadour Chapel

  In the distance we could see some rusting hulks of what had once been quite large vessels - this warranted further inspection.  We strolled the length of the town's harbourside road, checking out the wares on sale at the dozens of market stalls, stopped for an ice-cream and then followed the road along the top of the sea wall. 

Summer fun for boys and dogs, Camaret-sur-Mer

 There is a small beach at one end of the town and a grassy headland which protects the bay.  Resting on their hulls beside the sea wall are several former sardine boats, now rusting away - rather a sad sight really, although by now some of them are almost sculptural in appearance. 

Rusting hulks, an ancient church and a guardian tower - Camaret-sur-Mer

 A little further on is the very plain, square stone Chapel de Notre Dame de Rocamadour which dates from 1683, although there have been other chapels on this site since 1183.  In this instance Rocamadour comes from the old celtic words for rock and water (no relation to St Amadour of the famous Rocamadour in the Lot).  Inside the chapel is exquisite - quite simple but with a ceiling of pale aqua tongue and groove timber and beautiful model fishing boats suspended underneath.  The sense of history and the connection  with the sea in this place is very strong and emotive. Today the chapel is of special significance to the fishing families of the area, 

Interior of the Chapel de Notre Dame de Rocamadour

 Close to the chapel stands the golden tower (Tour Doree) a fine example of the  architecture of Vauban who built fortifications all over France during the 1600's.  The Vauban Tour was built to protect Camaret and the harbour at Brest from British invaders.  Camaret-sur-Mer turned out to be not only a scenic location but a town with much to offer anyone with an interest in history.

Harbourside, Camaret-sur-Mer

 Our final stop of the day was close to  home and one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France - Locronan. In fact in 2013 it was rated as France's best village in poll that is held annually. In a landscape that is dominated by white-washed houses, Locronan stands out with its sombre grey granite stone buildings which surround a large cobble stone square dominated by a vast church.

Village square, Locronan

  While this may not sound too pretty, the architecture of the houses is actually very charming and the abundance of mostly dark pink hydrangeas all blooming profusely around the village brighten up the dark stone.  The hydrangea bushes are enormous and the flowers are symbols of the area - the French called them hortensias (from the latin botanical name)  Although it was late in the day there were still plenty of visitors wandering the narrow lanes and admiring the views over the surrounding countryside (yes, another hilltop village).  We were all quite taken with Locronan and had to agree that it probably deserves its high ranking amongst lovers of French villages.


Hydrangea heaven, Locronan

 The Crozon Peninsula is lovely in a quiet sort of way - a gentle landscape, and a coastline that meanders in and out with little bays, grassy headlands, beaches made for summer holidays and quaint villages.  A really enjoyable Sunday!

Quimper

Saturday 17 August

A rather grey and overcast day - so unusual after weeks of sunshine and blue skies.  We settled into our comfortable and pretty house this morning and enjoyed the possibility of sitting outside (not that we really wanted to in this weather).   The weather is set to improve tomorrow so we thought that visiting the coast could wait for  a sunny day.  Instead we drove to Quimper, the largest town in the Finistere department, where we figured cloudy skies would not matter.   We arrived at a quiet time during lunch - even the parking meters are suspended from noon until 2 pm!  Quimper is dominated by a really old and quite splendid cathedral with flying buttresses and a huge intricate spire - a beautiful example of Gothic architecture. 

Cathedral from the cloisters

 As we arrived in the square at the entrance to the cathedral a wedding ceremony was about to take place so we were able to see the bride and her many little flower girls and page boys.  There are plenty of interesting shops to poke around in in the old section of the city and of course many do cater to the tourist trade offering all kinds of cute Breton trinkets.  The most interesting and unique items are the beautifully decorated faience ceramics, the best of which are frightfully expensive.  Some are in traditional patterns of bright primary colours and depict Breton men and women in folk dress.  Other examples have flowers and most striking are the modern designs which have motifs of sailing boats.



Quimper street

Quimper is also full of restaurants and Jessica, Baptiste and I found a gem, "Le Petit Gaveau" where the food was delicious and very reasonable. Maree and Mel, having eaten already, went off to check out the sights of the town. After eating we also had a look around the town. The confluence of two rivers occurs in the middle of the city and there are many bridges decorated with pots of bright flowers. Many of the buildings are ancient half-timbered structures three or four stories high.


Riverside flowers, Quimper

Another gorgeous old shop selling wonderful macaroons

 Most of the centre is pedestrianized - not much room for vehicles in the narrow lanes.  This afternoon Quimper was a busy place with crowds of people on the streets and in the stores and cafes.  It is a city with a good vibe - not large (population 60 something thousand) but has a big town feel.  The buildings are quaint and quirky without being 'film-set' perfect.  We enjoyed visiting Quimper and look forward to a return visit next week when Jess has a hairdresser appointment.

Faience Shop - beautifully decorated

 Home to Le Merdy for some dinner and then Maree and I went for a drive to Douarnenez Port as the grey clouds were beginning to roll away.  We had a stroll on the quay - along with many locals who were out enjoying the long evening beside the water.  Douarnenez could not be described as a pretty place but it has lots of character and is obviously very much a working town, rather than a tourist resort.

Port, Douarnenez

Brittany

Friday 16 August

Woken this morning with the sound of hot air balloon outside the window - not to worry  - an early start needed today as St Aignan to Le Merdy, Brittany is quite a distance and we were not sure how much traffic we would encounter.

Early morning view from my window - St Aignan

As it turned out the A85 autoroute through to Nantes was pretty cruisy and not at all busy.  It is quite agricultural all through the Pays de Loire - the usual sunflowers, corn and hayfields - a very pleasant drive.   Fortunately we were able to bypass the cities of Angers and Nantes without any traffic issues and we then began driving northwest towards Brittany.  Most of the highway here is lined with a tall, thick border of trees so it is a bit uninteresting.  Our lunchtime stop was in Vannes, one of the larger towns of Brittany, on the Golfe de Morbihan.   The old city part of Vannes is built at the end of an inlet which is now a yacht harbour so we didn't actually see the ocean here.  Vannes was pretty crowded and we drove about for a while looking for a car park, finally finding one a bit of a walk from the restaurants.  The weather here, after a sunny morning, had become overcast and gloomy so we had a tasty brasserie lunch, a quick look and some of the half-timbered old buildings and then decided to carry on towards our destination. 


Vannes

The highway from Vannes to Lorient was very busy and it was quite slow going.  As we neared Quimper the rain began to come down very heavily which slowed our progress as well.  Fortunately Le Merdy was very easy to find and the rain eased by the time we arrived. First  daytime rain of the trip!  Le Merdy, which means "the big house" is a hamlet close to the seaside town of Douarnenez and has 9 permanent residents.  It is in the middle of a working farm.   Chris and Rowena Onions were on hand to greet us and we were thrilled at our lovely accommodation in a beautifully restored farmhouse.  Chris and Rowena live here part time in an annexe at one end of the house - they are from Cornwall. 

Le Merdy

Jess and I had to drive to Quimper straight away to meet her friend Baptiste who was arriving on the train from Paris to join us for a few days.  Quimper is only 20 minutes away so we soon collected Baptiste and headed back to Le Merdy.
We found a small supermarket close by and after dinner drove into Douarnenez as the evening had brightened up considerably.  Douarnenez is a sardine fishing port, a yachties' paradise and a summer holiday destination (nice beaches close by).  There are a variety of restaurants along the river and the harbour and the main town is on the hill above the port.  There is a huge bay surrounded by green farmlands and low hills with little white houses dotting the countryside.  Can't wait to see it in the sunshine!


Douarnenez Port

Douarnenez from Treboul

Last day in the Loire

Thursday, 15 August

Woke up this morning to discover that today is a public holiday - lots of things closed but the lack of a Post Office was the only bothersome thing for us.  Today is Assumption of Mary Day.  It was another blue sky day and in the high twenties by afternoon. 


St Aignan Chateau

This morning we took a look at the Island Fete which was held on an island in the middle of the river at St Aignan.  It was a bit of a mixed bag - craft stalls, artists. vintage cars, rides for the children and a barbecue.  Quite a good crowd when we were there and it was lovely to look across to the chateau and the village in the morning sun.

St Aignan from the island in the River Cher

 After lunch we drove to Cheverny which is about 30 minutes away to visit the Cheverny Chateau.  It was the one that we picked from all the brochures hoping that it would have a lot of interesting things and a lot fewer people than some of the "A-list" chateaux in the Loire.  Today our wishes came true and we spent a lovely afternoon at a very pretty chateau with a nice number of people.

Cheverny

 Cheverny has been owned by the same family for 600 years and these days they live in private apartments in one wing of the chateau. Cheverny is set in magnificent gardens and although not large by chateau standards it is quite exquisite and certainly looks very aristocratic.  The gardens are as important as the chateau with beautifully manicured lawns and huge ancient trees.

Gardens at Cheverny

 The first thing to do was to tour the rooms of the chateau that are open to the public.  It is one of the most extensively furnished of the chateaux and the decoration is stunning - amazing tapestries, portraits, elegant furniture and dozens of personal household items that tell the story of the residents through the ages. The current Cheverny dates from the 1600s and it replaced a much older fortress of which very little remains.

Main salon in the chateau

Once we had visited the two floors of spendour inside we exited to the back of the building and entered the "Apprentices' Garden" which has a formal structure but is filled with overflowing flower beds in the English style.  The flowers are totally gorgeous, especially the huge pink and white hydrangeas and the wisteria arches.  Such a pretty place! 


 

Apprentices' Garden

 This garden leads to the old Orangerie which is now a tea/ice-cream shop.  It is a very attractive building and the red umbrellas and enormous pots of red petunias on the terrace look fantastic,  Of course we had to sample the ice-cream!


The Orangerie

 Our entry fee included a ride on an electric buggy through the surrounding forest and a canal boat ride so we walked along the white gravel paths past very stately old trees to the embarkation point, passing a lake and some handsome white swans on the way.   The rides are very strictly organised and we had about an hour to wait for our turn so we continued around the garden to the kennels which house 100 French hounds.  The family has for centuries been very involved in the hunt and this tradition continues today.  The dogs were all in a large concrete floor pen with a fellow who was their carer. There was a lot of tail wagging and some of them jumped up on the railing to be petted.  The dogs look healthy and well cared for but it is rather sad to see them in all in such a confined space. I guess they are really working dogs and not family  pets - Benji definitely would not approve of these living arrangements. 
We didn't linger over the dogs but carried on to the kitchen garden which was a riot of colour with the  office buildings which are also very old forming a pleasing backdrop to the exuberant planting.

Kitchen Garden

 At the appointed time we were back to take our rides.  The extended golf cart type vehicle took us through an ancient allee of monstrous pines with virgin forest on either side.  The dappled sunlight piercing the green canopy was quite magical.  Jess said she expected to see mythical creatures leap out of the woods. This part of the Cheverny estate has never been touched and it is strange to think that people hundreds of years ago would have seen the forest in the same condition.


Allee in the forest

 We came to a clearing and the little electric boats tied up at a dock on a canal.  This canal was man made in the 1700s to provide irrigation for crops - today it is used to water the vast lawns of the chateau.

Canal boat tour at Cheverny

 Plantations of poplar (a commercial crop) line the banks of the canal and it is a haven for birds and waterfowl, being full of fish.

Poplar plantation

 It was  quite dreamlike to float silently along the canal and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.  There are a number of swamp cypress from Florida growing in the wider part of the canal and they separate the boats' passage from a waterlily patch.

Swamp Cypress

 After this delightful excursion we walked back to the main entrance and took in a small degustation at the local  house of wine - not great and no temptation to buy.  Time for home so we strolled through the little village of Cheverny admiring the luscious tubs of flowers in pink and purple colours.

A riot of colour in Cheverny village

 The restaurant we had chosen for dinner tonight was fully booked so Maree and Mel went for pizza to a little place around the corner and Jess and I returned to the Bacchus Bistro for a nice steak.  Again it was lovely to sit out in the square on a warm summer's night and put off packing for our journey to Brittany tomorrow.

No wine today!

Wednesday 14 August

Today we had reservation for a wine tour at a "cave" in Montrichard at 2 pm so off we went and arrived in good time.  Alas, a rather rude receptionist informed us that no, we did we did not.  I explained (politely) that I had spoken at length on the phone to a staff member and made the arrangements two days earlier.  "Well that person made a mistake", I was told.  "We have no tours today or tomorrow because the staff are a wine festival.  You can walk around by yourselves and then come back here for a degustation."  Ok then - so we went in the indicated direction and found ourselves in some dark dank caves in the side of the cliff - a few weird art prints but no evidence of any wine.  Eventually after stumbling through some dimly lit passages we saw a few bottles of wine in some wooden crates.  Riveting stuff!
Enough was enough and we departed as soon as possible - no inclination to spend any money on the wines of this establishment.  We couldn't really work out what we would have seen on an hour long tour anyway.  Place is called Monmousseau by the way.
So we looked at our wine map of the Loire region and decided to head for Chaumont-sur-Loire about twenty minutes away.  The Wine Route de Touraine passes through here and we thought maybe a bit of a drive along would bring us to some other wineries.  Chaumont was busy as there is a famous garden exhibition on at the chateau during the summer.  The chateau is lovely and sits high above the river and the village.  The large number of cars parked around the village put us off visiting the chateau and of course we were on a wine mission - and we have a chateau visit planned for tomorrow.  The route took us somewhat north of the Loire River and just as we were beginning to doubt the existence of any grapes amongst the cornfields we came across an area of vines surrounding a town called Mesland.  Surely this would be the place?  No, just a sad, dilapidated looking town with a few fading advertising boards proclaiming the existence of wine domaines and caves - all of which seemed to be closed.
Plan B now came into action and we drove along the northern banks of the Loire to the riverside town of Blois (pronounced Blwa - if you can!).  Blois is a very nice town with the usual chateau, cathedral, medieval streets and old colombage houses in the centre -although I must say we have been getting a bit blois-ay about such things lately. 


Colombage houses, Blois

It was very pleasant to stroll through the town in a leisurely fashion and to sit a while in the tree lined main square watching the world go by.  Weather was glorious - not a cloud in the sky, the gentlest of breezes and a very acceptable 25 degrees.  Leaving town was a bit of a mission as Tomtom took us into some streets that were not designed for cars and in fact had barriers at the exits - oh dear, what to do?  Jess went off to see if we were ever going to be able to leave Blois - turns out that the barriers have sensors so when we drove close they miraculously disappeared into the tarmac.  Phewwwww!  Maree and Mel missed all this fun as we had arranged to collect them at the bottom of the hill. The rest of the journey home was thankfully uneventful.

Loire River at Blois

 Jess and I  were keen to try the restaurant next to our house in St Aignan so we took ourselves there while Maree and Mel decided on home-cooking tonight.  The Bacchus bistro has been consistently busy for both lunch and dinner ever since we arrived so we thought it should be good.  In fact it was excellent and we had a delicious meal and the wine was so lovely we had two glasses each.  We both had pork medallions with garlic cream sauce, baby potatoes and pan fried zucchini.  A very delicate and just the right size meal which we enjoyed outside in the beautiful evening. I shall miss the long summer evenings.  Restaurant full again.
Let's hope that Chateau Cheverny has not gone to a wine festival when we arrive tomorrow!


End of an excellent meal at Bacchus Bistro, St Aignan (note the pandas upstairs!)

 

Pandas!

Tuesday 13 August

Long time wish fulfilled today - I saw two adorable pandas - real live ones that is! 

Panda paradise - Beauval Zoo Parc. Looking through the glass fence 

  We visited the Beauval Zoo Park which is 5 minutes drive from St Aignan and of course the main attraction is the pandas.  This said, the zoo is a world renowned facility and has many species of animal from all parts of the world.  Being school holidays we expected it to be busy so we made sure we arrived early - around 9.30 am.  It was a good decision as the car parks were beginning to fill rapidly  - any later and we would have had a long walk to the entrance.  Also buying our tickets the day before at the local Tourist Office meant that we didn't have to queue at the gate.
Yes the zoo was very crowded today, especially in the afternoon - silly really, as we found that the  animals were much more lively and interesting early in the day.  After lunch most of them just  wanted to snooze in the warm sunshine.
The park covers a huge area and is organised into distinctive categories - big cats, birds, monkeys etc - or themed sections - Australian animals, African safari and "Heights of China", where the pandas live.

African Safari enclosure

What can one say about a zoo?  The animals all looked very healthy and well cared for and their enclosures seem very well designed, providing a habitat that is in keeping with the wild environment.  I always feel slightly uncomfortable seeing the big cats in a confined space but to be fair they did look pretty content and the young ones were very playful.  The large animals, elephants, giraffes, rhinos etc had acres of land to roam and the high boardwalks gave visitors a great view.  My favourites were the monkeys and there were many different species.  The monkeys live on islands so they are not enclosed - I guess monkeys don't swim.  It is wonderful to watch them interact with each other, to show off to the visitors and especially to see the way they take care of the babies.  Such social little creatures.  Jess reckons it is easy to see how humans and monkeys are related - have to agree! I think the baby monkeys look like little toys.

Monkey island and cute little white baby

Seeing the two pandas was everything I had hoped.  They are separated from each other - apparently this is because if they are too familiar then come mating season nothing happens. There is a very small window of opportunity for successful mating each year so the  idea is to maximise the possibility of producing offspring.  It seems that the panda is quite happy with its own company.
The enclosure is quite extensive and beautifully landscaped to provide these two lovely creatures with an interesting environment yet it allows the visitors great viewing all around.  When we arrived the pandas were very active - wandering about, climbing trees and rocks and investigating their surroundings.  When the keeper arrived with food in big steel bowls and an armful of freshly cut bamboo it was obvious how much the pandas love to eat!

Yummy fresh bamboo!

They were obviously enjoying their meal and provided all the happy snappers with picture perfect poses of panda munching bamboo!  I wonder if they know how cute they are?  The pandas seem quite oblivious to all the people watching them - although they occasionally give us a sideways glance - I think they do know that they are a bit special!

Munchy, munchy - love my lunchy!

We brought a picnic lunch and had to exit the park to eat and then we returned to continue our way around, by now somewhat hampered by the crowds.  So  many strollers and tiny children!  We returned to the pandas and found them both having an afternoon nap so we left them to it and checked out the enormous rhinos and tapirs, the elephants and the mini farm (mostly mini goats who it seems will eat anything). 

Hey, this camera is tasty!  Naw - the plastic wrap is better! (Mini farm goats)

We tried to see the red panda but he/she was hiding in a tree so only the striped tail was fully visible.  Did find out that the red panda is not a panda but a different species, somewhat closer to the racoon.  Pandas are related to the bear family.
Heading back to the panda enclosure we found one of them sitting in the pool - what a funny sight.  They are the most delightful of animals - handsome, funny, cuddly and oh so nonchalant!  It was an absolute thrill to see them.

Just chilling in my tub

By 3.30 pm we were a bit weary and over the crowds so we headed home.  Beauval Park is a great zoo and we really enjoyed our visit.  The facilities are excellent, the animals look amazing and it is obviously very well managed.  I guess the thing would be to avoid visiting during the school holidays - otherwise, highly recommended.

A quiet night at home with takeaway pizza tonight - a little weird but  tasty enough.

Panda nap time