Today was Saturday and we were finally able to make use of the car! We got around a 10AM start and took off in our Renault Twingo. Check out the lack of instruments on the dashboard! There were a few indicators over on the side where the radio would be but not much. We had 2 borrowed car seats, a booster for Gwyneth and a real car seat for Ethan that was large and clunky. By the end of the day we decided he was too big for it and would be safer in the booster. So we did that and let Gwyneth ride in the seat. It was about an hour drive to the Parque Marquenterre (a bird park). See http://www.baiedesomme.fr/parc-du-marquenterre-en-baie-de-somme-parc-ornithologique-oiseaux-migrateurs-animation-et-voyage-nature--ene3.html We successfully negotiated the toll highway as we were prepared with coins. Fabien told us to stay to the right and go to the human, but we saw no such person. It cost 5 euro (less than $7.50).
Once off the highway we were able to follow the signs to this out of the way bird park and we arrived around 11AM. Fabien had told us that originally it was a farm or vineyard or something like that when the owners noticed that lots of birds were hanging around. So they turned it into this really well done bird park. We saw many many new birds and if I happened to be keeping a life list - then I'm sure I would have added quite a few birds. Here are Nic and the kids at the entrance - sorry for the sideways business, I can't fix it. The park was not cheap - 27 euros or about $40 for all of us, but it was exceptionally well done. You walked around (6km) for the longest loop and most of the trails had built up sides so the water birds did not see you. Then they had about 14 bird blinds (houses with holes for looking at the birds set up) throughout the park.
Right at the beginning we were treated to these nesting white storks. There were also several of them flying around everywhere.
At the start of the day Ethan took of running as you cans see here. Near the entrance was the only place where the ponds were open like this but we started to see birds galore right away. I can start to list them but I am sure that I can't remember them all: elegant avocet (tons of the them), shelduck, shoveler, barnacle goose, grey goose, one grand cormorant, oyster catchers, northern lapwings, 2 great crested grebes (male in their fancy plumage) - I was so happy about that one!, some common teals, and more but I can't identify them from my pictures. It seemed like once we got back to the entrance and looked at one of their bird books for the parque, we had seen almost everything that was in the book.
The park had great "signage" if I can use that as s word. All of the bird blinds/huts had signs in them to help you identify the birds. I took a picture of a few .... I probably should have taken picture of them all - then I could remember the birds!
Here is one bird photo - the elegant avocet. I have many more (of other birds) but I will have to put those on facebook.
Here are what the bird blinds looked like. I think around this point we may have stopped to eat our sandwiches. However, later on we noticed a sign that said no picnicking! Oops, missed the memo on that one, but we also weren't going to go on the 6km walk without giving the kids something to eat. Ethan only got "shooshed" once in one of the huts by a French woman and Nic got the evil eye he thinks, because Ethan was making too much noise.
To pass the time between bird huts we played some follow leader. You can see how they kept the paths well hidden from the birds. The water was just over our shoulders to the left but we couldn't see it from the path. The kids did remarkably well with the hiking. Ethan took some shoulder rides every now and again, but he did do a lot of the walking himself.
Here is some scenery. You can see all of the birds (in this particular pond) and you can see one of the other bird blinds on the left hand side.
At the end of the day we were treated to this European crane. Check out the tail! We had never seen one before and had no idea what it was. We found it in one of the bird books. Apparently it is common but it was exciting for us!
After were were done (around 3pm?) we hit their cafe for some "double cafes" or double expressos while Gwyneth got a chocolate ice cream and Ethan got an Orangina because he wanted to make burps. That is something that he has learned on this trip - bubbly water gives him the burps and it makes his family laugh. I think we left around 4pm and were struck by the numbers of people still coming in given that the place closes at 7PM. Things get going late in France we've noticed. (In fact tonight - now Monday - Veronique is picking us up to go kayaking and she is coming at 7PM).
We decided to take the short drive (20 minutes?) onto the beach in Berck that we were also considering for today. It was quite windy when we got there (in stark contrast to the beautiful weather at the bird park) so we knew that we had made the right decision. There were tons of people out doing all sorts of sports involving a sail - in and out of the water. As Fabien had told us the beach is large and it was a LONG walk to get to the water. I think that the tide was out a bit too, but not my picture of an ideal beach. Anyway, we all walked out there as it seemed like we should stick out toes in the ocean. This picture is when we are almost there.
We came back (with the kids somewhat complaining about all of the wind) and stopped to sit behind these huts that were on the beach (you cannot see them here). It got us out of the wind. Ethan found this pre-dug hole and was trying to make it bigger - ginormous - to use his words. But he didn't make to much progress. After some time in the sand we stopped at the "double decker" carousel that you see in the background for a few spins and then we were on the way home! I think we got home around 7:30 - 8:00PM after a really lovely day - thanks to everyone for such a spectacular day!
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