Bridget's
school friend Susanne lives with her family in Menton,
and they drove over for the day on Saturday. By the time we
met up it was too hot to go straight to the main attraction
of the day, and too early for lunch, so we headed instead
for the butterfly jungle. This was a fascinating collection,
not just of butterflies, but other animals associated with
the tropical rainforest environment.
We
were all surprised how 'tame' the butterflies were, often
stopping very close to where we were standing, and occasionally
actually stopping on an arm or shoulder. As you can see, James
and Christopher were fascinated watching one butterfly pausing
for a rest on the floor (and they also illustrate how well
children can squat, an ability lost in most of us as adults).
As
well as butterflies, the jungle included caiman (small crocodiles,
or 'snap-snaps' in Matthew's current vocabulary). We weren't
quite sure what this chap was, so prizes to the first person
to e-mail the correct answer to us at matthew@luthien.co.uk.
We think he was either a chameleon or a lizard (or even an
iguana..)
The
french for bat is 'chauve-souris' which translates as 'bald
mouse'. I've always thought bats were rather sweet little
animals, and have never understood the superstition and
fear that surrounds them - I wonder if the name means that
the French think differently about them?
One
of the most fascinating parts of the jungle was a hatchery,
where you could actually watch butterflies hatching out
of their cocoons - fans of 'The
Very Hungry Caterpillar' will enjoy this.
So
here we all are after our trip around the butterfly jungle
- James, Catherine, Bridget & Matthew, Susanne and Christopher
(Malcolm is the other side of the camera) - all ready for
our visit to Aquasplash!
Aquasplash is a complex of swimming pools, slides and flumes
with the most enormous rubber rings you've ever seen. We spent
a happy afternoon there enjoying the water, although we had
to retire to the shade much earlier than Susanne's more sun-proof
family. Unfortunately we left the camera in the dry, so no
pictures!
