I have a running joke with my mother about the number of days that our kids are in school in France. As a retired US teacher, my mother thinks it is hilarious that nearly every time I speak to her I tell her that the kids have an upcoming day off, or that they’ve just had a day off.
I’m not going to lie, there are many, many holidays in France. In the month of May alone, there were 5 school days off. I know I’ve mentioned this before, but kids here have a half day of school every Wednesday (and some children, in certain grades have no school at all). That said, the school day is longer here and the summer vacation is shorter. In the end, I’m sure it’s about the same as the US, but it seems so different (and I love it).
So during the last holiday weekend we decided to head south back to the Loire Valley with some good friends to see more castles, the only panda bear in France, and some wine caves – not at all in that order. As far as the castles go, you’ve got to see them to believe them – no amount of narrative can do those things justice. And as for the wine, tasting is believing. Sorry I can’t be more descriptive.
As we were walking through the zoo to see the pandas, we came upon an outdoor habitat that had a huge crowd around it. When I walked a bit closer to check out what the crowd was looking at, I was slightly stunned and mostly horrified. The huge crowd had gathered to view the North American Raccoon. One of the raccoons in this habitat had clearly learned to work the crowd as he was sticking his little paw out from underneath the glass of his habitat to try to get food from the awestruck tourists. As we North Americans know, depending on where you live, the raccoon ranks right up there with the skunk or squirrel for household menaces. I was half expecting to see big trash cans in the raccoon habitat as the food source.
See the look on this guy’s face? It’s almost like, “Oh shit, I’ve been spotted by an American who knows that I eat trash and live near dumpsters. Please don’t tell anyone in France!”
Generally speaking, I support the existence of zoos as a concept, but I often feel bad for most of the animals in them. Especially when you see the big cats who generally roam many miles each day cooped up in big glass enclosures, it makes me a bit sad. I know they’re well fed and well cared for, but still…..
But you know what? The North American Racoon has got a sweet deal in the French zoo. No more trash picking for him. Even though raccoons are nocturnal, this group of raccoons was wide awake and putting on quite a show for the adoring crowds.
And the giant pandas? Those dudes were fast asleep. On a scale of animal popularity the raccoons stole the show.
{On a side note, the boys and I were in Paris the other day at the Menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes. The Menagerie is a small zoo that was created in 1794 and according to Wikipedia, it is the oldest zoo in the world. There were also a very active set of North American Raccoons there with a big caption under their habitat that read “The Americans in Paris.” No wonder our international reputation can be iffy.}
Francophile Update 