La Rochelle

I took the boys away for a weekend to La Rochelle which is on the Western French coast about 2.5 hours away from the farm we are staying on. It was a gorgeous drive across the country. There were vineyards the whole journey across. 

We have discovered that almost every fast food outlet, KFC, Macdonalds, has a children's play gym area. This is great for us as I am enjoying the espressos and the kids get to let off some steam....

We arrived at La Rochelle. The kids were both so excited about the aquarium, especially Caden.  

Selfie when we arrived. 

The harbour. 

The aquarium. 

The boys 'inside' the fish tank.... this is really an excellent aquarium, possibly the best I have been to. It puts our Sea Life centres to shame... the tanks are vast here and they are beautifully arranged... so colourful. All the fish and tanks look really well taken care of. There was enough information in English for us to learn about things. In particular Caden and I read about zooplankton and phytoplankton... there were some great jellyfish facts that we all enjoyed too. 

They are having a disco here in the shimmering lights..

Caden's favourite fish, a black flying gurnard.

Miles' fish.... almost as big as him. 

When we got to the shark tank, Caden was mesmerised.... the sharks were very impressive.... 

Us looking at shark jaws and teeth.. 

And this was Caden lost for about ten minutes... he sat there and just watched them swimming, he was so absorbed in it, the great whites swam over his head. You could see all their teeth, there was a saw fish too, he was in Caden heaven.... 

Then we found the pirahna section haha

Miles' favourite bit. He said he liked the jungle best. 

Outside there was a massive ship with Maritime Museum written on it, but the museum appeared to be closed so we took a walk around the harbour to look at the castle... 

...before stopping for an eclair and a meringue... 

I found an English pub and we went in for the obligatory 'pint'. They made moustaches with the straws and generally had fun! haha!

The next day we went out early to a local park and play area. The best thing about it all was the climbing tree we found. We all climbed it. 

I am taking them to a massive local water park this afternoon but we wont be able to take photos of course. http://www.palmilud.com/ this is where we are going. 

We saw some people doing Tai Chi in the park in their Winter gear. Very dedicated. 

Miles and his chewing leaf. 

We also found this bridge which looked like it was made of trunks but on closer inspection it was made of stone which had been shaped to look like wood. Caden ran off to touch a real tree trunk to compare the properties. It was interesting. The scuplting was very realistic.