The sun was shining today and it was just perfect for wandering in a park ! So Mistigree and I went to "Le Jardin des Plantes", the most important park in Toulouse.
This is one of the entrance. In fact this wall is part of the previous townhall's walls that has been carried here when the new townhall was built.
It is open until 18 pm in autumn and winter, and I read on the note here that the mayor of the city allowed people to walk on the grass, but that they have to respect the flowers and the animals. Of course I agree with him as I'm fond of plants and flowers.
Let's enter now !
This sign made me laugh because it says the park is forbidden to dogs and to two-wheeled vehicles ("deux-roues" in French)... but because of the way it is made, it seems to tell that the dogs wo have 2 wheels are forbidden !
First, I went to see the little river, it was so quiet ! We were very early and we were almost alone in the park !
I said hello to the ducks, they are not wild because they used to be fed with bread by people.
Then I met 2 gooses, but I must confess that they scared me a little, they have a strange and loud cry !
I did not dare to enter in their house, because Mistigree told me that when a goose is angry, it can be agressive (Mistigree's mother had a bad experience with a goose when she was a child !)
I prefered to go and see the birds house but it was empty !
There weren't much flowers as we are already in autumn and they have all already faded, but I found those ones very colourful however.
Usually there are yellow roses here, that surround the statue in the back.
A very beautiful statue by the way, but who looked sad !
Here are two naked lovers !! If only I could find a nice French skunk around, but there seems to be only winged creatures here... Mistigree told me there were also bears, monkeys and seals until 1976 (of course they were in a cage...which was not a very nice house for them I must say)
Besides this is a fountain especially for birds. You can not see it, but the water pours in the middle.
That statue seems to be a Roman or Greek godess, but I can be mistaken ?!
In the middle of the garden, there is a wall all alone ! Mistigree doesn't know where it comes from, but she will look on the internet because I told her it was a pitty that she lived here without knowing such things about her town !
What I prefered in the garden are those swings called "Escarpolettes", what a funny French word !
I also liked the little train, but the driver was not here (maybe he was sleeping or on strike ?!)
Soon, there will be a natural history museum here (in fact it already exists but has been closed for years because it needed to be restored). It will be the second greater natural history museum of France. We can already see this dinosaur skeleton.
We went out by another door on the other side of the park.
I enjoyed the garden very much but it should be even more nice in spring or summer !