To be honest we expected this to be a horrible place, luckily our friends recommended it to us and so we decided to go there on a rainy day.
The  "Parc Africaine de Siegan" is a huge Zoo located at the border of the etang de bages et siagan.
There are parts where you can drive through with the car. I know this is nothing compared to the real africa but it's quite impressive and much nicer than seeing them behind a fence.
Then there's a big and really nicely made area down at the étang where you can walk through. Here you really don't know anymore which bird belong to the parc and which just happen to spend the summer here. Storks building their nests, pelicans too and plenty of flamingos.

The entrance to the park is quit expensive 26€ per person kids starting from 4 years pay 20€.
But you get a lot your your money. You can easily spend the whole day in this park.

The park opens at 9am and is open till approx. 16.30 pm

www.reserveafricainesigean.fr/

I know this used to be a place for urbanism and the last thing you might would expect here is children stuff. Thing is, once you have children,  plenty of things you loved to to like exploring new cities or driving through franc listening to house music, drinking lot's of beer and wine and lay lazy at the beach and read a book get really difficult. What to do? There's not so many options, you can leave the kid at your parents place and go without him. But how often have your parents time? You can also stop doing the things you used to like because they are not child compatible and find new children compatible thing, which for me is not an option. Or you can take your child along from time to time. Which can be very exhausting but nevertheless very nice because you get to show him or her  what you like to do. In order to do the thing you like you need to stop from time to time and do something that your kid likes.

This is the reason for having kids stuff in this city guide too. What you find here is things to do and places to go that kids like and that also meet standards. No disney land or europa park or such . Nice places that if you happen to be in the neighborhood and your kid needs a break are worth a visit.

We've just come home from a week in the south of france. If you like good wine, oysters and stunning nature ( who doesn't ? ) this is the place for you. The whole area is beautiful: vines, cypresses and the blue see as far as far as the eye can see. We have a favorite spot though,  Gruissan plage and La Clape.

Gruissan Plage

Behind the wide and kilometers long with beach lies a very spechial Holiday "village" : Les Chalets de Gruissan,  hundreds of small wood houses built on pillars. The chalets were built 1850 in the time when people started to go to the seaside for a holiday. I have never been there in high season but what I like is it's off season charm. When most of the houses are still empty the place has a very special charm. It's a windy place and in the evening you have what people call  "le marin is coming home" which means the recurring evening mist which is coming from the sea. To watch the wafts of mist creep over the white sand is a beautiful look.

Gruissan Plage definitely makes it to my top 3 european beaches.

Les Chalets de Gruisson Plage

If you get hungry theres only one place to go: at the very end of the Chalets area and the beach is

"La Perle Gruissanaise" a oyster and mussel farm with a very nice little "restaurant" more like a oyster eating place. The place has lot's of charm, from a big basin you choose the oysters you like, order a drink and go to sit on one of the little tables next door.

La Perle Gruissanaise
Base Conchylicole, 11430 Gruissan