We went to the Jardin d'Acclimatation this weekend. This park occupies the north eastern corner of the Bois de Boulogne. It was first was opened in 1860 by Napoleon III and his wife Empress Eugénie as a Jardin Zoologique, the first zoo in Paris. Later, between 1877 and 1912 it became the l'Acclimatation Anthropologique. During this time, in the mid-colonial period, it was a place to show the Parisian people the customs and lifestyles of foreign peoples. This sounds delightful and exotic, but in essence what was actually happening was that people from African countries were being 'exhibited' in the park...a human zoo. Mmm...lovely (not!).
Thankfully (!) things have moved on from those times and now the park is a children's amusement park. There are some play areas (free), some fair-ground rides (not free - 2.70€ for 1 ticket, 32€ for 15 tickets, no options in between), some farms animals to be admired, and an aviary. The park is dotted with buvettes where you can buy ice creams, sandwiches and chips etc. The chips we had were very good.
The highlight for us last weekend, was the parade of Guignols, giant puppets skillfully manoeuvred by puppeteers. The weather was perfect and the family of Guignols were quite surreal and beautiful as they strolled around the park. Here are the brother and sister.
Brother.
Sister.
Mother.
Father.
The grandparents and parents dancing.
Here, the 6 Year Old is being taken in hand.
You can find more information about the Jardin d'Acclimatation at their website here
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