We were only in Les Herbiers for a short while in the summer for a friends wedding and there wasn't any time for hiking excursions but I saw a few interesting things just around town.
It's hard to stop noticing things even when they are small things and you're in the middle of a huge party. I was amazed at how this small violet was growing on a vertical wall of the old church in Les Herbiers.
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| Violet growing on the wall of the church |
But less about the little plant and more about the wedding. Weddings in France are a big deal, at least this one was. It was an entire day event. You technically see the couple get married twice, once in the town hall and once in the church. Since the church and the state are separate you apparently need to do both. The church part is significantly longer and involves singing with intermittent speeches. After that is appetizers and drinks before going to another location for an early dinner. It was very good that dinner was early because it was about a 6 course meal with bread and wine being a constant. It was a bit different than these types of dinners in North America because they actually gave breaks in between each meal. There were games, people smoked, drank and mingled in between each meal. The party lasted till 4 or 5 am with drinking, dancing and fireworks. At the end of the night they served onion soup with croutons and cheese. It was the best thing ever for after a night of drinking. It comes from a custom of the guests bringing soup as a gift to the newly weds. This happened over the course of the night and kept them from enjoying their wedding night so now they give soup to all of the guests so that they won't do this.
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| Barn Swallows nesting on the garage roof |
At the house there were Barn Swallows nesting on the garage roof and fence lizards climbing all over the stone walls whenever the sun came out. This species shares the same name as the one in Canada but is actually a different species.
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| Adult Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis Muralis- Lézard des Murailles) living in the stone fence. |
I think the lizards were the same species but there were juveniles and adults. I haven't figured out what type of lizard they are but they look quite similar to fence lizards an they were on a fence, so I have been calling them that.
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| Juvenile Common Wall Lizard (Podarcis Muralis- Lézard des Murailles) living on the stone fence. |
We also went to Le Parc Landrau, a very busy city park with some forested areas, fields and ponds. There were House Martins, Magpie, Black Duck, Moorhen, Robin, Barn Swallow, Wood Pigeon and a brown bird that frustrated me to no end when I was trying to ID it and ends up being a juvenile Common Blackbird.
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| Common Blackbird |
Puy de Fou is an amusement park in Vendee that puts on shows of the history of Vendee and France. It was very very busy despite the fact we went on a Monday. They provide translators, but the headphones are terrible and I would recommend bringing your own.
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| Le secret de la lance |
The Puy de Fou houses a large collection of raptors for one of their shows. This included many species from Europe but also around the world.
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| Le bal de oiseaux fantomes |
Around Puy de Fou was a lot of urban adapted birds including Chaffinch, Great Tit, Wood Pigeon, House Sparrow, Magpie, Moorhen and Pied Wagtail.
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| Chaffinch |
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| Great Tit |
In a small pond there were a few frogs hanging around. They look very similar to Green Frogs in Canada.
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| Marsh Frog (Pelophylax ridibundus) |
We left Les Herbiers for Grenoble and along the way stopped at a few rest stops. At one of them I had the pleasure of watching a Kestrel (the not American kind) hunting for food in a field beside the highway. I love these tiny bundles of predatory skill. It is amazing to watch them hover and dive.
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| Kestrel |
