RC2: The Surprise Zoo

I briefly mentioned in a previous post that we stumbled upon a zoo in Lyon.
We had asked the friendly man at our hotel for a map of the city, and we asked if there was anything special he recommended we see.  He casually mentioned there was a park with some animals north of the hotel, and then he pointed out some sights downtown.
You can imagine our surprise when "some animals" meant a full-on zoo!



We enjoyed a picnic lunch on a park bench while watching these deer.  It was surprising that they just hung out in the grassy area and didn't try to escape.  We didn't think this rather shallow moat would have been enough to keep them confined.

After our picnic, we breezed through the botanical gardens, admiring the carnivorous plants the most:

It became pretty clear that these were more than just some park animals when we walked up to an enclosure and saw this guy staring back at us!

(Doesn't he look equally surprised to see us?)

With every corner we turned, we were met by more curious faces.  I think my jaw dropped each time I saw another different animal--all of them up so close!

In this enclosure, there were a male and a female leapard.  They were very alert to each other's position, and they each spent some time doing a bit of a chase/protecting ones territory.  It was pretty fascinating to watch them.  They couldn't have cared less about all the people watching them from the other side of the windows.

This buddy was putting on a show, swinging from rope to tree so fast that I could barely catch him.

This pelican has a pinkish hue to her feathers--she must be sneaking some of the flamingos' food...

Reminds me of all the turtles we used to see on our drive to the Outer Banks!

Unfortunately, we spent so much time watching the animals, we didn't make it to Old Town in time to enter the Roman ruins or the Basilica.  Though we arrived 30 minutes before closing time at both locations, the good ol' French were closing up shop early.  But that's another story...