There’s a wonderful experience in store for animal lovers who travel to Normandy in Northern France, writes Robert Ashton. In the home of Camembert cheese and the Bayeux tapestry there is the CERZA zoological park.


The Bayeux Tapestry

Spread over 60 hectares of rolling French countryside, the CERZA zoological park offers visitors a chance to see a vast array of wildlife at relatively close quarters. The car is banned, so you can forget images of bored monkeys pulling pieces off your pride and joy. At CERZA, walking will get you the best views.


Cerza Lodge

Clever use of discreet screening and electric fences means that sometimes the animals can seem disturbingly close. Meeting a grizzly bear almost eye to eye can be a little disconcerting to say the least. Rounding a corner to find a white tiger no more than six feet away is similarly unnerving.

CERZA is part of various international breeding programmes and the welfare of the animals is paramount. The high birth rates are another good sign. Large ‘open’ enclosures with many species co-existing naturally are the order of the day. Five white rhino grazed, a small herd of zebra kicked up a fuss and the giraffes looked on with aloof disdain. In a nearby paddock the lion family played happily in the sun as we viewed them from a platform no more than 10 feet above.


White Rhino and baby


The diversity of the species that can be viewed in a couple of days is mind blowing. If you went on a true safari you would be lucky to see a fraction of them. The beauty of the park is that they have safari lodges on site that sleep up to six so you can visit repeatedly over the course of a three- or four-day stay. At the end of each day you sit on your terrace with a sundowner, watching the gazelle and deer roam around you. The black rhinos bathe in the pools a short distance away and the wallabies hop around directly underneath you. The next day, as you open your balcony doors, the gibbons are already up and calling and, in the distance, there is the distinctive bark of the dominant male lion.


A bad hair day in Cerza

There is one extra that really is a ‘must have’ – for just 70 euros, your family (or group) of up to six can accompany one of the keepers on their morning or evening rounds after the park has closed. That’s just you, the keeper and the animals and it feels so incredibly special to be in such a privileged position (aptly enough it’s called the Privilege Pass). The reaction of the lions as they recognise the keeper, and the fact that he has a bucket of meat scraps, is amazing. They are so close that you can smell their rather overpowering breath. The highlight of our tour was to really get behind the scenes in the rhino enclosure and, through some rather stout metal bars, stroke a baby white rhino and her mother. To be so close to such a large, powerful animal and to be able to stroke the horn and thick skin was something that will stay with us for many, many years.

A final attraction is that CERZA is in Normandy, so forget the awful snack food on site and wander into the local towns of an evening. The Euro is finally weakening and therefore eating out in France is not so expensive. To save you effort in the morning you can have fresh croissants and/or bread from the local bakery delivered each day.


Not to forget the Camembert !!

To say this short break had a big impact on my children (aged two and five) is an enormous understatement. My eldest daughter cried her heart out on the morning we had to leave – until I solemnly promised that we would come back. And we will.

Facts:
Originating from the U.K., three and four night short breaks in the Safari lodges (sleeping up to six) are available from UK tour operator Four Seasons France. Prices include accommodation, passes into the park for the duration of your stay and return ferry crossings. Visit: www.fourseasonsfrance.co.uk