Living in Clips

As this blog increasingly resembles a journal of our lives, capturing moments of interest between Scotland and our home away from home in Les Yvelines, France. I would really like to incorporate more accessible blog pages which feature easy access to our family adventures for those of you looking for inspiration in these geographical areas. I have decided to start with the winter edition of one of our biannual adventures to the amazing Thoiry Zoo and Safari Park near Paris.

Every year, from October to March, the park unveils a new magical trail of nearly 2 km of light sculptures in the park on foot. Entirely handmade and covered in silk, these 2,500 unique lanterns light up to offer a new immersive experience over nearly 6 hectares of botanical gardens.

These photographs are from the 2023/24 edition of the Lumières Sauvages, so no need to worry, there are no spoilers her, if you are still planning on visiting the Park before the annual closure of the Lumières Sauvages on Sunday 2nd March 2025. I highly recommend it. I would personally advise a full day there if you feel up to it and if you are traveling with young kids come prepared for every eventuality, extra layers are a must! We like to spend the morning driving round the route through the safari zoo. We would then aim for the zoo to have our lunch which we now always bring with us as the wait times and the food at the zoo aren’t really worth it in my honest opinion. We then spend the day walking through the zoo with the real highlight for us being the Lemur Trek. At 5pm the Lumières Sauvages opens to the public, and if you can wait till nightfall the real show begins.

For further information on visiting the Thoiry Zoo you can click on the following link.