the zoological garden inside the citadel is a small one, but it houses a wide array of species from all over the world! there were sibirian tigers, lions, baboons and other ape species, many types of birds, insects, nocturnal animals ( couldn't quite capture any good pictures of the noctarium, even though it was seriously the best exhibition in the zoo ). i absolutely adore zoo visits and i know how problematic that is, but like to everything there is also the good side of the coin like preservation and education about endangered species - and the fact that i will probably never be able to visit many animals in their natural habitats. my animal photographing skills that day wasn't very good, so i didn't shoot a lot of animal pictures ( i really am very sad about not capturing the siberian tiger, it was an absolutely beautiful beast ;-; )
a guinea baboon curiously looking right into the lense of my cam. i really like how the sun lightens up his amber-coloured eyes.
baboon family roaming around. there was a huge excitement in the group when we arrived at their compound. one of the baboons apparently offended the leader of the pack and this resulted in the leader running after the evildoer who screamed in a piercing voice, climbing up the stone walls to escape his punishment. ( i even captured it in sound :) )
a spoonbill wading through a pond.
scarlet ibis. those birds are truly beautiful with their brightly red plumage.
the spoonbills are a rather funny-looking folk.
lion hiding and relaxing in the halfshadow.
the zoo grounds.
you could walk on the fortification ramparts ( and have the best view over the valley, besançon and the citadel itself )
i was only able to photograph the butts of baby visayan warty pigs. ( turns out that photographing at noon is really difficult - because most animals seem to hide and sleep and the sun throws hard shadows. )
caught the lion again, this time sleeping under the trees. she belongs to the species of asiatic lions.
there were these bronze sculptures of several predator skulls scattered near the predator area and i seriously loved them. if i could, i would've stolen those sculptures, they really look super cool. again, unfortunately i am not able to assign the skulls to an exact animal ( because i didn't take notes, as one always does when out an about - see, i am not even a good journalist )
in front of the aquarium there was this basin filled with really beautiful kois. i swear, these are some of the most mesmerizing and hypnotizing fish on earth. how they move, it's a poem.
one thing i always love to do whenever i am near a fish pond is reaching my hand into the water and trying to stroke the fish. i love their slick structure, it's so... fluid and glossy/smooth.
look at the sunlight illuminating the fish underwater ( especially the golden one! ) - so beautiful.
inside the aquarium. didn't manage to get good shots here either, so sorry for only showing you the entrance of the aquarium.
a little peek outside again. the shadowy sculptures on the left are oversized hercules beetles,
this rainbowy phosphene was the product of the sun shining into one of the aquarium water tanks.
vietnamese mossy frog. it truly is a species from outerspace.
the insectarium was really interesting, too! insects are so strange. personally, i think of insects not being an actual part of the planet earth, but remnants of an alien invasion. once upon a time there must've been an alien invasion and they brought with them all kinds of alien animals ( maybe insects are even the aliens themselves! ). haha, i love to make up things like that. have a look at a wonderful telefunken tv in which house crickets found their home.
a real hercules beetle!
a very ghostly orchid mantis.
two backswimmers underwater.
teeming garden fruit chafers.
fossils were also part of the exhibition. oversized slaters for example.
quite an extraordinary exemplar of a blue poison dart frog. they are real cuties :3
we decided to return to the city after our insectarium visit, so we could roam around a little bit longer.
one last stop on a bench overlooking the city.
a house portal, or portal house? you choose.
i lovelovelove the style of the stone houses. those big ashlar fronts give a feeling of being in spain or portugal.
and then you have out of place store fronts / doorways and they still look cute.
besançon surely is quite monumental and obviously very photogenic.
la fontaine de l'état-major.
abundant growth on this balcony.
église saint-pierre.
carrousel victor hugo stands right next to the church.
more stonework. i loved how the light in windows reflected on the walls of some buildings.
dark alleys, bright sky. even a tiny modern building sneaked into the row of old ones.
banque de france. not happy with this picture, but i can't change it, since the light was not ideal. for buildings like this, you really need to come at the right time to have a perfect outcome.
l'hôtel de la préfecture du doubs. more mirroring light from surrounding window surfaces.
the dome of the chapelle notre-dame du refuge.
the sun started to set really soon and thus we decided to make our way back. besançon is about 2 hours driving distance from le val-d'ajol, so we had to say goodbye, sadly. this the space we parked our car. the sun shining through the trees created a wonderful moment.
before we left besançon for good, we stopped in a rather shady part of the city to buy some groceries. even though, it was a shady district ( french slums are rather uncomfortable - but on a very high standard ), i still liked the housing blocks.
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