I promised stories about French Monkeys all the way back on day 131 of the blog. Here goes… In Germany, we travel around the region for fun and history. One of the lesser-known attractions is a Monkey Park called La Montagne des Singes. Roughly translated it stands for Monkey Mountain. It is south of Strasbourg near Selestat France. It was one more difficult encounter with the French. This wildlife habitat and park is a way to bring this kind of nature to everyone. Most people will never get the chance to see these monkeys in a setting like this. They roamed around. They were free to go anywhere but the rest of us had to stay on the path. We spent an afternoon there and I was waiting toward the end of the paths so I could gather the students. I was sitting on a railing patiently waiting with some popcorn in my hand. If you look at the picture you can see some in my right hand. Guest were given a large handful of popcorn to feed the monkeys. They also had a rule that you could not be closer than a meter from the monkeys. They only wanted us to use theirs because they had no butter or salt on it that could harm the animals. I am sitting on the railing minding my own business. I saw a young lady standing on the hill across the path. She was an employee making sure everything was okay for guests and animals alike.
Have I mentioned that I was sitting on the railing keeping to myself? I am looking around for our students and I glance off and see a monkey sitting on the same railing. The monkey is about 10 meters down the railing. Next thing I know the monkey is about 5 meters away. I continue to mind my own business and the next moment saw the monkey walk over and quietly sit next to me. This triggered the girl on the hill to make a beeline for me at top speed. When she arrived said shouted at me: “You American?” Apparently I had this tattooed on my head and I didn’t know it. She only did this so that she knew what language to yell at me. She said “You cannot be closer than 1 meter from the monkeys!” I know I have been teaching a long time but I reverted to my 10-year-old self and gave my explanation. I felt the explanation was perfect but she did not think it was as funny as I did. “I was sitting here first, yell at him!” I then pointed at the monkey was playing the innocent victim. Before I moved I did have enough time to get a student to photograph me and my bad influence. There are also a couple of pictures from the park.
