Day 64 - Pony Rides at Jardins de la Fontaine
/Nimes is a not a small town by any means, but asides from the few historical sights, there isn't all that much to draw the tourists here. We don't ever feel overcrowded, and honestly we seldom hear anyone speak English. I am glad we chose to stay here, because it is well located with respect to a lot of amazing sights, towns, and beaches, and yet we are able to just live among the locals without tourists everywhere. I often wish we knew better French so we could chat with some people here and there.
In short, there aren't a ton of things to see here. The amazing historical sights can be visited over a 3 day trip, but the city can grow on you. There are a lot of other little things people do here to keep themselves occupied, and that is what we have in mind for the rest of the week.
We spent the morning at home, and returned to LIDL to complete our grocery shopping for our last week in France. In the afternoon, we took a walk down Avenue Jean Jaures towards Jardins de la Fontaine to stretch our legs and get some fresh air (or as we call it, our daily exercise). There are always a lot of people at the Jardins either relaxing, playing games, having picnics, or just enjoying the sun, so we wanted to join in on the tradition.
Once we arrived, we saw an area for pony rides with lots of cute and tiny ponies. We had always previously just skipped over this area, but today both kids expressed an interest in riding the ponies.
Travel Tip: The ride costs 3 Euros for 10 minutes. They also offer an option to buy tickets in bulk for a discount.
Cool Factor: We initially thought that one of the people in charge would just walk around with the kid on a pony, similar to what we have seen at carnivals or zoos in NJ. It was a pleasant surprise for us that once the kids were on the saddle, the lady in charge (who spoke enough English to provide instructions), just gave us the ropes and told us where it was ok to go!
These were very well behaved ponies. All we had to do was just gently guide them in the direction we wanted them to go, they certainly knew the way. Both kids had a blast. At one point during the ride, Kian said, "I'm having a great time!". I guess there will be more horseback riding in the future for this little cowboy and cowgirl :)