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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 : today we will explore the past. We start seeing (from far) some Cathar castles. Here is one :

After a moment of road, we arrive at our destination: Esperaza. Here is the largest excavation site of dinosaur eggs in europe and it's the biggest french filed of Dinosaurs. Not just eggs BTW, it is also discovered several new dinosaur species such as Variraptor the Ampélosaure the Tarascosaure and Struthiosaure. Before making the leap to 70 million years in the past, will eat at Tyrex, the restaurant in the style of Jurassic Park just opposite the entrance to the dinosaur museum.
After a hearty meal engulfed it is time to take the machine back in time and see the ancestors of modern birds: Dinosaurs (although this claim is still often debated among scientists think that dinosaurs are the ancestors of birds and those who think they are the ancestors of reptiles. Similarly the debate between those who believe that dinosaurs were warm-blooded animals and others think they are cold blooded (like lizards) . in my case, the dinosaurs are the ancestors of birds and are warm-blooded (how else have a dromeosauride (family raptors, deynonichus, dromeosaure, etc ...) keen hunting and using a strategy of attack?).

But I'm not here to open scientific debate (though I am willing to discuss it in comments on the blog or email). I therefore place the museum. It was in 1992 that the first French museum dinosaur opened its doors. Then, in 1997 the project of enlarging born but because of many problems, the completion will be effective in 2007. The Dinosaur Museum of Esperaza becomes the largest French museum of paleontology outside the capital. It is precisely this museum we are about to visit. More than 3,500 m² cut into 7 parts whose laboratory and a reproduction of the Cretaceous environment in the region. Part One: The Gallery of Evolution: The trilobites, flying reptiles, marine reptiles, the placodonts, the jawless, ammonites, plants and insects of all kinds.

Then we go through the Cretaceous greenhouse and a quick glance at the laboratory at the bottom. You can see the hardware and some fossils still in their coat of plaster. In the greenhouse are full of live plants such as ferns, horsetails, araucaria, gingko and cycad on a small mound, a nest of Ampélosaures:

Out of the greenhouse, we arrive in the part dedicated to dinosaur fossils in the world: a Quetzalcoatlus (the largest flying reptile: 12m wingspan), the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex, three herbivores: the Tsintaosaurus the Tuojiangosaurus and the Mamenchisaurus (the latter measuring 22m long). There is also a Triceratops skull and traces of skin hadrosaurs.

The second part of this large room (plus a short film explaining the excavation site) we discover the complete skeleton of Eva, the famous skeleton Ampélosaure found here. His name is simply the name of the girl who found the skeleton in 2001. There is also a skeleton Variraptor and various bones in glass cases and large panels.

Last part before the store (the exhibition is on after the shop), a small stage with scale models of dinosaurs in the region 4: Variraptor, Tarascosaure, Struthiosaure and a young ampelosaure. There is also what appears to be a velociraptor in a cage (like in Jurassic Park (by the way, ''Raptors'' in the film are actually dromeosaures (1.80m high, while the Velociraptor is only 1.20m high))).

We here at the museum shop. Many interesting things (stuffed animals, skeletons wood mount (nostalgie. ..), books, postcards, etc ...), some of which will end up in my bag (a book on the T-Rex and two lint ). Visiting the exhibition (in perfect agreement with the book I bought) on the subject of T-Rex (explaining what is known about him, how he was discovered, by whom, etc. .. .) comprising a backbone and animatronic (robot) size is very interesting and animatronic has a small effect on a family with children.
In the dinosaur museum building, there is also a small museum on the manufacture of felt hats that we visit at the same time. We learn different techniques to achieve a hat starting from the animal. I also learned with astonishment that the hats are soaked in sulfuric acid so they do not absorb water (sulfuric acid remaining in the tissue).

It is time to think back, the day was taken rich learning. On the way, I want to take the Cathar castle of Quéribus and the passage of the gorge.

Haaa .. we arrived on the empty car, purchasing the days the races (we have been on the road on the way) we barter it against towel and swimsuit and direction the beach! We will not stay long, it is already 18h. But I still found a shellish sands fish (rare):

Ding dong, 19h time to go eat. After eating salmon, I have little desire to take pictures. It is therefore to the beach I go back as it begins to get dark. I walk a bit on the beach to enjoy the last colors of the day. Assailed by the waves I also found a sand castle keeping a small decorative shells pretty cute:

Behind me is always Lydia but this time I perceive a companion that I know well and who is with me that night and I turn to often: Selene. Here the dancing with the masts of the ship:

Night has now fallen. And while I try to take a picture of Lydia night, others rise to the boarding :

Last photo before returning: slot machines.

My lamp enlighten me the way to go but I'm not going to bed now. It is surrounded by beetles kamikaze I'm still drawing some pictures with my lamp in the air. After all this, in bed, rest day tomorrow.


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