Description: The weather forecasts had been promising trouble and, in the middle of our second week in Argeles, it came. Storm after storm rumbled over, the rain fell in sheets. The mobile home had felt spacious when the door to the deck was open and we weren’t actually trying to live in it. After 24 hours or so we had to accept that the rain wasn’t about to miraculously let up and we should get out and do something.
Choices were limited, particularly when accompanied by a two year old. The Tomato was all for getting his boots and raincoat on and getting out there; we tried to explain the difference between a puddle and a flood (the road outside was under six inches of water) but he was up for the challenge.
I sifted through the pile of leaflets we’d picked up from Argeles’ tourist office and discounted one after another – we weren’t going to see a great deal at the Safari Park, going underground to view beautiful limestone
grottes didn’t seem wise during a deluge and Tortoise World with its ‘misty valley’ was just too racy and outdoors to contemplate. We were left with one option and, although it didn’t exactly inspire us, it fitted the vital criteria of being indoors.
Canet’s Aquarium is situated at the northern end of the seafront where the road turns inland beside the harbour. The entrance and exit is situated in the gift shop; the attraction itself is spread over two floors immediately to the rear. You start upstairs. We ascended slowly (the Tomato was in an ‘I can do everything myself’ phase) which allowed the preserved coelacanth at the top to hove into view in a dramatic fashion, backlit in the darkness if the hall. From that point the boy was hooked.
There is no doubt that having an enthusiastic child in tow brings to life the most unlikely experiences. The Blonde generally prefers her fish poached in a butter sauce but, with the little one skipping up and down off the thoughtfully provided chairs, she may actually have enjoyed it. The tanks display different oceanic experiences and give colourful, slightly alarming and downright monstrous views of the deep. We gawped at them all - from the skittery, darting reef-dwellers such as the clown fish made instantly recognisable by ‘Finding Nemo’ to the prehistorically ugly Murenes and Méron, partially concealing their bulk in casually placed amphora; the graceful menace of the rays and the medusa glowing in ultraviolet light. I was fascinated, particularly by the ugly brutes that loiter and brood in caverns - the more monstrous the better. The Blonde and the boy preferred the bright reef fish of course; probably best as far as nightmare potential goes.
Aquariums are the sort of places that leave me with a ‘we should do this more often’ kind of feeling which has nostalgically returned as I write. I may have to track the nearest one down.
€5,70 adults, €3,70 infants.
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