Maxence, 18 months, still slightly on his feet, cooing and pointing at the chickens. He turned around and pointed at the cow that was located in the pen a little further away. He changed his mind again and started pushing the tractor that was made for babies his age. It’s hard to know where to turn when faced with all the animals and game that resides on Bon’Air’s farm, located in Lourdes.

His grandfather smiled: “The first time he came, he stopped at the entrance after seeing an animal. Now he knows they are everywhere!” Her older sister Maelia, 5 years old, has chosen a screen room that holds rabbits and guinea pigs. He took one in his lap and showed it to his grandmother Claudine: “You see, he only has three fingers!” He continued the inspection. “He has big bones, he said feeling his spine. Did you see how messy his hair is?”

He took a piece of salad which the guinea pig began to nibble with appetite. “Don’t feed him too much!” Claudine generously lectured him. “That’s so he grows up!”, she replies tac-au-tac. “He could have indigestion!”, his grandmother taught him.

Good value for money

Jules, 8, called out, turning to his father: “Do you see, this one has red eyes!” His father, from Tarbes, had come with a friend, James, and together they had five children. Valentina, James’ daughter, held a guinea pig in her lap for the first time. “He’s shaking, it’s a guild!”, he noted.

James first brought his kids here four years ago. Since then, he has not stopped coming back. “We come in the summer, we have a picnic. We stay there all day. All day, it’s not expensive, which is important.”

He also saw the place develop. “Before, this space didn’t exist. There was also play there. The owner invested and it just got better and better,” he appreciates. Not to mention that the farm offers all the necessary safety for children. “Closed, you don’t have to be behind the kids all the time,” he says.

A place he also appreciates because in Lourdes, “there isn’t much for children”. Here her daughter Elena rejoiced that she could bring a goat. They can also observe the shearing of sheep. So many little things make the Bon’Air farm’s success undeniable. Even on this rather dreary Ascension Thursday.