Photo : Félix Potuit / Wikimedia Commons (domaine public)
Château de Sauvage
About ten minutes from Rambouillet, in the commune of Emancé in the Yvelines, the wildlife reserve of the Château de Sauvage occupies an estate listed as a historic monument and counted among the great gardens of France.
The park lets some of its animals roam free: visitors follow a marked route while certain species move around them and may come close. There are no big cats, but kangaroos, Caribbean and Chilean flamingos, parrots, ostriches, antelopes and chital deer. The reserve's main purpose is the breeding of rare and endangered species.
The setting adds to the charm of the visit: a 19th-century château on the edge of a large lake fed by the Drouette, home to flamingos, cranes and other birds, in a carefully kept, flower-filled park.
