Animals have been dear to my heart since I was a child and when a friend invited me to travel with her to Alsace, France to see monkeys roaming freely and to get the chance to get close to them. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect the area the monkeys roamed to look like. They are fenced in, but this is only recognized at the entrance. After that you walk a well known path in which the monkeys swing above and scurry across. You may see one monkey or up to 10 in one given area.
It is very important that when you feed the monkeys popcorn your hand is laying flat and that you do not make eye contact with them. You also should not follow the monkeys but allow them to come to you. You should also not put the spare popcorn in your bags or pockets, but should hold it in your hand close to your waist so they cannot see it. Although we followed these rules strictly please be aware that the monkeys may still attack. I didn't see this warning anywhere, but it is kind of obvious since they are still wild animals. The monkey shown above was one we spent about 10-15 minutes with and he did hiss, bare his teeth, and charge at my friends daughter. She swung her daughter away by the arms and calmly walked away.
If you are understanding of this being a possibility than I highly suggest you visiting. It is a rather unique experience for animals lovers. You can see newborns with their moms and personalities beaming from these little guys. The one below was a hoot as he was relaxing and watching people walk by and his monkey friends playing. If you are able to explore monkey mountain there are many castles located nearby as well that you can join. After we left we stayed the night in Strasbourg which is not very far away.
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