A big family holiday to Villages Nature Centre Parcs in Paris

 For the first time last week we went on a big family holiday, travelling not just the six of us but also with my parents, my sister, my brother and his family.  13 of us got into cars and caught the ferry to Calais before driving to Villages Nature, a French Centre Parcs site just outside Paris. We had three cottages which were all attached and a private garden at the back.

Ours had 3 bedrooms, free wifi and a lovely communal area as well as two bathrooms and a seperate toilet. It was a fantastic space for the six of us and the children loved having their family next door too! The parc is big and green and everywhere you look there are trees, flowers and lakes. There were several playgrounds including a huge one in the enchanted forest, a giant pool complex with indoor and outdoor pools and plenty of slides for big and little people and there was an onsite farm with a cafe and soft play.   It had all the usual Centre Parcs activities from tree tops trekking to escape rooms, to den building and climbing walls and we loved trying new things. 

What we loved most though was spending time together. The children got so much one on one time thanks to lovely family who would take them off on little adventures, water slides and for visits to the bakery. It meant we got to spend dedicated one on one time with them as well as them having it with other family members and it made it really special.  

The parc is situated about 10 minutes drive from Disneyland Paris and there is a bus that runs between the two. We couldn't resist a day trip there and ended up staying until midnight so that we could watch the Illuminations show which is just beautiful and lights up the castle.  Finn's highlight was definitely being tall enough for Big Thunder Mountain and he couldn't get enough of the wild rollercoaster.  

Cora loved seeing all the animals in the parc's onsite farm, stroking the goats, cows and horses and planning which ones she wanted to smuggle out with her and keep.  She loved the play area in the farm too and I think she would love to try out the pony rides if we visit again as she was just a little bit too small.

Archie loved the waterslides and there were quite a few he could do. There was a fast one in a rubber ring which was my favourite and the two big boys loved the outdoors one in the middle of the rapids that never had a queue. I think all four children would have spent the whole week in the pools given the choice!

Dylan loved the big adventure playground set in the woodlands and playing games in  it. It was the perfect place for hide and seek, tag or any other game they could make up and it was a shame we didn't have longer to spend there as there was so much more to explore.

The parc had something for all of us and was a great family place. We loved spending time as an extended family and it is definitely somewhere we would love to visit again! 

I have plenty of photos I want to share, so here are a few

Our Accomodation

We stayed in a 3 bed Country Premium Cottage and each rooms was decorated with a different nature based theme.

The Playgrounds

The photos of the big enchanted forest one are in another post, these are just from other playgrounds around the parc.

The Farm

The farm was really interactive with lots of animals that were happy to be touched but they all had plenty of space to get away from humans too.  There were big fields for the horses and cows around the outskirts of the main farm areas.

Hiring a Jeep

This was a big hit with the three boys (Cora had a nap) as we hired two jeeps that they could drive around the park.  Ed and I had a remote control for them both that switched off the engine with one touch just incase!

The Parc in general.

It had an easy layout with the big swimming complex easy to spot! There was so much green.

Our day at Disney

My four children and I all wore our Disney gear for a lovely day on the rides, watching the parade and the illuminations

 The Activity Centre

The big boys had a go on the climbing wall whilst the adults did a ninja warrior course. There were other games and activities and everything was pretty reasonable (2 euros each for the ninja course, 6 euros each for the climbing wall). It was located next door to the pool.

 And finally a picture from the ferry ride home

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Three Days in Disneyland Paris in August

This summer we booked a last minute three day trip to Disneyland Paris.  We haven't been before and in all honesty, I had no intentions of going just yet either, thinking it was best left until the children were a little older and knew more Disney films.  At seven and five I thought the big two would love it, but I wasn't as sure about the little two who are two and three.  We arrived the night before at a local airbnb though and my inner child stopped being quite so inner straight away.

I don't think anyone is immune from the power of Disney and I was desperate to see the castle from the moment I woke up.  We hadn't told the children where we were going as we wanted them to enjoy the week at a holiday parc we had first without waiting for the next thing and we didn't do a big reveal as they don't watch many adverts and we weren't sure they would understand the concept of Disneyland.  We told them on the morning as we left the flat that we were going to a Disney theme park though and they were pretty excited!

There is something truly magical as you walk through the main gates.  Everything is bright and Disney themed, the staff are happy and helpful and you can't miss the giant princess castle in front of you.  We had three days booked in the park and we decided to do two days in the Disneyland Park and one day in Disney Studios. 

We didn't really see any characters during our three days as the queues were too long (over 2 hours) and the lineberty app that gives you tickets in the studios sold out within around 3 seconds so even with constantly refreshing, I couldn't get into any. We did go on quite a few rides though and our favourites were Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan and It's a Small World.  As we visited over the August school holidays, even with three days we only got to see about half the parks and there are so many rides and shows I would love to go back and see! Many of the queues were 1.5 hours + all day and that is a long time to queue with four little ones!

The highlights of our trip are probably the shows.  We saw Mickey and the Magician in the studios and even Cora sat through the whole show enjoying the music and dancing.  The parade was everything I hoped it would be with all the characters we know and love, magic and amazement and I was torn between watching the show come past and watching my children's faces as they lit up. 

We were desperate to watch the Illuminations show which is on at 11pm every night although we weren't sure we would manage it as it is so late.  On our final day in the park we did it though and it was worth it! It was absolutely captivating and I want to go back just to see it again.  

I have definitely caught the bug and I would love to go back again although I think I would probably aim for a quieter week as I think it would have been more enjoyable with shorter queues.  The children were all perfect ages as there was so much for Cora to do even as a petite two year old and she loved all the family rides as much as Dylan did at seven.  Next time there are definitely a few things I would do differently to try and make the most of our time there but I do think it is nice not to plan too much and just see how the day goes and what you fancy. 

I tried to put my camera away for most of the time and just enjoy it but of course there are still plenty of photos that I want to share on here so I can look back and remember them all!

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