I have just returned from a very busy two weeks holiday. We spent the first day climbing with the kids and friends at Harrison’s in Kent. We had heard a lot about it from friends and decided to check it out. We found it a lovely but busy spot.

Then off to Fontainebleau, south of Paris, for five days camping and bouldering in this amazing  forest.

Even if rock-climbing is not your thing, I still recommend Fontainebleau forest, especially as a quiet base for day trips into Paris. It’s beautiful, vast and there are plenty of things to do.  Eurodisney was only 40 minutes drive away from where we were.

We had six children between three  families aged from 2 1/2 years old to 9 and they just didn’t get bored of running around amongst the trees, the boulders and the sand. The boulders are made of sandstone and have all shapes and sizes, making it pretty unique. They also provide good seating for a pic nic consisting of a fresh crusty french baguette, cheese and other tasty french food.

The children made dens, played hide and seek, organsied races and played all sorts of imaginary games. My 3 years old had great fun trying to loose us by running around amongst the boulders, whilst in turn we tried to keep up with him. 

The campsite was set amongst the forest right by the river Samois and was quiet so we had lots of space around our pitch. We were lucky once again as the weather was on our side. Even the occasional rain didn’t last.

We always bring small outdoor toys with us that somehow fit in the boot, amongst the many pieces of luggage required when camping. Two years ago my friend had brought a swingball that go played to death. It was more popular than the children’s play area onsite.

This year I had brought a mini golf set which proved popular with the younger ones but the “toys of the holiday” were undeniably two colourful synthetics hammocks. We had -by pure luck- two sets of trees perfectly placed by our camping site to attach these two hammocks. The kids loved them and played for hours on them using them as dens, swings and others. I would well recommend them if you can find suitable places to tie them onto as they are versatile and don’t take much space in the car.