Tree Top adventure in France – fun for all the family
While on our family holiday staying in the Vendee, France we experienced some rain! After day 3 we decided we had to get out of the caravan and do something. We all jumped in the car and went for a drive. After a failed attempt to go to the supermarket, it was Sunday afternoon and their supermarkets are closed on Sunday afternoons, we decided to go to ‘Le Grand Defi’ – Forest Adventure in St Julien des Landes.
It was still drizzling so it was not too busy, just us and a few other English families who had braved the rain. We were put into our harnesses and then after a brief safety talk, in English, we were taken off to the ‘practice area’ where the different obstacles were explained and shown to the group by the English speaking instructor. We all had to do the practice area to the satisfaction of the instructor and then it was ‘off you go and have fun’!
Unlike many English tree top adventures which are graded by height, this one was set out by age. My youngest daughter was very pleased with this as in England she can’t do the ‘exciting’ trails due to her height, she is a bit small for her 9 years. There are 8 different trails covering the age range of 2 – adult, needless to say my youngest was not interested in the trail for the 2-5 year olds. We convinced her to do the ‘yellow’ trail which was for 6-8 year olds as a starter for mum and dad so we can get into the rhythm of clipping and unclipping the carabineers on the high wire and ‘tame’ zip wires. Both girls were off and we didn’t see them again till we got to the end! It says a lot about the energy of the youth.
Having completed the ‘tame’ yellow trail we moved onto the next trail called ‘Famille’, this was fun, but getting rather high and the obstacles were getting more complicated. A tunnel made out of a cargo net proved to be a bit of a squeeze for those of us with wide hips. Having said that my youngest, just to prove a point, decided to forward roll through it the second time we did that trail! The trail had many different types of obstacle to over come, including walking along a single wire with two higher wires to help keep your balance. Being taller was not an advantage in the long run as I ended up with bruises on the under side of my arms! But the zip wires were worth it and we really enjoyed it as a family as all I could here were squeals of laughter and ‘come on’ this bit is great.
It turned out we stayed there for over 4 hours and had a really good time. Definitely worth a visit if you are staying in the area come rain or shine.
Find places to stay in France> Vendee> St Julien des Landes>