When ARRON HENDY and family heard about a new holiday park near Paris with buildings covered in trees and its own lake, forests and farm they could not wait to get back to nature

WE NEVER quite knew what to expect from our trip to Les Villages Nature Paris.

We loved the way it was going to be a quick trip over on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry and that it was right next to Disneyland Paris.

And we loved the fact that it was going to be a holiday with a lower carbon footprint; it is billed as ecologically sustainable with rainwater used to flush toilets and a huge geothermally heated water park.

But having been there, on top of all of that, Les Villages Nature Paris is also simply a wonderful place to go on holiday.

Surrounded by trees, in holiday apartments covered with trees, you feel part of nature straight away.

Exploring on arrival, we strolled along the beautiful Lakeside Promenade, with its shops and restaurants, as well as a good-sized Franprix supermarket, and found a world of different places to explore.

The BelleVie farm was definitely one of our favourite parts of the holiday village.

It has a gorgeous cafe and restaurant with a relaxing area outside with comfy sofas looking out on to one of the forests.

And inside the main building is a huge playground, complete with those air gun things that fire out soft balls.

The farm itself has chickens and rabbits and you can walk among the pigs, geese and cute and friendly goats. There is a herd of cows and the big draw at the farm is the pony ride and grooming. Typically French, you are handed the pony, or in our case full-size horses, and then you are all guided around the park with your children enjoying the ride. It was absolutely fantastic and our children loved brushing the horses afterwards as part of the grooming experience.

Also at the farm was another highlight, the teddy bear making, our two finishing all smiles with the new additions to our family, a bear and a rabbit, both fully dressed in safari gear with binoculars.

The show stopper at Les Villages Nature Paris is, without doubt, the Aqualagon water park.

You can make your way along a climbing wall and fall into the water, ride the scariest log flumes I’ve been on and enjoy the most amazing water rapids. All the family can join in the rapids too as even non-swimmers can get in, wearing one of the life vests provided.

There is a huge wave pool and outside is simply stunning. There are huge relaxing infinity pools that were full of space while we were there. The water is really warm too. Leaning back in one of the relaxation areas in the warm water and looking out across the French forests was amazing.

Then there is the Forest of Legends, an outdoor play area with slides and climbing among the trees, the children loved this too.

The little boats on the lake were a big hit as the children were able to take control.

And we adored the Extraordinary Gardens between the holiday apartments and the Lakeside Promenade, split into different design concepts.Walking through and discovering the games and features was stunning.

There are bikes to hire and I loved the Parcours Sante jogging route and obstacle course through the woods. I was feeling fit by the end of the week. Les Villages Nature Paris entertained us and made us feel great.