Agile as squirrels
We arrive early in the morning in this 10-hectare wooded park. It’s still cool and the birds are trilling through the early summer foliage. The children can’t wait, as we’ve promised them a morning of tree climbing. Grandma and Grandpa watch us put on our safety harnesses. It’s not that easy! You have to put each leg through the harness before you can fasten it properly,” says the instructor.
Before launching ourselves into the trees, the four of us complete a test run, just one metre off the ground, under the eyes of the instructor, who checks that we’ve understood the double karabiner system. You can only unhook one at a time! The children are concentrated and determined to show that they’ve understood everything. On the ground, Grandma and Grandpa are cheering them on as they take lots of photos. That’s it, we’ve done our warm-up! Now it’s time to practice on the real courses. Papy and Mamie leave us here to walk five minutes to the Vieux Château pond. With fishing rods under their arms, they’re delighted to be able to enjoy a sunny morning by the water. We join them for lunch.
As for the four of us, we start with the “beginner” course, which requires a minimum height of 1.20 metres. Carabiner after carabiner, we progress over monkey bridges, wooden ladders and short zip lines. The children are delighted and quickly feel comfortable and independent. We always keep an eye on them, but it’s very satisfying to see them fend for themselves, assess the height and be responsible for their own safety. For more thrills, we continue directly with the “exploration” course. Here, the zip lines are more impressive and the obstacles more complex. Beware of vertigo! The ground is several meters lower and our heads brush against the branches of beech and other hardwood trees.
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