Madhouse diaries : Wandering in the woods

Sunny days have been few and far between lately so having two back to back on a weekend was an unmissable opportunity to get out in the fresh air. After visiting a multi-era reenactment camp with Pierre and Juliette on Saturday, I grabbed Sophie for some geocaching on Sunday. We headed off to a local woodland, worrying slightly when we noticed signs saying that some zones were off limits because it was the first day of the hunting season !

 As we wandered past the fir trees and smelt the distinctive smell of pine needles, Sophie started feeling Christmassy and asked when we could get the tree out. Umm not quite yet !

Despite the shots ringing out from time to time (I'm fairly sure it was from the reenactment camp rather than any hunters !), it was fantastically peaceful in the woods as we wandered along the dappled pathways.

We headed into an area called Fort Vallières and, for the first time, discovered that there is an actual fort here. It dates way back to 1646 but is particularly renowned for the part it played in Operation Dynamo. It was left in ruins by the German Stukas in 1940.

The waters of the moat are so calm, you get great reflections.

It's a real oasis of calm, with pretty much the only sounds those of the honking geese and ducks.

Of which there were many !

But I was on a mission to find some geocaches - I know there is one here somewhere but there were so many nooks and crannies that it could have been secreted in that I failed to find it.

We did find this one though - the perfect end to a peaceful walk in the woods.