Chez Jo et Mel

Once you’ve met the animals on site, head off to catch their more exotic cousins at Le Parc des Félins (15 minutes’ drive), an animal park that looks after all sorts of big cats including snow leopards and white tigers. Somewhat different animals (life-sized celebrity mice and dogs for example) roam around Disneyland Paris (half an hour). It’s worth planning as long a day as you can here, such is the range of rides and shows to take in at Europe’s most-visited theme park. Paris, a little over an hour’s drive away, needs little introduction of course – you could easily fill many an hour here wandering around the museums, taking in famed landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame cathedral or gliding along the Seine on a boat tour. If you fancy something on a smaller scale, take the 20-minute drive to Provins to wander around the UNESCO-listed medieval centre: it’s packed with half-timbered houses and underground passageways and boasts a whopping 58 listed historical monuments.