I went to European holiday park near Disneyland Paris – it has attraction kids will love and you can get there by train

WE’VE lost Grandad! He was last seen riding a bike with a four-year-old in a child’s carrier attached to the back.

It was only 8pm, but it was pretty dark and Les Villages Nature Paris likes to keep the lights low on cycle trails to ­conserve energy.

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This French Center Parcs is a great place to get re-introduced to nature[/caption]

I and the rest of the family had biked back to our holiday park cottage after a delicious Italian meal, not realising we’d left the straggler.

Time to backtrack and I found him at a crossroads, unsure which way to go because he couldn’t read the sign for the cottage numbers.

There are more bikes at this superb Center Parcs, 25 miles outside Paris, than in the Tour de France, and as well as being the best way to get around, it’s great fun and eco-friendly.

And it fits with the park’s ethos of re-introducing us all to nature — ­forests, meadows, lakes and gardens.

We hired two of the bikes and child carriers so all three grand­children could be ferried around. All the winding cycle paths lead to a treasure trove of attractions, playgrounds, restaurants and the third largest covered waterpark in Europe.

Our family, made up of three ­generations, could have stayed all day in the impressive Aqualagon — one of the park’s free activities.

The aerial glass construction has hanging gardens and you can walk along outside terraces to reach the top, 115ft above ground.

Inside, it’s a labyrinth of pools, slides, flumes, fountains and tunnels leading to a massive outside lagoon and a lazy river with water ­geo­thermally heated to a balmy 30C, just how I like it.

We cruised one of the lakes on an electric boat with the kids, Albie, six and four-year-old Mila, taking turns to steer, narrowly missing swans and ducks.

Luckily we managed to keep their 16-month-old sibling Lois off the wheel.

The kids spent hours at BelleVie Farm, where they fed cows and goats and romped about in the fantastic indoor playground, Lait’s Play, a maze of wooden structures with tunnels, bridges, trampolines and slides.

My grandchildren’s energy levels seemed endless and it was non-stop for three days at the resort.

We played mini-golf, then headed to nearby Forest of Legends, which Albie said was “stunning” — hideouts, rope bridges, climbing frames and a zipwire among the trees.

Then it was time for a fiercely competitive ten-pin bowling session before pasta and pizza and a large glass of wine at Vapiano.

Pony rides, laser battles, mini-Jeeps and chocolate classes are among other activities available from around £15, while adults can take a breather by popping kids into clubs from £13 a session and heading to the spa for a massage.

The park is just 20 minutes by bus from Disneyland Paris and Marne-la-Vallée Chessy station, with its direct Eurostar service from London St Pancras.

Families who drive can park near their accommodation — wooden cottages sleeping from four to 12, with all mod cons and a private terrace.

The on-site Franprix supermarket, with no price mark-up, is astonishingly well stocked and there are special counters of delicious French cheese, sausages and wine.

It even has microwaves, so you can buy a dish, heat it up and eat it on the tables and chairs inside and out.

No need to cook at all. Eat in or get a takeaway from a selection of restaurants, serving crepes, pastries and burgers, on Lakeside Promenade.

To be really lazy, have breakfast with croissants, pains au chocolat and freshly squeezed orange juice delivered to your cottage.

It’s a bonus that Les Villages Nature is so close to Disneyland Paris, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary with special shows, parties and the new land of super­heroes, Marvel Avengers Campus.

But you don’t have to move from Les Villages Nature — there’s so much Marvel-ous magic here.