A hugely popular forest outside Paris is to reopen to the public this weekend after being partially ravaged by a wildfire in July, a local official said on Friday.
The sprawling Fontainebleau forest, around 60 kilometres (40 miles) southeast of the capital, draws hikers, nature lovers and climbers who come from around the world to tackle its famous boulders.
But public access has been restricted since a wildfire last month scorched some 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) -- around 10 percent of the former royal hunting ground.
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On Saturday, "eighty percent of the forest will be able to reopen and be safely accessible to the public", said Benoit Kaplan, a deputy prefect of the Seine-et-Marne area.
