1st Trip to France

[John_374297064]

Hi

I am off to France for the first time in June, going to L'Tang De La Breche near Saumur inthe Loire Valley,has anyone visited this site before?

I am travelling from Hull to Zeebruger can anyone suggest the best route and approx journey time.

Any help would be appreciated

John

 

[GeoffH_5040432]

Not stayed at the site you are going too, but on the question of a route, in my opinion and more to the point my wifes as she instucts me on which way to go the AA site (www.theaa.com) is good. We have used instructions from them for the last 6 years, only problem the time given is not accurate, add another 30% on travel times. Hope this helps, have a great time.

 

[DavidM.L.]

Hi John,

We visited this site last year and it was up to the usual excellent 'Castels' standard. The pool is great especially for kids, with various depths and slides etc. There is even an indoor section if the weather is poor. The on site retaurant is also worth a visit. Wide variety of pitches, some being open onto grassed areas wth others more secluded amongst the trees. Cant think of anything bad to say about the site.

The route we took from Calais was Calais-Rouen-Le Mans-Tours-Saumur. We were aiming to go via La Fleche after Le Mans rather than Tours but took the a wrong turn and it seemed a long way round to return to our planned route so we carried on via Tours. Probably added 30mins to the journey. We returned via La Fleche and it was slightly quicker.

Driving time was approx 6 hrs I think plus rest breaks. We only hit approx 30 mins of slow moving traffic at Rouen on the way down.

As we had driven down from Lancashire & caught on o/night ferry we split our journey at a municipal site in Gace just before Le Mans.

 

[RayS]

If you look at www.mappy.fr and/or www.viamichelin.com you can plan your route quite easily and a print out will show your the road signs exactly as they will appear (which is reassuring nth time away let alone first)

They will also show you speed cameras and roadworks and give you some idea of toll charges if you use the toll roads (these may be Class 1 for solo vehicle - add about 35 - 50% for class 2).

Bon voyage.

 

[Le Chant]

From Zeebrugge, you head into France towards Calais, then Abbeville - Rouen - Alencon. At Alencon take the A28 towards Le Mans. At Le Mans you'll take the signs for Saumur and the A85. When on the A85 continue until the Saumur junction (number 1 I think). Head into town over the old bridge (watch out for signs for 'Gare'). At the intersection for the gare turn left across traffic signposted Villebernier. Continue along the levee for a few miles until you see the signs for L'Etang de la Breche pointing left. Be careful to take a good swing at it as it's almost doubling back on yourself off the levee and down a narrow lane to the site.

The site's one of our favourites and in the summer, our kids spend days at a time down there in the pool. The restaurant's good value too. the Saint-Cast family are fantastic hosts.

 

[ThePlotter]

If you follow the route Stuart is giving which is ideal but you want to break your journey try the municipal site at Beaumont-sur-Sarthe it is excellent and if you are not using the autoroute you will pass through this village if not it is just a few minutes away from an Autoroute junction.Lovely site and about

 

[Mike_5041089]

John - last time we stayed there was about 20 years ago, a great site and very handy for Saumur. As others have said a very well run site and worth a visit.