Home or Abroad???

[brenda_374246826]

Hi Everyone

Having read with interest the thread about how the weather has affected your holidays, I wonder can you help me.

We are Irish and spent the month of July in England, 2 weeks in Devon 1 week Longleat and 10 days Blackpool. It was without doubt the best holiday my husband, I and 4 kids have ever had even though the weather was rubbish. Out of 32 days away we had 2 proper sun shiny days!

So my thoughts are now turning to next year, there is so much of England to explore but when I read that thread re weather I realised that sunshine would be nice.

Apart from the supposedly great weather in France (and same currency!) what other reasons are there for making the journey that make France even more appealing than UK??

Thank you in advance

Brenda

Hello BobD hope you and family well......

 

[Zafiral]

One main disadvantage for France and the rest of Europe for us from mainland Britain is the cost of the ferry, travel insuarance etc. As you have this either way, the cost differential (assuming the ferry from Eire to France is not significantly more than Eire to Britain) is much lower.

For me to have a week in Norfolk, the cost is

 

[Mel]

One advantage: The English campsites will be quiet because all of us what sat on the them in the rain this summer will have gone to France!

Mel

 

[J.Lo]

Shush, It,s not rained in Chesire yet today and just seen a big bright warm thing in the sky. What can that be?J.Lo

 

[Lara_374353049]

Hi Brenda,

We spent the last 5 years going to Cornwall and Devon for our 2 week summer break, but decided to make our first trip to France this year, as we were fed up with the poor weather, and the cost of keeping the kids entertained during rainy days, ie zoo, theme parks etc., it adds up!

We went to the Vendee, and wished we'd done it earlier! Weather was much better than here (came back with great tans!) and while i agree the ferry is a cost you have to take into account, when you put it against what you would spend entertaining the kids on rainy days, there's not much difference.

The journey down was very easy, once there the pitches were huge, site excellent, nearby beaches superb, i could go on!

Enjoyed it so much, already booked up for 3 weeks next year.

We booked with C & CC carefree brouchure, which is worth a browse through if you're toying with it.

Good luck!

Lara.

 

[Andrew_5105555]

Hi Lara we also went to France this year for the first time and like you thought it was great,we are now planning next year and fancy the Vendee,this year we went to Brittany.Where did you stay?and which ports did you use?and how long did it take you to get to site? thanks in advance

andrew+nicola.

 

[Lara_374353049]

Hi Andrew and Nicola,

We booked our holiday through carefree (C & CC), and went to Le pin parasol, which is on the shore of Le Lac du Jaunay, about 7 miles from St gilles coix de vie. One of the main reasons we chose this site is because we have a large twin axle van, and the brouchure said it had larger pitches.

We had a fully serviced pitch (electric, direct water supply and waste water drainage), and it was a huge pitch. Excellent site, had indoor and outdoor pools, water slides, small gym, bar and take away, and a small shop. Very easy to get to nearby beaches, and we had some lovely weather, only 1 full day of rain.

We sailed from Portsmouth to St Malo, which was overnight leaving Portsmouth at 20.30 and arriving at St Malo at about 08.30. the site was about a 4 1/2 hour (easy) drive from the port.

Return journey left St Malo at 10.45 (meaning we had to stay overnight at a site in St Malo), getting into Portsmouth about 18.30.

When we were on site, there were a few people already booking up for next year, and they advised us if we wanted to do it, to do so direct with the site as it was cheaper. I did this, but they said they didn't have next years prices yet. Out of interest, i worked out Carefree charged us

 

[Denise4]

Hi Andrew,

Sorry Brenda as I know that this was your post but you might find this helpful to. We went to France for the first time this summer after two years of wet and windy cornwall. We went to a site called La Baie in Southern Brittany a 3 hr drive from Roscoff. Lovely weather only 1 day of rain although some rain during the night, and the plus point for us was lots of lovely beaches within walking distance from the site. Two beaches as you step out of the entrance and with three young children this was a godsend. A lovely pool with a slide and lots going on for the childre. Only a small site, but that it what we loved about it and the surrounding area was gorgeous. La Trinite sur mer was a 15 min walk along the coast path with a marina and shops and places to eat, loads of cycle paths around. The only time we took the car out was to go to the supermarket, now that is what I call a holiday. We to have booked for next yr 3 weeks and this this as we left. Also we noticed how little we spent as the lazy days on the beach were free!!! We spent nothing on parking or days out just on food and drink. Would highly recommend. Denise.

 

[Andrew_5105555]

Thanks for that Lara the sailings you did where the same as us this year i have added your recommendation to the list,would you say the site is quite,not bothered about noise in the day but like a bit of peace in the evening.

Denise also added yours to possible list,how far is it to walk to the beach with all gear for 2 kids? ta andrew.

 

[Guest]

I am also a supporter of going abroad with the van. Had too many wet and disappointed holidays to even risk it anymore. I also agree with some of the comments regarding costs. From Scotland it is even more expensive for us to get to the south of France, but still feel it is a bargain compared with Cornwall, where the rip off brigade flourish. After paying parking fees for the umpteenth time makes you want to think again.

The only grumble I can make against France is that the last time we went in 2006 the temperature hit 40-43 degrees and the wind (Mistral) was a damm nuisance. Hot and dusty was not the ideal conditions we had hoped for. However, avoid the end of July and the beginning of August and it should be fine.

 

[Lara_374353049]

Hi Andrew,

We were at the top end of the site, so i don't know about the pitches near the bar and pool area, but there was very little noise. Our kids (9 & 6 yrs) had a few friends to play with nearby during the day and evening, but their were no unruly ones running amock! It was a very relaxed atmosphere.

Evening was very similar to club sites at home, quiet from about 10.30pm. Quite a contrast to a site we stayed at overnight in St Malo on the return journey (Le p'tit bois) which was quite noisy into the early hours, then at 5am the cleaners started wandering about rattling their buckets and mops! Don't think we'll return their if we can help it!

One thing i'm going to check for next year are the ferry crossings between Portsmouth and Caen, it's not that much further to travel in France, and it may mean we can miss the overnight stay before the return crossing. Probably a bit cheaper too!

Lara

 

[Denise4]

Hi Andrew, from the main entrance of the site the beach is right in front of you, and if you went to the other beach, from the back entrance of the site a three minute walk. The nice thing is that if it is windy the site at the back is sheltered and if there is no wind the beach at the front is massive and beautiful. The site is on a peninsular so there are beaches all round. The site is very strict on noise and the quiet time is 10.30 which I think a lot of people think is too early and the warden did walk round doing his checks. There are some keycamp and eurocamp statics, but not many as these are in a different area and every pitch has hedging so it feels quite private. Hope this helps Denise.

 

[brenda_374246826]

Hi Thank you all for very interesting replies.

Can I just ask, did you shop in a supermarket, was the food similar to here, did you eat out much???

My kids are fairly picky and this is one of my worries.

Also is Vendee generally better weather than Brittany or is it just pot luck?

 

[Denise4]

Hi Brenda, We ate out once in the 2 weeks and it was expensive and it was not a posh restaurant! 80 euros for 2 adult meals 3 kids meals a drink each and no dessert. We shopped in the supermarket and it was similar prices to here (bearing in mind how much the price of food has gone up over here). We had simple lunches baguette and ham, fresh fruit, and BBQ in the evening. The meat from the supermarket was good and we had quite a lot of fresh fish, sardines on the BBQ, they were only 5 euro per kilo and delicious. Denise

 

[Lara_374353049]

Hi Brenda,

We did our shopping in "Hyper U", these are situated all over France, very similar to Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda etc. There are also smaller "Super U" shops, but both had everything we needed.

My youngest (6 yrs) is a VERY fussy eater, but she was quite happy with stuff we found. Like Denise, we tended to eat fresh baguette and ham or cheese for lucnh (they also sell white bread with no crusts which my youngest loved!!) and evenings we had BBQ's. Hyper U had massive range of pre-packed salads, which we liked, and were very reasonbly priced. Packs of steak were very cheap compared to over here, and delicious, no fatty bits!! (Before anyone comments, it was definitely beef, not horse!!) Overall, i would say you shouldn't have a problem finding food you like, there was such a wide selection.

We did eat out a couple of times, didn't think it was that expensive, couple of examples, drinks and main meals for 4 were

 

[Ian341]

Hi All,

We are also thinking about going to France for a holiday next year, the weather was awful this year and got us down after a while.

As we live in Swansea Dover is a good 5 hour journey so we thought about going from Portsmouth or Poole to Cherbourg.

Has anyone done this crossing ?

I am a bit nervous about driving on the wrong side, is this a real problem or is it easy to get used to ?

I look forward to your replies.

Ian

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Ian - we have taken the van twice to Brittany - crossed from Plymouth to Roscoff. Although each time it was a 6 hour crossing it was very calm and we all looked upon the crossing as part of the holiday. We drove to Plymouth the day before sailing incase of hold ups on motorway, etc. and stayed on quay side. There are basic washing and toilet facilities on the quay for general use. Regarding driving on the "wrong" side of the road we found it no problem. It is approx. 75 miles from Roscoff to Benodet and the drive was very easy with no major problems. Each visit we covered over 1000 miles, not all towing - most solo - but there is nothing to be concerned about regarding driving or language. Good luck with your holiday - Diane did tell us you were going when we spoke to her in Tesco.

 

[emmerson2]

Brenda, to answer your original question, the best thing about France is its "Frenchness"

 

[brenda_374246826]

Thank you all so much for the replies. Just been away to Dublin for the weekend, it was so hot the kids were so grumpy that we are going to stick with wet/windy/warmish UK!!!!

Au Revoir....

 

[allen1]

ha haha nice one.

 

[johno1]

Hi Brenda

we've just got back from St Jean de Monts in the Vendee and loved it, the site was Les Amieux and unbeknown to us each pitch had it's own water,drainage and toilet disposal!

the weather was great only one morning of rain the whole two weeks we were there, most of the tiolet blocks were modern apart from one which was being modernised at the end of the season and had the old "squat and drops"

There are two pools one open and the other indoors a restaurant a bar and only 800 meters from the beach which is long and sandy not pebbly it is about an 8 hour drive from Calais via Boulogne, Rouon, Le Mans, Angers and Nants and for two adults and one child cost

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Brenda

A lot of the French sites don't like me because I have a twin axle. They can stick it up their derrier trou. I'm backing the British Isles. Scotland has so much to offer and they love TAs. What Frogs leg grub is there that I can't buy here?

If you want the sun, hop on a plane to the Canaries.

Cheers

Alan

 

[Guest]

As an alternative thought. When we were in Mallorca in August a couple we met were 'crowing' about how they had flown from Ireland for 38 euros each with Ryanair. At those sort of prices why bother with the van, fly and enjoy guaranteed sunshine.