France anyone??

[jovi]

Nothing to do with this forum,[:I] hope that's ok! Anyway, me and my family and my brothers family are thinking of holidaying in France next year, hopefully stopping in a Static or a cottage, just wandered if anyone on here had been (South I think) And if anyone had any tips for us as we have only ever been to Florida
Any advice would be helpful, Thanks in advance.

[Cruella DeVilla]

Mostly Florida nuts on here Vick, not sure youll get a lot of advice!

[CarolAnn]

Course you will Vicky!!! But most of the advice will be " Go back to Florida"[msnwink]
Best wishes for your French trip..come back to Florida soon though[msnsmile2]

[jovi]

Don't worry we will be back in Florida soon It's just that we had new caravan and new car and thought we would give it a go, though we have decided to drop the caravan bit of it[:I] Just wanted some advice, but if not oh well, would like to go somewhere which has been recommended, and not just a nice photo from a travel mag, if you know what I mean.

[fiona]

We have stayed in static mobile homes and gites in France, North & South Brittany, the Vendee (St Hilaire), Gascony (Royan, St Jean d'Angely), Dordogne (Sarlat) and Messange on the Atlantic Coast. I haven't stayed in the south of France since I was a teenager. I have friends who took their caravan for must have been 15 years + to France but now the children are off their hands they go to Italian Lakes.

We stayed in MH with Keycamp and found a gite through Chez Nous and booked direct with the owner.

So anything you want to ask?

[jovi]

Hi, well where do I start? Basically, just were is the best place to go for the sun really, any accomodation you could reccomend, we have had a quick look at chez nous brochure, but too much to chose from[:I] So any ideas would be appreciated Thanks.

[jovi]

Me again, what are the mobile homes like? We would like to be close to beach if you can advise.

[Sally D]

We took our caravan over to France August 2003. We went to the Vendee, St Vincent Sur Jard.

The Vendee is second for sunshine after the South and when we where there it was 40c.

I went to the South many years ago and although it was nice it was such along drive.

The Vendee was about 6 hours drive from Caen with a couple of stops.

We only live 15 mins from Portsmouth ferry port so had no distance this end.

We are off to Florida in October but have also decided to take our caravan to Brittany for a week in July, anything to get away. Only £500 for 5 of us, thats car and caravan on the ferry and site fees.

When we went to the Vendee it was only £800 for 2 weeks, can't be bad.

If I can help let me know.

[jovi]

Thanks for that, it is the Vendee area I think we are looking at, just want to go somewhere hot basically with a beach near by and preferably water slides nearby aswell, we are in the process of looking, I don't really like boats, my bro wants to book a cabin for an over night crossing so less driving when we get there, haven't really looked that closely at it, but just wanted somebodyelses verdict, as like with the villas in Florida it is nice to get an opinion from someone who has been there and done that. Thanks again for your reply.[clap]

[fiona]

Vicky get yourself a Keycamp - are they Eurocamp now?? brochure and check out the sites. We liked the Vendee as it was only a 6 hr drive from Caen and yet the beaches are fabulous. You get the seafood of the Atlantic coast but the sea is safe there, whereas further down (from Royal onwards) it is more for the teenagers. We have stayed at the site at Saint Hilaire twice and enjoyed it both times. It is a small site and now has water slides in the pool area. The nearest town is St Gilles Croix de Ville. We went when our daughters were 5 and 2 (almost) and 8 and 5 and I have to say it is now 10 years since we have done France as a main holiday since we discovered Florida that is where the girls wanted to go! If you have teenagers you might want to consider one of the "livlier" sites at Sable d'Olonne. The first time we went it cost about £800 for the 4 of us, now it is about £2000 in peak season.

If you'd rather stay at a Gite it is a matter of ploughing through Chez Nous - just home in on the exact area you like the look of and email some people - most people seems to have websites nowadays so you can exactly what you will be getting.