Hi All,
Thaanks in advance,
I wish to know, in peoples best opinions, when the best time is to travel to France for summer holidays.
When should we go if we are hoping for sun?
When should we go(considering weather) to save money?
We are planning on(2 adults) spending 6 nights in the La Palymre area either in Les Charmettes, L%26#39;Estanquet, La Pinede or Bonne Anse Plage.
6 other nights in Les Ecureilis in Jard Sur Mer further north.
All advice greatly appreciated(if helpful).
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Hi Bertie,
We stayed in Longeville sur Mer last Month (Camping la Zagarella). I would not recommend the site but there are some interesting things to do in the area.
1. The beaches are beautiful. If you like beaches make sure you spend some time on them.
2. The Gardens at La Court d%26#39;Aron, just beyond St Cyr en Talmondaise are fabulous. The lotus flowers are something else.
jardinez.com/Parks-and-gardens-Floral-And-Tr…
3. Ile de Normoutier. The Passage du Gois is a passage out to the Ile de Nourmoutier that can only be accessed at low tide. It is incredible to drive across it. Definately worth doing (but don%26#39;t do it in a very light beige skirt and flip-flops as I did!! I ended up looking as if I had cycled cross country on a bike). If you are planning to walk on it - and you can park your car and walk - then wear some old shoes or wellies and shorts or something you can change out of.
The Ile de Normoutier is lovely and I would highly recommend it. There is a lovely bridge that you can use when the tide is in.
4. We also visited the Ile de Re. The bridge costs €16 to cross but it was a very interesting day. The whole island is lovely. Make sure you see as much of it as you can. We particularly liked the lighthouse (Phare des Baleines). Salt is very important in this area - it is harvested from the salt marshes so make sure you bring some back home if you are taking your own car.
5. We only saw a little of La Rochelle but it is a beautiful city. I%26#39;d love to see more of it.
We were there from the 3rd July to the 11th July and the weather was beautiful. We had a lovely time.
We also managed to get a good deal with both Keycamp and Irish Ferries.
A good book to read before you go is %26quot;The Vendee%26quot; by Angela Bird. Its widely available in supermarkets in the Vendee but I ordered and got my copy from O%26#39;Mahonys in O%26#39;Connell Street before I left. Its an excellent book.
Another recommendation - there are lots of supermarkets in the area but avoid like the plague - unless you wish to do a plausible imitation - of the Super U supermarket in La Tranche sur Mer. The population of La Tranche goes from approximately 2,000 to 100,000 over the summer months, and from our experience most of these people seemed to hang out in that supermarket, lol!!
If I can help further, let me know. Are you planning to take your own car or fly in to La Rochelle?
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Sorry - avoid the Super U in La Tranche unless you wish to do a plausible imitation of a sardine.
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Hi Bean,
Fancy meeting you here. Small world - TA.
We will be taking our car, subject to my boss approving me taking the car.
I did a search on Carrefour and the nearest Carrefour to La Palymre is 45 minutes away which is a shame. It has been many years since I have been in this area of France. I am returning to have a relaxed holiday as I grew up spending a month of each of my summers in France. I have holidayed in this region around 15 times as a child, wishful thinking I can emulate some of those old memories.
I personally never did like the Super U, Marche U and alike and preffered the big silly markets where they sell everything and if you look hard enough you can see them putting a barcode on you if you stand still long enough.
I had looked at going around Bastille day because I have fond memories from being in Jard Sur Mer at the marina at midnight BUT this is when prices are getting fairly high in France and go up in August and then drop back down. It appears it would be best to travel up to the 26th June(first night in campsite) as the ferries themselves are half the price, the accomodation in the parks is nearly half price and most of everything is open for high season.
I am looking at Brittany ferries from Cork - Roscoff.
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Hi Bertie, funny old world, isn%26#39;t it!!
We usually leave things until the April before we travel - we%26#39;re not great at planning things in advance.
This year, as I was booking, I got an e-mail from Irish Ferries advertising 1/3 off their ferries. We took 2 x 3* 2 berth cabins (son slept on an airbed on the floor between his sisters) and they were perfect.
You can also manage to get offers with Keycamp at that time (we got 45% off some of our accommodation). If I had booked early I wouldn%26#39;t have got these discounts.
We came over on the 26th June, arriving on the 27th and finally left France on the 20th, coming home via the UK. The weather was really good - only a couple of days with rain. Far better than last year which was as the weather is here in Limerick right now. Cold and wet and dull and dismal.
I%26#39;d suggest you take a look at Angela Bird%26#39;s book before you book.
Also, on the way down, why not consider taking a look at Carnac and the standing stones. Absolutely mystical. There is a very nice camp site in Baden (Le Mane Guerhne) and an incredible creperie called La Goelette.
There is a big Le Clerc in Les Sables d%26#39;Olonne if you like Le Clerc (which we do). Also you may be interested to know that Carrefour have taken over Champion and are now calling them %26quot;Carrefour Market%26quot;. They%26#39;re a bit of a hybrid between the two.
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Hi there,
I would definitely visit Les Charmettes book direct from siblu and it may be cheaper, I met Irish families here this june/july who had massive discounts which they advised made their holiday cheaper than booking with keycamp, check out ld lines for cheaper ferry crossings to le havre early. Also consider direct home rental from an owner it can be cheaper but you may not get what you expected!!!!
As far as the vendee region goes siblu have bois masson and bois dormant which are good sites with pool complexes etc just outside st jean de mont. Hoever we has good weather in Les Charmettes this july and our friends in st Jean complained of rain most days so might be worth staying a bit longer further south.
Good Luck with what you book but siblu do great discounts for early bookings
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Siblu Les Charmettes was Haven the last time we stayed there so you can imagine how long again that was.
It always invoked a memory of my parents saying %26quot;oh, thats too expensive%26quot;.
I was looking at Eurocamp because they have both the camps I want to stay at.
http://www.camping-ecureuils.com/ in Jard Sur Mer
and
http://www.bonneansechalets.com/gb/index.html
www.bonneansechalets.com/gb/cottages.html
Their website is all in £%26#39;s but I do remember a few weeks back seeing this website in €.
They are offering their 2010 brochures along with two other companies so I should have those by the end of the week.
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To update.
I spoke to Eurocamp today who originally told me to speak to Keycamp who are their Irish %26amp; Sister company.
Although being Sister companies they are competiting and have different parks in different places.
After speaking to Keycamp I called back Eurocamp and was given prices in Sterling£
Eurocamp wins on the parks I want.
Keycamp wins on the accomodation being better and more modern that Eurocamp.
The price difference is only €91, Keycamp being more expensive.
I may haggle Eurocamp for better accomodation.
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Also ask Keycamp if that is their best offer...
And you might also consider looking at www.keycamp.co.uk and doing the STG conversion.
And it might also be worth considering taking a look at Easycamp www.easycamp.com They use older Keycamp mobile homes and are administered by Keycamp.
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Keycamp.co.uk works out €174 more expensive than Keycamp.ie
easycamp.com returns results for other countries and other languages only.
I am going to ask Eurocamp and Keycamp to either give me a better price or give me better accomodation.
The only variable I cannot check right now is the cost of the Ferry which will impact on the choice of holiday/length of holiday and time to travel abroad.
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Bertie
I posted this about Bonne Anse Palge on another forum a few days ago
We have just visited Bonne Anse Plage. The site itself is just a mile or so from LA Palmyre. The facilities are excellent and the staff really friendly %26amp; helpful. The pool area is very clean %26amp; well managed. The site is set among pines. However, parts of teh site are VERY noisy at night as Siblu have erected an outdoor stage which is the setting for nightly entertainment, much of which is deafening.
At the %26quot;front%26quot; end of the site near the facilities (including the stage) the pitches are very cramped - thi seems to be where many of teh tour operator mobile homes are because Siblu is very focused on attracting new owners.
There is a L%26#39;Eclerc Hyper in Royan about 20 minutes from La Palmyre.
Bean - thanks for taking the weather home! We arrived on 12th July in rain and we had mixed weather for 12 nights. We even had a hailstorm one day! But generally warm %26amp; sunny between the showers. I think that the weather is always variable down that coast - hence the great wine of course.
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