Camping Holidays with Toddlers & Young Children

Posted on February 17, 2012 by artj

If you’ve got a toddler or young children running about the house, then you’ll know that your holiday destination and accommodation has to be well thought out!

What is there for the kids to do? Is it safe? Will we have to drive far once we come off the ferry – the list can goes on! With that in mind, we have several specially selected campsites around France which are suited to families with toddlers and young children.

So what it is that makes a campsite ideal for the younger ones? Many sites are located close to a ferry port (within an hour or two) to avoid a long drive (and stress!) after your crossing. Coastal sites often enjoy direct beach access or are within walking distance to avoid you having to pack the car (and the kitchen sink) everytime you fancy a day out!

Most of the campsites we have available benefit from a separate children’s pool so that they can play safely. Some also have indoor pools so that there’s always something to do – whatever the weather!

But it’s not just the campsite itself, most sites have ‘toddler-safe’pitches which are on flatter ground, located on quieter roads and are further away from lakes and rivers which may be present.

There are many advantages to going on holiday with young children - namely that you’re more likely to be able to travel in lower season which is not only cheaper, but the sites are more likely to be a little quieter. May, June and September are your best bets and are generally where you’ll find the best prices and discounts!

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Book camping holidays now to avoid disappointment.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by artj

Well, January 2012 is nearly at an end and it’s probably time to give you a gentle reminder that if you are going on family camping holidays to France, Spain, Italy or one of a host of other European countries for which we supply holidays, then now is as good a time as any to think about booking.

Why? Because if you are taking the family then you will most likely be going during the peak months from mid July to the first week of September, and they are naturally the weeks for which there is the most competition. Book now to avoid disappointment, as the saying goes.

Family camping holidays in France are all about having fun with plenty of relaxation for the parents as well as the children! It’s about spending time together whilst also experiencing some of the wonderful scenery, cuisine and culture that France has to offer.

Family camping holidays in France, as in any other country are all about having fun with plenty of sunbathing for the parents as well as run about fun for the children! It’s about spending quality time together whilst also allowing yourself to become bewitched by some of the wonderful scenery, cuisine and culture that France has to offer.

Having said that, some resorts are far busier than others as you would find if you were to be camping in the south of France in the Cote d’Azur where things can be rather frenetic in high season because of the huge influx of British, French and Italian tourists all flocking to the beach for a golden tan.

Hopefully we will get a better rate for our £ Pound this summer, something which always makes camping holidays just that little bit more enjoyable

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Will you be camping in France this summer?

Posted on January 17, 2012 by artj

Now we’ve finally entered 2012 – it seemed to take an awfully long time this year – it won’t be too long before we will all be getting ready for our camping holidays in France again; but of course, they have been advertised for this season for ages now, and they are not too dear for holidays in Europe either, but now is the time to sit down with the family and plan where you want to go this summer.

We love self drive holidays in France, or indeed, anywhere in Europe where the sun shines and it isn’t too crowded. Self drive gives you the freedom that you need with a laid back camping holiday lifestyle. That is why we always try to get away sometime in June, before the UK school holidays and before the July price increases. The roads are clear and uncluttered which is fine for some fast driving on the French dual carriageways which are nigh on as good as their autoroutes but free!

Of course you will be be aware that it is the UK contributions to Brussels which have partly, or possibly fully funded the excellent road system in France, so our view is that we will make the most of them if they are free, but we always try to avoid the highly expensive autoroutes for the same reason – and that is that we have helped pay for them once already so we certainly won’t be using them without good reason!

So this year we are thinking of a mobile home holiday once again, possibly somewhere camping in the Vendee near to St Jean de Monts which is a special place for us, and it is handy for the ferry port of St Malo too as you can access virtually anywhere in the Vendee in a 3 hour drive. You never know, we may see you there later this year!

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Drivers in France must carry Breathalyser kit

Posted on January 10, 2012 by artj

We have briefly mentioned this topic in an article here last autumn but at that stage we didn’t have any firm evidence that it actually would be made law in France. President Nicolas Sarkozy has introduced new measures in a bid cut the number of road deaths in France which will affect all driver including the self drive holidaymakers camping  in France.

The planned new law which comes in to effect in the spring requires all drivers to carry a breathalyser kit in their car. The new law is aimed at cutting road traffic accidents in France that are caused by drink driving.

Alcohol is still a major factor in road traffic deaths in France and around 28% of road traffic accidents involve drivers with high levels of alcohol in their blood. The government hope that the new law will make drivers more aware. Breath test kits will be available to buy starting from around €1.50.

Our view is: OK, we fully agree with a clampdown on drinking and driving but we know for a fact that certain non police issue breathalyser kits available in the UK have been known to be wildly inaccurate. Will these be any better? After all, what is the point of buying something as important as this only to find it will not provide an accurate result?

The government is also looking in to the possibility of having all new cars built with anti-start breath test monitors fitted.

Part of the new road safety campaign will also include the introduction of 400 new speed cameras by the end of the year, the new speed cameras will no longer be advertised by warning signs.

We quote Andrew Kelly, marketing and PR manager, DFDS Seaways English Channel, who said:

“Although the new law is not due to be implemented until the spring and final details are still to be announced, we want to ensure our passengers are fully aware of the obligation to carry a breathalyser in their vehicles when driving on French roads and will be fully prepared.”

“DFDS Seaways will continue to provide its passengers with the opportunity to purchase compulsory driving equipment on board so that drivers can ensure they are compliant with all French driving laws.”

 

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When will you buy your holiday Euros?

Posted on January 7, 2012 by artj

Precisely when to buy your holiday Euros is always a bone of contention as many of us would love to be able to sit outside our holiday accommodation in France, Italy, Spain with our new neighbours, and boast that we got a better exchange rate than they did. It’s a matter of principle and most of us do it to an extent, not that the odd part of a Euro is going to change anyone’s lives on their holidays camping in France or wherever.

When we look back at the last couple of times we were camping in the Vendee, in 2007 and 2010 we easily got an exchange rate of 1.50 in 2007 and were barely able to get 1.21 in 2010. Since then of course, the job has gone downhill with travellers being lucky to get more than 1.12 in 2011, so what is in store for all we intrepid self drive holidaymakers this year?

Probably we may fare better than in the previous two years, but since we aren’t soothsayers or financial pundits then please don’t take our word for gospel on this subject. But the signs are good because of the universal uncertainty of the Euro and its future (or lack of it), and at the close of play last night – 06/01/2012 – our pound was worth €1.18 in Monopoly money.

So if you intend on taking a camping in Brittany or anywhere else in the Eurozone this summer we believe that you should be able to get a better exchange rate than even this. Really this is all a matter of chance but we sincerely believe that the exchange rate should get to €1.25 or €1.30 before too long, and possibly, just possibly even better than that.

Our uneducated guess is that much depends on how Greece fares financially, and when, not if, it finally goes out of the Euro we think the balloon will go up and the tourist Pound will soar like a bird on the wing!

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Happy New Year to all Just Camping France Blog readers

Posted on January 2, 2012 by artj

Yes, we wish all our Blog readers, our clients and anyone at all who is interested in holidays camping in France a very Happy New Year.

You may probably agree that 2011 wasn’t the best of years, but we are always optimistic and believe that 2012 will be an absolute winner in more ways than one.

For a start, the £ GBP is beginning to rise against the € Euro – some way to go yet but it’s a great start to the year nonetheless – and camping holidays across the channel in France, Spain, Italy, Croatia etc are still very affordable though we accept that it is more expensive in the Eurozone than it used to be some years ago.

With that in mind we wrote a web page some time back for self drive holidaymakers which gives you some really great ideas (we think) on holiday savings. Some of these points you may think trivial and others may not apply to you at all, and most are just commonsense things, but it would be nice if you were able to make use of one or two articles on that page to save you some readies when on holiday over the channel.

You see, if you buy a holiday from us then we want you to be able to enjoy it totally, and that is another reason we wrote the above page together with another which is a driving in France checklist and we hope you will take a glance at this because there are a number of things there which are applicable to having a nice holiday but which may be overlooked in the run up to the holidays for busy people. There is also a link from that page to another which is all about French driving laws.

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Camping in France 2012

Posted on December 30, 2011 by artj

Who amongst our readers is a soothsayer? Which of you dear people can foretell what the weather will be next summer, the summer of 2012, during which the UK hosts the Olympics? Will we be a nation glued to the TV next year watching athletes pulling muscles, or will we be sensible and go camping in France instead?

No contest, if you’ll excuse the pun! With luck and a following wind we shall be taking the usual couple of weeks camping in the Vendee, most probably in our favourite resort of St Jean de Monts which is at the northern part of the Vendee.

There are masses of lovely areas in France but if you don’t want to travel too far then the Vendee in general is as good as it gets. The Vendee, as we are sure you know, is situated just below Brittany on the western coast of the country, and starting from the north of the Department we have St Jean de M, one of the region’s premier resorts which has miles and miles of golden sandy beaches and above average car parking facilities as well.

That last is of prime importance to self drive holidaymakers because who on earth wants to drive round for ages looking for somewhere to park? Having to do that takes the shine off the day!

In the south of the Vendee region is the town of la Tranche-sur-Mer which is another great place for camping holidays, but in between la Tranche and St Jean you may love the larger town of Les Sables d’Olonne with its lovely beaches and great shopping. Camping les Sables is another great choice for holidays in France

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New French drink drive law in 2012

Posted on December 2, 2011 by artj

Well you may think that the Autumn/Winter period gives us a break from all the rushing around we have to contend with in the holiday season, but you’d be surprised at how much there is to do behind the scenes in the “off season” to keep readers up to speed with what is happening prior to their next jaunt across the Channel, and we have one little gem for those who intent driving and camping in France during 2012 and beyond.

Reports have just come in today – 02/12/2011 that early in 2012, and certainly before the holiday season starts, drivers in France must carry a DIY Breathalyser kit in their cars. The kit is cheap enough at circa £1.20 but apparently there is a stiff on the spot fine for drivers who don’t comply with this new law. The French government is to reduce the amount one can drink and drive, and these kits will supposedly tell you how you fare in that regard.

Fair enough, you may say, and we agree that drink driving is an exceedingly dangerous and antisocial habit, but will these kits be accurate? From the little we know about Breathalyser kits used by the police here in the UK, the kits are pretty expensive, apart from the ones you can buy to check how sizzled you are in the pub before driving home.

We know that the kits used by the UK police are accurate, but what credibility will a £1.20 kit have?  For that money it’s a toy isn’t it?

Worse still, and we don’t yet know the full details yet, but will the French police be using these things and allowing them to give an accurate reading? We hope not!

But we have to take this new law seriously whether we are camping in Normandy or the south of France, because the French police just love new motoring laws – until they become fed up with them and then they go the way of all the other useless legislation – in the bin!

We see things like this: The police will have to act on this legislation come what may, so they will have a target group to start them off, and we suspect that target group will be early morning drivers, people who have just disembarked from a long ferry trip, but who may well have been “celebrating” too freely the previous night.

They are easy prey because they will most probably have a fair drop of alcohol in their systems after the night before. With that in mind we hope you will all take care before dirning and driving in France during 2012.

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Tent or Mobile Home?

Posted on December 1, 2011 by artj

When someone says “I’m going on a camping holiday“, you immediately think of some poor family, huddled together inside a small, flimsy tent in the middle of a field!

Not so! Gone are the days where the family would spend a week, cramped together, sheltering from the wind and rain. Camping holidays these days offer much more luxury than you’d think and at a fraction of the price you’d pay for a decent hotel.

Ok, so staying in a tent isn’t necessarily ‘luxurious’ in the full sense of the word, but the 6-person tents have all the mod cons! Electric lighting and a kitchen with fully enclosed storage units, work surface as well as a 4-burner cooker with grill and a full size fridge. There’s a double bed and 2 single beds with foam mattresses to keep you comfy at night. Compared to that family in the field, this is definitely luxury and from less than a fiver per person per night, you can’t complain about the price!

The 2 and 3 bedroom mobile homes on the other hand, offer a real feeling of luxury during your holiday. There’s a living area and fully fitted kitchen complete with full size fridge freezers, microwave ovens and grills. Most mobile homes also include a barbecue and outdoor furniture and (for a small supplement) come with decking and/or air con!

It’s hard not to imagine a tasty BBQ and a glass of wine out on the decking of you mobile home whilst enjoying the warm weather! Plus, if you’re after some peace and quiet, send the kids off to the onsite children’s clubs for a couple of hours – they’ll probably enjoy themselves more than hanging around with mum and dad anyway!

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Camping in France has been good in 2011

Posted on November 3, 2011 by artj

Despite all the hype and media frenzy designed to talk us deeper into recession, and despite the ghastly named Credit Crunch, it seems that humble camping holidays in France fared pretty well during the 2011 season, even though the € currency was against us.

Of course, the state of the Pound against the Euro is the biggest single problem with holidays in Euroland at the moment – it makes things expensive when you get there even if the holiday itself is reasonable enough.

So that is one (good) reason that so many families are taking their holidays at home in the UK right now, I believe that holidays like these are called Staycations, but even if they are designed to save money they also have a downside or two.

Downside number one is the weather here in the UK during summertime. You are lucky indeed to get two weeks together which could be reasonably termed at holiday weather.

Downside number 2 is rather worse I’m afraid because whenever we have taken a holiday in England we have always had the rather itchy feeling which I interpret as having been ripped off!

And that, my friends, is why the wifey and I will be taking another camping holiday in france next year!

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