France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

micks_address

dizzyn wrote: »

micks_address wrote: »

Anyone have experience of the wifi in the cabins in domaine des ormes? We are staying with eurocamp, 3 bed one. Not the end of the world if its rubbish.. I think in 3 player you can download for offline watching so might download in bar and watch back in the cabin if stuck..

It's actually fairly decent. Last year we had to pay for it, as free wifi was only available around the main areas like the bar. It wasnt too expensive and there was different packages too which was handy.

The WIFI was faster than we expected; we were able to stream movies and download some for the way home on the laptop/Ipad.

Yep paid 35 fora week for 3 devices. Can't use my own dns but otherwise flying it. About 10mbps

mikerd4

Silly question time. Any idea what the law is regarding brining swords into the country? Currently in Carcasonne and spotted a sword id love for my wall back home. Not sure where i stand in rosslare if stopped and searched.....

webpal

Have just come across some prepay offers with Bouygues Telecom here 50gb for a month with 20gb roaming (for when you come home) for €24.99. SIM card would be another €5

T&Cs here

Unfortunately my French qualifications wouldnt have included Internet, mobiles etc all those years ago but maybe someone might be able to see if tethering is possible with this?

Edit - stupid iOS means my mk1 iPad keeps crashing so I can't actually see if it is indeed prepay or perhaps one of those rolling 30 days "contracts"

Quazzie

webpal wrote: »

Have just come across some prepay offers with Bouygues Telecom here 50gb for a month with 20gb roaming (for when you come home) for €24.99. SIM card would be another €5

T&Cs here

Unfortunately my French qualifications wouldnt have included Internet, mobiles etc all those years ago but maybe someone might be able to see if tethering is possible with this?

Edit - stupid iOS means my mk1 iPad keeps crashing so I can't actually see if it is indeed prepay or perhaps one of those rolling 30 days "contracts"

Duration is "Sans engagement." which means without engagement, so presumably that means no contract, but it appears to be 29.99 for the SIM card

54and56

webpal wrote: »

Have just come across some prepay offers with Bouygues Telecom here 50gb for a month with 20gb roaming (for when you come home) for €24.99. SIM card would be another €5

If you are in an urban environment e.g. St Jean de Monts or somewhere rural which just happens to be well served with Bouygues 4G signal then such a deal might work especially if you can turn the device which takes the Bouygues sim card into a hotspot (for others to connect to) but if you don't have a good quality Bouygues signal the 50gb data allowance will be of little use as you won't have a good enough connection to do much.

I tried something similar a few years ago with a UK Three PAYG sim card which gave unlimited (or very generous) data roaming in France but when I got to our campsite I barely got 1 bar of 3G signal on any network so my best laid plans to turn an old Android phone into a family Wifi hotspot were a bust and with tail between my legs I paid for the site WiFi which wasn't much better than 1 bar 3G at the time :-(

BionicRasher

wall wrote: »

Hi,
Does anyone know of a good sized Decathlon near Serignon? There’s one in Béziers not far from here but it’s not as good as they get. Has anyone been to one in Montpellier by any chance?
Cheers.

We have been to the Decathlon in Béziers twice in the last 2 weeks. It seems to have everything you need in there. There are 2 stores. Decathlon 1 and 2.
2 is more hiking and fishing and horse riding. The other store seems to have everything
Stores are right next to each other in the same business park

micks_address

In les Ormes since Friday evening and the weather is amazing. Not a cloud in the sky and up around 29..looks much the same for the rest of the week. Good buzz in the bar with the world cup. Have to say flying this year feels like far better job than the ferry. For four of us flights were 650 with bags and 350 for car hire. The journey is just so much quicker. Don't think I'd do the ferry again. So far so good.

First Up

micks_address wrote: »

In les Ormes since Friday evening and the weather is amazing. Not a cloud in the sky and up around 29..looks much the same for the rest of the week. Good buzz in the bar with the world cup. Have to say flying this year feels like far better job than the ferry. For four of us flights were 650 with bags and 350 for car hire. The journey is just so much quicker. Don't think I'd do the ferry again. So far so good.

Where did you fly into?

micks_address

First Up wrote: »

micks_address wrote: »

In les Ormes since Friday evening and the weather is amazing. Not a cloud in the sky and up around 29..looks much the same for the rest of the week. Good buzz in the bar with the world cup. Have to say flying this year feels like far better job than the ferry. For four of us flights were 650 with bags and 350 for car hire. The journey is just so much quicker. Don't think I'd do the ferry again. So far so good.

Where did you fly into?

Nante.. 2 hour drive to the camp

average_runner

BionicRasher wrote: »

We have been to the Decathlon in Béziers twice in the last 2 weeks. It seems to have everything you need in there. There are 2 stores. Decathlon 1 and 2.
2 is more hiking and fishing and horse riding. The other store seems to have everything
Stores are right next to each other in the same business park

Not doing decathlon this year. Can order what i need from the shop in the north when home.

The weather in la carabasse is superb, 31-35. Tough running conditions though

average_runner

Hi Wall,

You were in la carabasse before? How dies aloha compare? More expensive ? Kids clubs?

Baybay

average_runner wrote: »

The weather in la carabasse is superb, 31-35.

And looking likely to continue!

average_runner

Baybay wrote: »

And looking likely to continue!

Where r u?

Baybay

We've holidayed in La Carabasse in the past, a few years ago now actually but currently we're in a small village the other side of Beziers from you.

wall

Went to the Decathlon in Narbonne (30 mins away), it was massive. Didn’t actually get too much there as we’re flying but checked out sizes & bikes which we may also order online when we’re home.

Haven’t been to La Carabasse so don’t know what it’s like, we were in La Bois Dormant in St Jean du Monts last year which we enjoyed, but Aloha is a lot nicer, more guaranteed good weather, right on a lovely safe beach, nice selection of pools & slides, evening entertainment is actually ok some of the time (Ibiza theme tonight with foam party). Kids bike hire is €20/week. WiFi is €20/week for one device at a time and it was quiet good. A few Irish, I’ve only seen one gaa shirt the whole time (maybe it’s too hot) and not loads of football matches like would have been more popular up the west coast last year, if that’s your thing. The Siblu site last year was €128/night, Aloha has been €164/night, and not double the price as I stated before editing this.. Staff relaxed, no checking of wrist bands/fun passes, maybe there’s no private owners so everyone has one. All in all very nice & very clean.

South of France is nice for the heat, will probably take the kids out of school (primary) a week early again next year as it’s gotten very busy now, there was a lot more room up till a few days ago. Looking forward to trying somewhere else.

Stone Deaf 4evr

wall wrote: »

Went to the Decathlon in Narbonne (30 mins away), it was massive. Didn’t actually get too much there as we’re flying but checked out sizes & bikes which we may also order online when we’re home.


.

Id be interested to hear what you think of the decathlon online prices. I was in a similar situation to yourself this year, but foolishly forgot to take photos of exactly what I was after. found a few items but felt they were more expensive than they were in store.

average_runner

wall wrote: »

Went to the Decathlon in Narbonne (30 mins away), it was massive. Didn’t actually get too much there as we’re flying but checked out sizes & bikes which we may also order online when we’re home.

Haven’t been to La Carabasse so don’t know what it’s like, we were in La Bois Dormant in St Jean du Monts last year which we enjoyed, but Aloha is a lot nicer, more guaranteed good weather, right on a lovely safe beach, nice selection of pools & slides, evening entertainment is actually ok some of the time (Ibiza theme tonight with foam party). Kids bike hire is €20/week. WiFi is €20/week for one device at a time and it was quiet good. A few Irish, I’ve only seen one gaa shirt the whole time (maybe it’s too hot) and not loads of football matches like would have been more popular up the west coast last year, if that’s your thing. It’s double the price of Siblu last year though. Staff relaxed, no checking of wrist bands/fun passes, maybe there’s no private owners so everyone has one. All in all very nice & very clean.

South of France is nice for the heat, will probably take the kids out of school (primary) a week early again next year as it’s gotten very busy now, there was a lot more room up till a few days ago. Looking forward to trying somewhere else.

Yeah we are wondering should we stay or go to.a different site. La carabasse is very good. Will definitely come back to the south for the weather, its a big step up on the weather in les charmettes.

gandalf

Don't forget there's a Decathlon up in Belfast and its opening in Dublin beside IKEA next year.

wall

I incorrectly said in my post about Aloha that it was double the price of La Bois Dormant last year, this is not so. My maths weren’t great yesterday. One reason it’s more here is because we’re here 2.5 weeks as opposed to 2 weeks last year in the Siblu site. It’s worked out at €164/day here in Aloha compared to €128/day last year in La Bois Dormant.

Regarding Decathlon, last year I bought a bike here in France from there and brought it home as I had a bike rack on anyway, when I checked the online price at home there wasn’t much in the difference, possibly €20. A quick check online now comparing prices to in-store here showed very little or no difference.

kevin306

Planning on going to the Languedoc Roussillon region the first week of September. Got decent price on flights into Perpignon. Have been looking at the le brasilia campsite but availability is fairly limited. Anyone have other recommendations. We have a fairly lively 3 year old so main objective would be keeping her occupied as much as possible.

Quazzie

kevin306 wrote: »

Planning on going to the Languedoc Roussillon region the first week of September. Got decent price on flights into Perpignon. Have been looking at the le brasilia campsite but availability is fairly limited. Anyone have other recommendations. We have a fairly lively 3 year old so main objective would be keeping her occupied as much as possible.

La Sirene would be ideal for a 3 year old. Lots of pools (some covered and heated in case weather isn't great).

Jpm123

Has anyone any recommendations about La Sirene. We are thinking of going next year for two weeks. Which travel agent do you recommend using, or would you go private. Is the any area of the park you would recommend staying in. We would like a fairly new three bed. Also what airport do you guys fly into. I don’t mind a bit of a drive to the camp site but the less the better
Thanks in advance

kevin306

Quazzie wrote: »

La Sirene would be ideal for a 3 year old. Lots of pools (some covered and heated in case weather isn't great).

Would weather be hit and miss that time of year there? Just looked up la sirene looks great and lots of activities for the little one. Thanks.

Quazzie

Jpm123 wrote: »

Has anyone any recommendations about La Sirene. We are thinking of going next year for two weeks. Which travel agent do you recommend using, or would you go private. Is the any area of the park you would recommend staying in. We would like a fairly new three bed. Also what airport do you guys fly into. I don’t mind a bit of a drive to the camp site but the less the better
Thanks in advance

Would highly recommend La Sirene, especially if you have young kids. Loads of pools, with slides etc. Everything is on site, and you will really enjoy it. The park is massive, so getting a good spot is vital. I booked with Vacansoleil this year, but all the major players have bases there so it's really about which cost suits you. I would recommend when booking tho to maybe request a cabin close to the pool, which we did, and it worked out nicely.

In terms of Airports, the best is Perpignan (PGF) but we chose Barcelona because it was half the price. Barcelona (BCN) is just over 2 hours drive, whereas Girona (GRO) is just over an hour and Ryanair fly there so there could potentially be cheaper flights into there.

k123456

kevin306 wrote: »

Planning on going to the Languedoc Roussillon region the first week of September. Got decent price on flights into Perpignon. Have been looking at the le brasilia campsite but availability is fairly limited. Anyone have other recommendations. We have a fairly lively 3 year old so main objective would be keeping her occupied as much as possible.

Barcares v close to Perp 25 min, plenty of campsites,

Stone Deaf 4evr

kevin306 wrote: »

Would weather be hit and miss that time of year there? Just looked up la sirene looks great and lots of activities for the little one. Thanks.

Unlikely, if anything it'll be very warm, we were there in early august one year and it it was high 30's / nearly 40!

Stone Deaf 4evr

Jpm123 wrote: »

Has anyone any recommendations about La Sirene. We are thinking of going next year for two weeks. Which travel agent do you recommend using, or would you go private. Is the any area of the park you would recommend staying in. We would like a fairly new three bed. Also what airport do you guys fly into. I don’t mind a bit of a drive to the camp site but the less the better
Thanks in advance

I did one year with eurocamp and took one of their fanciest mobiles - definitely not worth the money in my opinion.

the last 2 years we booked with lifestyle holidays, the handy thing about these is that you can pick the plot you want so you can situate yourself closer the pool if you want.

Also - theres a sister site right across the road called hippocampe, it tends to be a lot quieter in the evenings, but the playground and pool are quite close together in comparison to la sirene - might be better for a 3 year old. As a matter of fact, If I were to return to la sirene again, I'd strongly consider staying in hippocampe

Jpm123

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Jpm123 wrote: »

Has anyone any recommendations about La Sirene. We are thinking of going next year for two weeks. Which travel agent do you recommend using, or would you go private. Is the any area of the park you would recommend staying in. We would like a fairly new three bed. Also what airport do you guys fly into. I don’t mind a bit of a drive to the camp site but the less the better
Thanks in advance

I did one year with eurocamp and took one of their fanciest mobiles - definitely not worth the money in my opinion.

the last 2 years we booked with lifestyle holidays, the handy thing about these is that you can pick the plot you want so you can situate yourself closer the pool if you want.

Also - theres a sister site right across the road called hippocampe, it tends to be a lot quieter in the evenings, but the playground and pool are quite close together in comparison to la sirene - might be better for a 3 year old. As a matter of fact, If I were to return to la sirene again, I'd strongly consider staying in hippocampe

Thanks for that. My guys will be 10,8, and 6 next year so I think it will suit them. We are thinking the last week in June for two weeks so the weather should be ok for them.

kevin306

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

I did one year with eurocamp and took one of their fanciest mobiles - definitely not worth the money in my opinion.

the last 2 years we booked with lifestyle holidays, the handy thing about these is that you can pick the plot you want so you can situate yourself closer the pool if you want.

Also - theres a sister site right across the road called hippocampe, it tends to be a lot quieter in the evenings, but the playground and pool are quite close together in comparison to la sirene - might be better for a 3 year old. As a matter of fact, If I were to return to la sirene again, I'd strongly consider staying in hippocampe

Oh right hadn't seen the sister site. And are you allowed access to la sirene from hippocampe? Prices are similar enough between the two.

Quazzie

kevin306 wrote: »

Oh right hadn't seen the sister site. And are you allowed access to la sirene from hippocampe? Prices are similar enough between the two.

Yea. All amenities available to both sites. There is a road in between tho so it means kids might need to be accompanied across if they're going to the neighbour site