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

suilegorma

They charge a fortune for milk on the ferries. We freeze cartons and it's is defrosted by the am. And same for water so we have cold water. And wr always bring microwave meals or pot noodle style things. I find the food on board v unpalatable.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122278906#Comment_122278906

A few more bits of advice, including some Domaine des Ormes specific stuff:

Summer is strike season in France, so it's worth budgeting some flexibility into your schedule. We ended up staying an extra 2 days because of the strike in Cherbourg port. I wasn't too concerned about being forced to take a longer holiday 😂

Bring tea towels and over gloves, they don't have any. Also bring a chopping board, Dettol and dishwasher tablets. It's also worth bringing some TP rolls, just in case shops are closed

The ovens in the mobile homes are all gas fanless ovens. If you're used to an electric fan oven then they take a bit of getting used to and are generally a lot slower. I'd recommend bringing tin foil since the oven trays can be a bit dirty

If you have an air fryer I'd actually be tempted to bring one to avoid the oven. Don't stress about it if you don't have space though

Similarly if you have a cordless hoover you might want to bring one, unless you like sweeping 😜

The restaurants onsite operate French hours, so they often close in the afternoon. The shop is open until 8pm and the pizza restaurant does takeaway

The water pressure in the mobile homes is a bit crap. You might want to go over to the shower block instead. The one nearest us was a bit stinky because it had the drain for emptying the campervan poop tanks inside. I think the shower block near the playground might be a bit nicer

The showers in the pool are also pretty decent, we ended up just washing over the swimsuits there

There's an onsite launderette, the machines have detergent dispensers but we used a few laundry capsules to boost it. It's worth bringing a few just in case you run low on clothes

Book the activities early, they can book out quite quickly. The treetop adventure course is a lot of fun for older kids, my 4yo was able to do the junior course and my 7yo did all the kids course and ziplines

We visited Saint Malo (the walled town part), the Grand Aquarium (in Saint Malo) and Mont St Michel. I'd absolutely recommend them all. There's also a theme park nearby which looks good but we didn't get time to visit

suilegorma

Oh yes that reminds me…if trying to shower a few kids and adults after a day swimming or whatever, often it can be easier to hit the shower blocks if they are not too far or are en route home from pool. Don't end up with a steamy cabin and everyone gets washed at the same time. We used to take turns having a quick cabin shower and making dinner or doing the long shower with the kids in the shower block and it worked a treat.

Heroditas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282646#Comment_122282646

I might post up our list later of what we bring.

Clothes pegs, kitchen knives, chopping board and food bag clips are the biggies!

beggars_bush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122282715#Comment_122282715

Most campsites in France don't have ovens in the kitchen and have terrible ceramic hobs for cooking on.

Just for anyone expecting an oven

We're toying with idea of bringing the air fryer and an electric bbq that Harvey Norman have for sale - bring extension cord and put bbq outside and cook on the decking. The French all seem to do it

mr_edge_to_you

The air fryer is coming with us this year. Those ovens in the mobile homes are less than useless.

the_amazing_raisin

I'm glad I'm not the only one in the air fryer camp, my wife was looking at me like I'd two heads when I suggested it 😂

mr_edge_to_you

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283571#Comment_122283571

It's a no brainer to bring it.

We did jokingly talk about bring the delonghi coffee machine.

suilegorma

If you're driving bring whatever you can fit, isn't that one of the perks! Coffee machines, airfryers, kitchen sink if you like! Will only add to your holiday if you can eat the foods you like or for a lot of us with kids who just are not adventurous on holidays and need to have their usual meals.

10-10-20

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283881#Comment_122283881

It's a trade-off, @suilegorma. What comes over must be returned, at the loss of cabin space for local French boisson du vignobles et du biere. ;)

suilegorma

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283965#Comment_122283965

If you run out of space, send the most responsible child home by air with instructions for how to get the bus home from the airport and see how they get on :) builds resilience!

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283881#Comment_122283881

We actually ran out of space. We had 4 carry on suitcases with clothes, overnight bags, bag of essentials and scooters and helmets and about a billion odds and ends

Not a small car either, it's an ID.4

I'm starting to understand the whole roofbox thing, although I'm still determined not to get one

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283965#Comment_122283965

I assume that's what the roofbox is for 😁

mr_edge_to_you

We always have plenty of space.

We bring one hand luggage case for the boat. There's 4 of us and we each bring a large shopping bag with our clothes. Frees up so much space in the boot. We do a wash or two while on site.

fits

we felt totally like odd ones out on way to France last year with our ID.3. No suv. No roofbox. No bikes on the back.

Only managed to bring 9 very nice bottles back. However husband was seriously ill not long after we returned and we didn’t really drink for 6 months so I think there’s a couple there still!

mr_edge_to_you

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122284775#Comment_122284775

We went to France in our Octavia for 3 years. It was plenty big.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122283701#Comment_122283701

Our cabin had a Nespresso machine, which made me feel really dumb when I bought a load of Dolce Gusto pods and wondered why they don't fit 🤦🏻‍♂️

In my defence, you'd think by 2024 coffee pods would be universal

I was briefly looking at a Minipresso, but for the week or two of holidays I'll just bring some instant mocha sachets next time. I can look forward to my espresso machine when I get home

Also, fair warning for any latte or cappuccino fans, in France the coffee and milk combos seem to be a lot smaller. You'd only fill about half a typical tea mug, probably around 120ml. So they tend to be quite a bit stronger on the coffee taste

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122284799#Comment_122284799

To be fair the Octavia has always been a bit like the TARDIS from Doctor Who. Seems to have more space inside than the you'd expect from the outside 😁

Heroditas

We have an id4 with roof bars and a 450L roofbox. We're also sticking the bike rack on the tow-hook (which we use every year for Center Parcs) for the first time this year so we're pretty loaded down. We have two massive sports gear bags in the roofbox with most of the clothes, towels and bed clothes, shoes etc and a few other bits and pieces. Food and kitchen stuff in the boot with the third gear bag of clothes and then the boot fills up with the other bits and pieces. Overnight bags on the floor in the back along with an Eskie of food for the boat.

Still tonnes of room for booze on the way back. We brought back the equivalent of about 70 bottles last year along with loads of treats.

I'm an ardent hater of the air fryer so we don't have one and wouldn't bring the Nespresso machine either. We're very lucky insofar as the kids are great eaters so we're not stuck giving them plain pasta or nuggets when we're away, we BBQ every night and make salads or buy the ones in the supermarket, along with making a green bean salad and a fried baby potato salad etc. The carrot salad in Super U is a big favourite of ours or we make a tomato salad with the amazing different coloured tomatoes they sell unpackaged over there.

Remember, if you bring an air-fryer, it's less room for booze on the way back! 🤣

I'll bring decent knives, meat thermometer, some decent BBQ utensils and some meat ribs, spices etc that you can't get over in France along with some hot sauces.

Just realized I head off three weeks tomorrow. Can't wait, can't bloody wait

the_amazing_raisin

How does everyone find sleeping on the W.B Yeats? Or other ferries in general

We got rubbish nights sleep both ways, really bad on the way home. I reckon I got about 3 hours sleep both ways

Except for the kids who slept soundly most of the night, somehow

On the way back the boat was rocking from side to side so my feet were above my head a fair bit

Might have been better if my head was at the other end of the bed, I had my head towards the window

Room was very stuffy as well, I think the misso turned the AC off. It also didn't help that someone was setting off a door alarm every couple of hours, might have been crew checking on the car deck

I'm wondering if there's some tricks I'm missing? I wonder how people manage driving for 6 or 7 hours without a decent sleep

Seemed to be a fair number of people pouring wine into themselves the night before, I guess that's one way to do it. Not sure I'd trust myself more with a hangover versus no sleep

mr_edge_to_you

We always sleep like the dead on the boat. Plenty of fresh air before hand.

We upgraded to the Commodore cabin on the Pont Aven on the return leg on our last 2 trips. It was lovely. Full bed for everyone. Leave the door open on the balcony for fresh air. Just like a hotel room.

Heroditas

The rocking doesn't bother me at all on the boat but my wife and two girls take motion sickness tablets and that gets them through the trip.

I always love seeing the Fitbit stats after a night on the boat. Two years ago it said I only had two hours sleep and had been on a cross trainer for 4 hours because of the motion of the boat in my sleep 🤣

I'd slept like a log. Simple answer is there's no one size fits all. Some people have a few drinks, others take motion sickness tablets, others are fine with the rocking. I have a few beers and then really live the motion of the boat. 🤷

the_amazing_raisin

Yean I think it's probably fair to say I'm not a great sleeper at the best of times.

I've been on a cruise ship before and didn't really have any issues sleeping there, so I wonder what it was about the ferry that did it

Probably too much sitting around and I know we went to bed early one night to try and get the kids a decent sleep. Maybe that backfired on us, like trying to sleep when you aren't tired

I guess nerves play a role as well since it was our first time doing a ferry holiday

peter4918

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122279455#Comment_122279455

he should be alright if he’s boarding in Dublin!

spuddy

We'll be driving near Paris this year, and I'd forgotten about the emission sticker (to avoid time restricted access). A few other cities in France have the same requirement, but from next year areas with populations over 150k will require them too. Costs ~€5 incl. postage.

Info: https://www.france.fr/en/article/crit-air-anti-pollution-vehicle-sticker/#what-are-the-regulations-in-force-3

Order: https://certificat-air.gouv.fr/

Heroditas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122285180#Comment_122285180

Cruise ships are typically much bigger though and sail in calmer waters

Miley Byrne

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122284362#Comment_122284362

Vacuum pack the clothes and leave the suitcases at home. You won't regret it. Loads of room spared in the car

Officer999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122285254#Comment_122285254

I’m currently in Honfleur having driven through Lyon and Versailles. Had ordered the emission sticker beforehand (approx 12 days before we left Ireland) but it never arrived. Thankfully was not stopped by the French police. I have no idea if the sticker arrived in the end or just got lost en route.

mr_edge_to_you

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122288047#Comment_122288047

Suitcases are the enemy.

spuddy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122288092#Comment_122288092

If you do have any hassle, check your email, you should have received a "Service de délivrance des certificats qualité de l'air" as proof. It has the same QR code you get on the physical sticker.