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

54and56

nirvana78 wrote: »

I learned my lesson that day but from reading of your experience this week, I will be putting more emphasis on good quality European breakdown cover instead of on the price of it.

I pay circa €140 a year for the max membership package for two adults and two kids from ADAC who are Europe's largest AA type organisation.

If anyone thinks that's expensive wait till you see what "free" or low cost breakdown coverage will cost you when you need it most!!

Peckham

Yep, main lesson for me is good quality breakdown cover.

Car now safely stored somewhere in Wexford awaiting delivery to a Volkswagen dealer on Monday morning.

Hopefully the next stage of fixing the car will be straightforward. Will be very frustrating if this was all due to a very minor problem that could have been easily fixed in France!

yellow76

Peckham wrote: »

Just off the ferry..

I'm so glad to read this. Been thinking of you and your family. So glad everyone home safe and healthy. Car is a pain of course but you're home and that's the main thing. Best of luck with repairs.

postsnthing

Peckham wrote:

Yep, main lesson for me is good quality breakdown cover.

What was the problem with your cover ?

Peckham

postsnthing wrote:

What was the problem with your cover ?

It just included rescue from roadside. After that I was by myself.

Very expensive experience and lots of stress. For example, cost to tow car from Saint Malo (where it was towed to after breaking down) to Roscoff was €500. That was after getting a French speaking friend who's a good negotiator to bargain them down from their original price of €1000.

It was a freebie policy I got as part of a servicing

ECO_Mental

On the ferry to rosscoff for my two weeks in the Loire looking forward to it. Was in the Loire about 6 years ago and loved it lots to do and see. Rocked up to the ferry in cork at 3pm (ferry leaves at 4)and there was no one there, I only live 10 mins from the port but there was a big jam at the jack lynch tunnel because of the match. Yer wan at the ticket desk said they were missing loads of cars. Still left at 4pm on the button though

54and56

Silly request.

Can anyone taking the Oscar Wilde do me a favour and either confirm the details of (or better still post a picture of) the label of the St Emillion Grand Cru they are currently selling in the gift shop? It's on the top shelf against the wall, has a gold coloured label IIRC and costs circa €13.

Bought and drank a bottle of it on our way over and loved it. Haven't been able to find anything close to it thus far so would like to know what vineyard it's from and the year etc so I can narrow down my search for it or something very similar.

Going home on Brittany Ferries so won't get a chance to buy a few bottles on the return leg unfortunately.

B_Rubble

ECO_Mental wrote: »

It's only four hours down the road....if you are going Brittany ferries the boat gets in at like 7am so nothing is open also. In theory you could be there before lunch. There will hardly be any traffic on the road so if I were you just drive on and just stop at a service station for 10 15 mins.

Even when we had babies that's what we did they will be tired so will sleep most of the way. But if you want to waste time go down the coast road I suppose.

Thanks all, we stopped at a couple of 'Aires' on route. They are great for kids when weather is good.

legohouse

legohouse wrote: »

Just a heads up for those who haven't booked their campsites for France yet.I have managed to book 7 Nights in Sol a Gogo for £172.50 and a weekend in Des Ormes for £82.50.
So all in... 10 nights accommodation in France from 7th July for just over £250

The Sun newspaper run a Holidays for £9.50 promo mainly for UK campsites but it also includes lots of European Campsites incl lots of popular ones like Des Ormes, Clerys Plage, etc

Just thought I'd give an update on my experience of " The Sun £9.50 Holidays" (well £15 European Holidays)
3 nights in Les Ormes followed by 7 nights in Sol a Gogo nr St Jeans de Mont
Les Ormes - We were given a Eurocamp 2 bed Esprit although in a shaded woody area of campsite but no issues with the Mobile. Campsite as has been mentioned by lots of others, has some of the best facilities in France
Sol a Gogo - We were given a Eurocamp 2 bed Classic. A little dated decor wise but plenty of space including 3 beds in the 2nd room. It also had good size decking (in fact a lot bigger than decking in my sister's Al Fresco mobile). Campsite is small and compact, clean pool area, v friendly Eurocamp couriers, direct access to a huge sandy beach and the weather was superb. (Might be slightly different campsite if weather turned bad as it is basic in comparison to Les Ormes)
All in all GREAT VALUE with the Sun offer! Even with last minute offers my family got with Al Fresco, I still saved €450 for similar mobile on the campsite.
Will definitely be using it again to book for next year!
The offer has reopened and there are some dates still available for Sept this year in it, but nothing for next year yet

Need to do a seperate post on my ferry savings

BailMeOut

How has the weather been? Heading over on Saturday and staying on Ile de Re.

Quazzie

Just booked 2018s holiday... Is there a 2018 thread yet

54and56

BailMeOut wrote: »

How has the weather been? Heading over on Saturday and staying on Ile de Re.

I'm in La Reserve which is about 300km south of Il de Re and the weather is very mixed. We've had 32c splitting the rocks sunshine for a few days, a few (nice) days of sunny but partially cloudy days with temps around 24c and the last few days have been overcast, windy and 19c/20c. We haven't had much rain during the day but it has rained a couple of nights.

Best long term forecast service I place any faith in is https://www.yr.no/place/France/Poitou-Charentes/%C3%8Ele_de_R%C3%A9/long.html which you can see is forecasting 20c for Ile de Re over the next 10 days with a mixture of sunny and cloudy days and some rain now and then.

54and56

Quazzie wrote: »

Just booked 2018s holiday... Is there a 2018 thread yet

What's stopping you?

Make sure to link this thread in the opening post so the tips etc from this thread continue into the 2018 thread and then post a link to the new thread here so regulars from here who are thinking of going to France next year can follow it.

Quazzie

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

What's stopping you?

Make sure to link this thread in the opening post so the tips etc from this thread continue into the 2018 thread and then post a link to the new thread here so regulars from here who are thinking of going to France next year can follow it.

I was just about to, then i realised this one doesn't actually have a date on it. Am I wrong in thinking at one stage it did?

Anyways, it seems this thread is appropriate. Now to search like crazy to find info on La Sirene.

54and56

Quazzie wrote: »

I was just about to, then i realised this one doesn't actually have a date on it. Am I wrong in thinking at one stage it did?

Anyways, it seems this thread is appropriate. Now to search like crazy to find info on La Sirene.

I think StoneDeaf4Ever wrote a detailed review of La Sirene and has been there two years in a row.

TheQuietFella

BailMeOut wrote: »

How has the weather been? Heading over on Saturday and staying on Ile de Re.

Absolute beautiful spot, have you room in the car?

Peckham

Posting my thoughts on Le Bois Masson (Saint Jean de Monts) and Domaine Des Ormes (Dol de Bretagne) if these are of any use to anyone in future.

Le Bois Masson
Spent two weeks here (first two weeks of July) and really enjoyed it. As none of the foreign travel companies are on the site it is very French (there were a handful of other Irish families there, but vast majority were French), and also quite residential-focussed (it seems that most of the mobile homes are owned privately).

Starting with the positives. Kids club was excellent. Our 6 year old went most days, and for much of it was the only English speaker in the club. However, the staff could not have been nicer and more acomodating. The team for the kids had a good mix of mainly French staff, but also English and Irish staff. The team work so hard, and always seemed switched-on - even when you randomly bumped into them when out and about. Incredible energy - the best I've ever seen in a campsite.

Bar was also nice (fresh and modern), and pool area was pretty good too (not extensive, but enough to keep young kids occupied).

Shop was pretty poor, meaning that I needed to hop into the car each morning to drive into the town (about 2 miles away) to get croissants and bread.

Shares facilities with the sister site across the road (Le Bois Dormand), and overall I think that's the better site. Pool is more modern, and the entertainment areas (bar, outdoor stage, playground etc.) are generally that bit nicer.

Unlikely I'd go back to Bois Masson again, and would choose Bois Dormand if heading back there. That said, it's unlikely I'd go back to any campsite a second time as there is always somewhere new to try....


Domaine Des Ormes
Spent (what were due to be) the final four nights of our holiday here. What an incredible place, and despite what I say above this is somewhere I would go again, although would wait until my kids (ages 6 months, 3 and 6) are a bit older and can get better use of the facilities. So much to do here, and I'd expect a child aged 10 and upwards would absolutely love this place.

Despite its size it is very well laid out meaning that you never really get an idea of the scale of the place. Everything you need is on site, and we purposely didn't leave the site again after arriving (apart from a very quick trip to the supermarket to pick up a few bits). Loved the Chateau grounds on site, as well as the pony trekking.

Booked through Eurocamp, but if going back here again would book through another company and stay in the huts that they have on site.

Only two drawbacks to the site. Firstly the pool area (there are two - an outdoor and indoor). The outdoor is fine, but the indoor (which is essentially an outdoor pool covered by a marquee) is accessed through swimming changing rooms which due to the amount of traffic through them feel a bit manky. Secondly, the weather - it being Brittany it can be hit or miss.

Aside from that, there are lots for everyone to do here. However, word of caution - there's a huge climbing frame near the outdoor pool. While we were there, a child fell from it and broke her arm. According to staff it happens quite frequently!



Travelled with Irish Ferries on Oscar Wilde. Have always booked cabins with windows on this boat, but on way home were given two without windows. In future will be booking these as they're a) cheaper, and b) easier to sleep in due to no natural light!

webpal

I think all the threads over the years were merged last week.

webpal

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Silly request.

Can anyone taking the Oscar Wilde do me a favour and either confirm the details of (or better still post a picture of) the label of the St Emillion Grand Cru they are currently selling in the gift shop? It's on the top shelf against the wall, has a gold coloured label IIRC and costs circa €13.

Bought and drank a bottle of it on our way over and loved it. Haven't been able to find anything close to it thus far so would like to know what vineyard it's from and the year etc so I can narrow down my search for it or something very similar.

Going home on Brittany Ferries so won't get a chance to buy a few bottles on the return leg unfortunately.

I can do, if you tell me how to post a pic. All I get is insert link requests and can never find how to post a pic

Stone Deaf 4evr

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I think StoneDeaf4Ever wrote a detailed review of La Sirene and has been there two years in a row.

Good memory Jean,

my year one review is here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=100391897&postcount=954

whilst it might seem like a little bit critical in parts, we did enjoy it immensely
that being said, my year 2 experience was a lot more positive, so much so that its definitely on the shortlist for a repeat visit next year.

Quazzie

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Good memory Jean,

my year one review is here
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=100391897&postcount=954

whilst it might seem like a little bit critical in parts, we did enjoy it immensely
that being said, my year 2 experience was a lot more positive, so much so that its definitely on the shortlist for a repeat visit next year.

Excellent. Thank you for that. It's reaffirmed my belief I've made the right choice.

54and56

webpal wrote: »

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Silly request.

Can anyone taking the Oscar Wilde do me a favour and either confirm the details of (or better still post a picture of) the label of the St Emillion Grand Cru they are currently selling in the gift shop? It's on the top shelf against the wall, has a gold coloured label IIRC and costs circa €13.

Bought and drank a bottle of it on our way over and loved it. Haven't been able to find anything close to it thus far so would like to know what vineyard it's from and the year etc so I can narrow down my search for it or something very similar.

Going home on Brittany Ferries so won't get a chance to buy a few bottles on the return leg unfortunately.

I can do, if you tell me how to post a pic. All I get is insert link requests and can never find how to post a pic

Super!!

I'm on my phone at the moment but will send you instructions on how i do it anyway later.

Cheers, really appreciate it.

54and56

webpal wrote: »

I can do, if you tell me how to post a pic. All I get is insert link requests and can never find how to post a pic

OK, this is how I do it.

Option 1 - Posting from your phone.

Step 1. Log onto www.upl.co and click on "Upload a file".

Step 2. Locate the photo you want to upload on your phone (my photo's are stored in the "Photo's" folder on my phone) and click on the photo you want to upload.

Step 3. Once the photo is uploaded look down the page and identify the option "Forum Tag" and copy the entire string from that box.

Step 4. Log onto the boards thread you want to post in, Paste the link you just copied, add any comments/content/wording you want and click Submit Reply.

QED

From a PC it's very similar. Go to www.upl.co, click on upload a file, locate the photo you want to post on the discussion thread, wait for it to upload, copy the tag and post it in the thread.

Here's a crappy photo I took earlier with an old phone uploaded using the phone version of the instructions:-

BailMeOut

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I'm in La Reserve which is about 300km south of Il de Re and the weather is very mixed. We've had 32c splitting the rocks sunshine for a few days, a few (nice) days of sunny but partially cloudy days with temps around 24c and the last few days have been overcast, windy and 19c/20c. We haven't had much rain during the day but it has rained a couple of nights.

Best long term forecast service I place any faith in is https://www.yr.no/place/France/Poitou-Charentes/%C3%8Ele_de_R%C3%A9/long.html which you can see is forecasting 20c for Ile de Re over the next 10 days with a mixture of sunny and cloudy days and some rain now and then.

yikes - it does not look great. A friend of mine was over near Bordeaux a few weeks ago and they said it rained a lot.

webpal

Ok here's a test



Looks ok on upl but not feeding into boards, I'll try again tomorrow. Not going til Saturday week anyway

54and56

webpal wrote: »

Ok here's a test



Looks ok on upl but not feeding into boards, I'll try again tomorrow. Not going til Saturday week anyway

Looks like you did it correctly. Not sure why it's not displaying.

Thanks for having a go, appreciate it.

If you've nothing better to do on the ferry please do take a pic of the label and try to post it when you get a chance but don't go out of your way and no worries if you don't get round to it. It's just a little itch I want to scratch, no big deal.

average_runner

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Looks like you did it correctly. Not sure why it's not displaying.

Thanks for having a go, appreciate it.

If you've nothing better to do on the ferry please do take a pic of the label and try to post it when you get a chance but don't go out of your way and no worries if you don't get round to it. It's just a little itch I want to scratch, no big deal.

Why not use email ?

54and56

average_runner wrote: »

Why not use email ?

Hadn't even thought of that!

Webpal, I'll PM you my email address.

micks_address

hi folks,

Rebooked with Des Ormes through eurocamp for next July. In 3 bed Espace plus deck. They have some pictures of espace on the website but what are the ones on Des Ormes like? We had 2 bed Espirit this year and found it cramped with the four of us.
Apologies if this has been asked before. This year we travelled Stena from Rosslare to Cherbourg and found the sailing to long. Irish Ferries seems quicker at around 7.5 hours? Also what are the flying options to get you from Dublin to Close to Brittany? I wouldn't mind flying/car rental option if price is reasonable

Cheers,
Mick

First Up

micks_address wrote: »

hi folks,

Rebooked with Des Ormes through eurocamp for next July. In 3 bed Espace plus deck. They have some pictures of espace on the website but what are the ones on Des Ormes like? We had 2 bed Espirit this year and found it cramped with the four of us.
Apologies if this has been asked before. This year we travelled Stena from Rosslare to Cherbourg and found the sailing to long. Irish Ferries seems quicker at around 7.5 hours? Also what are the flying options to get you from Dublin to Close to Brittany? I wouldn't mind flying/car rental option if price is reasonable

Cheers,
Mick

I think you left out a digit. Its 17.5 hours. There isn't much difference in the length of the trips - it just feels shorter with IF because the ship is better.

No direct flights from Dublin to Brittany as far as I know. Ryanair to Nantes or La Rochelle would be the closest.