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

talla

Arrived in Saint Jean Du Monts July 16th and spent 9 days there.
For the first four / five days weather was great, 30 to 35, no hint of a cloud.
Remainder of the time, overcast and temp never went above 22/23.

Headed further north to Carnac for 10 nights until August 4th, temp never went above 21, overcast and raining with only a couple of afternoons with sun.

Heading down to La Sirene on the med next year

First Up

talla wrote:

Headed further north to Carnac for 10 nights until August 4th, temp never went above 21, overcast and raining with only a couple of afternoons with sun.

Finistere has its own micro climate - a wet one.

You don't need to go as far as the Med; anywhere south of the Loire is usually fine.

westgolf

Just back from domaine des ormes and most days were 27/28 degrees, one day 31. One overcast morning but good otherwise. However staff on site did say that they had the worst July weatherwise in a few years.
Went to St Jean de Months two years ago and had 10 warm sunny days,went to la loubine, further south in the vendee last year and had one wet week and was tormented by midgets. Luck and research plays a big part in things I think.

juneg

Was in the dordogne during a heat wave in July. Too hot for us but I'm sure some people love that. Would have preferred the beach. I just love the balmy fresh air by a beach. But I have been caught in the vendee in crappy weather before which can ruin the holiday too. I think it just depends on what you are after. If it's too hot for the kids to do their sports they are moaning. Fine weather in the vendee would be my preference but you can't rely on it. We we're in Biarritz a few years ago and nothing but rain!! Haven't decided where to go next year yet. Maybe Cote sauvage areas

NIMAN

Funny Biarritz was my number one choice for summer 2017, and it wasn't chosen due to high flight prices so we went with Costa Brava instead. Perfect weather there, hot but not heatwave hot.

I was considering Ile De Re next year but like Biarritz, maybe that Atlantic coast of France is a bit hit and miss? I'd hate to go for a week and have bad weather.

benny79

benny79 wrote: »

Wheres a good spot 2 pick up wine when leaving France heading to cheoburg from domaine des ormes?



Weather is **** by the way.. First time here and hardly anything open 2-3 activities a day even if that all restaurants closed apart from pizzeria which only opens at 7! Really disappointed in the place hav lodged a complaint along with many others!

By the way before booking i rang the camp site and was told that everything be open apart from kids clubs..

Anybody help with above for good place to get wine?

First Up

benny79 wrote:

Anybody help with above for good place to get wine?

I usually load up at Auchan. There's also a Carrefour but I find Auchan better. There is a Normandie Wine Warehouse too. All three are 5-8 minutes from the port.

GeneralSherman

Agree on the Auchan. Huge supermarket in a shopping centre on the way in to Cherbourg.

First Up

GeneralSherman wrote: »

Agree on the Auchan. Huge supermarket in a shopping centre on the way in to Cherbourg.

Just be aware the hypermarkets are closed on Sundays.

First Up

This is also Wine Fair season when there are always excellent deals. Worth checking if any of these suit your itinerary:


Aldi : à partir du 6 septembre

Auchan : du 26 septembre au 10 octobre

Biocoop : du 5 septembre au 13 octobre

Carrefour : du 12 septembre au 25 septembre

Carrefour Market : du 22 septembre au 8 octobre (Contact du 22 septembre au 1er octobre)

Casino : du 1er septembre au 24 septembre (Géant Casino du 5 au 17 septembre)

Cora : du 25 aout au 10 octobre

E.Leclerc : du 3 octobre au 15 octobre

Franprix : du 6 septembre au 17 septembre

Intermarché : du 6 septembre au 24 septembre

Lavinia : du 5 septembre au 2 octobre

Leader Price : du 5 septembre au 17 septembre

Le Repaire de Bacchus : du 7 septembre au 5 octobre

Lidl : à partir du 6 septembre

juneg

Whats the furthest from the ferries that any of you would drive? How do you break up the journey in terms of stopovers etc.?
We went to St Nazaire that time and drove down to Biarritz with one stopover in a budget hotel but drove back to the ferry in one go. Only Roscoff or Cherbourg to choose from now..

josip

juneg wrote: »

Whats the furthest from the ferries that any of you would drive? How do you break up the journey in terms of stopovers etc.?
We went to St Nazaire that time and drove down to Biarritz with one stopover in a budget hotel but drove back to the ferry in one go. Only Roscoff or Cherbourg to choose from now..

Maybe not the answer you're looking for but the furthest we go would be Sithonia (Greece) with camping stops (1-3 nights) usually in La Rochelle, Cape D'Agde, Savona, Venezia Lido followed by a stop in Belgrade before bombing on down non-stop to Halkidiki.
On the way back we usually turn right in Slovenia and have stops in Southern Germany and France; too cold for the beach on the way back.

Deeman83

juneg wrote: »

Whats the furthest from the ferries that any of you would drive? How do you break up the journey in terms of stopovers etc.?
We went to St Nazaire that time and drove down to Biarritz with one stopover in a budget hotel but drove back to the ferry in one go. Only Roscoff or Cherbourg to choose from now..

I have 3 very young kids, so I try and limit it to 4 hours continuous driving. I would try and break it up with 30min stop half way or two thirds of the way through. Oh, I am also towing 1.7T caravan on the back!
If you set off nice and early, the four hours can take you a long way in france, Any longer than this and it can spoil the day and make the whole thing a complete chore for parents and the kids.

54and56

josip wrote: »

Maybe not the answer you're looking for but the furthest we go would be Sithonia (Greece) with camping stops (1-3 nights) usually in La Rochelle, Cape D'Agde, Savona, Venezia Lido followed by a stop in Belgrade before bombing on down non-stop to Halkidiki.
On the way back we usually turn right in Slovenia and have stops in Southern Germany and France; too cold for the beach on the way back.

That's a serious trip all right. Over what period of time?

Longest we go is to La Reserve from Roscoff. It's 770km's and we do it in one go. Off the ferry at 10:30, drive to Centre commercial Atlantis in Nante for around 13:30 where we stretch the legs, have lunch and do a bit of shoppping. Back in the car for 14:30 and get to Bordeaux just before 17:30 where we do a quick service station or McDonalds type stop for coffee (depending on whether Google Maps thinks the traffic is better going West or East around Bordeaux) and to switch drivers. Back in the car for 18:00 and in La Reserve for 19:30 or latest 20:00 if we hit some traffic on the way e.g. Bastille weekend or just got delayed getting food or whatever.

It's a long day but with two drivers and kids who are well stocked up with content on their tablets and books to read it's no biggie.

Stone Deaf 4evr

juneg wrote: »

Whats the furthest from the ferries that any of you would drive? How do you break up the journey in terms of stopovers etc.?
We went to St Nazaire that time and drove down to Biarritz with one stopover in a budget hotel but drove back to the ferry in one go. Only Roscoff or Cherbourg to choose from now..

have driven as far as La Sirene which is pretty much on the border of spain, did it over 2 days with a stop in La Rochelle. Personally wouldnt do it again, not from a comfort point of view, but more so from the fact that you're essentially taking 4 days out of your holidays (6 if you include the 2 nights on the boat). I did it by plane / rental car this year and never looked back - worked out considerably cheaper too.

Ferry is fine if you're going about 5 hours from the boat imo and staying for up to 2 weeks, Any further and you'd want to be having a longer holiday.

Quazzie

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

have driven as far as La Sirene which is pretty much on the border of spain, did it over 2 days with a stop in La Rochelle. Personally wouldnt do it again, not from a comfort poitn of view, but more so from the fact that you're essentially taking 4 days out of your holidays (6 if you include the 2 nights on the boat). I did it by plane / rental car this year and never looked back - worked out considerably cheaper too.

Ferry is fine if you're going about 5 hours from the boat imo and staying for up to 2 weeks, Any further and you'd want to be having a longer holiday.

Where did you fly into? Doing La Sirene next year and we're looking to fly into Barcelona, but trying to find a car rental that has all the information upfront regarding cross border fees etc is proving awkward.

average_runner

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

have driven as far as La Sirene which is pretty much on the border of spain, did it over 2 days with a stop in La Rochelle. Personally wouldnt do it again, not from a comfort poitn of view, but more so from the fact that you're essentially taking 4 days out of your holidays (6 if you include the 2 nights on the boat). I did it by plane / rental car this year and never looked back - worked out considerably cheaper too.

Ferry is fine if you're going about 5 hours from the boat imo and staying for up to 2 weeks, Any further and you'd want to be having a longer holiday.

Plane and car rental worked out brilliant for us this year. South of France next year for us. Slowly but surely I make a change to our holidays every year. My bunch don't like change!!

Stone Deaf 4evr

Quazzie wrote: »

Where did you fly into? Doing La Sirene next year and we're looking to fly into Barcelona, but trying to find a car rental that has all the information upfront regarding cross border fees etc is proving awkward.

Flew into barcelona El Prat.

booked with Centauro, told em I was crossing the border when I was picking it up - they added an extra €80 onto the cost of the booking and took payment there and then. (i had booked via rentalcars.com so wasnt due to hand over any money at the counter)

like yourself, its hard to get accurate information on policies, for example this year i was trying to book a car from enterprise, but couldnt find any option for cross border. I did notice in the small print that it says 'for hire in spain only', but no way to make an enquiry.

This year, (and its early days yet - still in the panning / budgeting phase), but I reckon we'll fly into carcassone, spend 10 nights at la sirene, then have 2 nights in carcassone (we've never been so fancy checking it out) itself before flying home early on the last morning.

k123456

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Quazzie wrote: »

Where did you fly into? Doing La Sirene next year and we're looking to fly into Barcelona, but trying to find a car rental that has all the information upfront regarding cross border fees etc is proving awkward.

Flew into barcelona El Prat.

booked with Centauro, told em I was crossing the border when I was picking it up - they added an extra €80 onto the cost of the booking and took payment there and then. (i had booked via rentalcars.com so wasnt due to hand over any money at the counter)

like yourself, its hard to get accurate information on policies, for example this year i was trying to book a car from enterprise, but couldnt find any option for cross border. I did notice in the small print that it says 'for hire in spain only', but no way to make an enquiry.

This year, (and its early days yet - still in the panning / budgeting phase), but I reckon we'll fly into carcassone, spend 10 nights at la sirene, then have 2 nights in carcassone (we've never been so fancy checking it out) itself before flying home early on the last morning.

My experience of car hire in Spain (Girona airport) for use in France 
No Cross border surcharge with the bigger international car hire cos (Hertz)
Cross border surcharge with the smaller car hire cos, usually Spanish
It might be cheaper to go with a more expensive quote (Hertz) for example, 
than to opt for a cheaper quote and then have to pay the cross border fee
It can be difficult to get a clear answer online from car hire cos, sometimes easier to ring the local airport office of the car hire co

Quazzie

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Flew into barcelona El Prat.

booked with Centauro, told em I was crossing the border when I was picking it up - they added an extra €80 onto the cost of the booking and took payment there and then. (i had booked via rentalcars.com so wasnt due to hand over any money at the counter)

like yourself, its hard to get accurate information on policies, for example this year i was trying to book a car from enterprise, but couldnt find any option for cross border. I did notice in the small print that it says 'for hire in spain only', but no way to make an enquiry.

This year, (and its early days yet - still in the panning / budgeting phase), but I reckon we'll fly into carcassone, spend 10 nights at la sirene, then have 2 nights in carcassone (we've never been so fancy checking it out) itself before flying home early on the last morning.

The best price I got this year was with Alamo. They use Enterprise stock. I contacted them on facebook about cross border fees and this is what they said.

Hello Quazzie, thank you for reaching out regarding this. I see that the insurance must be purchased at the counter and the cost is 55€ (VAT included). I hope this helps! -Chris R.

This was for 8 days. When queried about the full insurance policy which means no deposit is held on the credit card this is that he said

It appears you must purchase the Collision Damage Waiver at $27 per day and also the Excess Protection at $11.98 per day. So, roughly $39 per day, Mr. Quinn. -Chris R..

Not sure if this is any use to you, but it might help someone in the same boat.

Most of the hire companies have facebook pages with someone answering questions on the messenger

josip

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

That's a serious trip all right. Over what period of time?

Not as arduous as it might sound.
7..10 days to Belgrade, maybe 4 or 5 of those will be driving days.
Rest up in Belgrade for a couple of weeks with in-laws.
1 day from Belgrade to Halkidi, 10/11 days there, and 1 day back.
Rest up in Belgrade for a couple of weeks with in-laws.
7 days back from Belgrade, again 4 or 5 of them driving days.

Deeman83

josip wrote: »

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

That's a serious trip all right.  Over what period of time?

Not as arduous as it might sound.
7..10 days to Belgrade, maybe 4 or 5 of those will be driving days.
Rest up in Belgrade for a couple of weeks with in-laws.
1 day from Belgrade to Halkidi, 10/11 days there, and 1 day back.
Rest up in Belgrade for a couple of weeks with in-laws.
7 days back from Belgrade, again 4 or 5 of them driving days.

Your poor car!

54and56

josip wrote: »

Not as arduous as it might sound.
7..10 days to Belgrade, maybe 4 or 5 of those will be driving days.
Rest up in Belgrade for a couple of weeks with in-laws.
1 day from Belgrade to Halkidi, 10/11 days there, and 1 day back.
Rest up in Belgrade for a couple of weeks with in-laws.
7 days back from Belgrade, again 4 or 5 of them driving days.

So just an 8 week holiday then!!

josip

Deeman83 wrote: »

Your poor car!

The car is much happier on the long drives in the countryside than in stop-go suburbia

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

So just an 8 week holiday then!!

I am lucky that I'm able to work remotely, so I work the 4 weeks I'm in Belgrade.
I am unlucky that I'm able to work remotely, so I also often work during the 4 weeks across Europe and in Greece.

benny79

First Up wrote: »

Just be aware the hypermarkets are closed on Sundays.

yeah sadly found out the hard way! then to top it off are boat was delay so spent 33 hrs on the Epison 12 of which I got sea sick for! First time doing these types of holidays never again!

Dont stay in Domaine des ormes in September its practically closed even though they say everything will still be open!

54and56

josip wrote: »

I am lucky that I'm able to work remotely, so I work the 4 weeks I'm in Belgrade.
I am unlucky that I'm able to work remotely, so I also often work during the 4 weeks across Europe and in Greece.

C'mon, spill the beans. What sort of work do you do?

I need a job which will allow me to go camper vanning around Europe for a few months each year!!

average_runner

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

C'mon, spill the beans. What sort of work do you do?

I need a job which will allow me to go camper vanning around Europe for a few months each year!!

I thought you worked remotely when in France? Maybe I am totally wrong

54and56

average_runner wrote: »

I thought you worked remotely when in France? Maybe I am totally wrong

Very well remembered AR and I can get away with it for a once a year 3 or possibly even a 4 week holiday but those damn clients need face to face time on a regular basis so that precludes longer stints away from the office base I'm afraid.

Would love to know what sort of work or skill set would enable longer term work on the road where you don't ever need to get suited and booted and sit in front of clients. I imagine some sort of specialist IT support, medical translation or the kind of project type work you can pick up from https://www.upwork.com on the road as long as you have some saleable skills, a good laptop and internet access.

Ah to dream of sitting outside a campervan on the Iberia penninsula looking out over the Atlantic whilst completing a project and issuing an invoice that would keep the bills paid for another month meandering through Europe

josip

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

C'mon, spill the beans. What sort of work do you do?

I need a job which will allow me to go camper vanning around Europe for a few months each year!!

To answer your question, software development and subsequent support for a small IT company.

Now for the monologue
I've been doing it now for over 15 years.
Lucky that our existing clients prefer us to handle things remotely than for them to have the hassle of organising meeting rooms etc.
If I stay ahead of milestones, I can keep nearly all communication to emails rather than phone calls.
Before I depart for the European driving, I'll try to get a week ahead with the project stuff.
Support issues that come up during a travelling day are handled that evening. P2 and P3 will be analysed and deferred to the following week when I'm either in Dublin or Belgrade.
P1 issues have to resolved that night however.
There've been a few times when my 4 passengers are all snuggled up in the sleeping bags at 10pm and I still have 3-4 hours work ahead of me before the drive the next day.

• We always have to choose a pitch within either wifi or 3G/4G signal.
• Sometimes the electricity point is a bit far away and the sockets for our 10m cable only just reach inside the tent so I have to work on the laptop lying down.
• Apart from southern France and Italy, it gets chilly in the tent from around 11 onwards and psychologically working after midnight from a campsite is a push.
• This year at Legoland Germany, while working on the laptop I had a running battle with some guy who kept unplugging our cable from the electricity point. He'd arrived late and disconnected our cable rather than having his cable run across gravel to a nearer outlet. He didn't speak English, I didn't speak German, so we just battled it out until 2am.

In 2005 I tried to have a genuine 2 week holiday. I spent 30 hours over the preceeding 2 weeks on a set of scripts that would handle a daily phased network cutover for a big customer.
All tested and working and lads in work familiar with the scripts.
2 days into the holiday they encountered other problems and didn't just delay things, but rejigged the whole cutover process.
All my 30 hours wasted and I still ended up working 2 hours each day of my holiday.
Since then I've never bothered trying to prepare and detach when on holidays, it's just easier to keep an eye on things every day.

But all told, the flexibility to be able to spend 2 months away, outweighs the minor inconveniences and we're aware of that.

westgolf

Not quite the same level but similarly I usually do an hour or so each day in front of the laptop. My preferred routine is to drop son to kids club or whatever activity he is heading for that day, half an hour of a walk or so with a call to the shop for fresh croissants on the way back. Freshly brewed coffee, extension lead out from mobile to deck area and off I go.