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

not this time but I’d say there’s an element of being pulled up on it if you would try to walk straight into pool.

same re: Des Ormes! I even noticed some children who had skin irritation reactions to being in the dome pool!

It is the law and the campsites can be inspected and fined if they're not enforcing it. They'll typically turn a blind eye earlier in the season but when more French people start going on holidays later in the summer it becomes more enforced.

They were enforcing it in Carnac tte last two summers when we were there but not in La Garangeoire which was about 80% Paddies

Throwing it out there,mainly in Ireland I use Waze but what is it like in France? I wouldn’t have much data on my phone so was just gonna use it or google maps at the port find my destination and turn of my data but would people think it’s worth while keeping data on for traffic alerts and updates and police on the roads?

I think Waze is even more popular in France than in Ireland.

As for phone data, remember that EU roaming charges a thing of the past so you can freely use your data as if you were at home. Make sure to turn it off on the ferry though, as you may end up paying exorbitant satellite roaming charges!

Exactly, very popular over there, and while the speed checkpoints are not being uploaded by default, all of the passing drivers just mark the location so you tend to know about it in advance anyway. Get used to responding to pop-ups on Waze and also reporting incidents or avoidance, it's a great motoring tool.

Plannjng ahead - Any recommendations where to eat before a late Sailing on a Saturday from Roscoff. We sail out at 11pm so looking to stop off somewhere eat maybe at around 7pm, perferably not mcdonalds.

Eat in Rennes-central or just off the preheriphic and then do the last 2.5hrs to Roscoff? Lots of choice there.

Perry Street is right next to the ferry terminal and seems to be popular.

Rochestown Park Hotel and Carrigaline Court Hotel are both short detours from the route to the ferry and have plenty of parking.

I know all 3 of those are convenient - but personally have only eaten in Rochestown Park.

Ferryboat Inn. Playground across the road for kids

You can arrive early, but it's no guarantee of early boarding (unless you paid for priority boarding/disembarking - worth buying if still available for your sailing). When you check in you'll be assigned to a lane in the boarding area where you queue up on the dock in your car. When it comes to boarding time the crew will board one lane at a time. However, no guarantee that they'll board the lanes in the order that they filled, so people who arrived after you could board earlier than you.

It's all to do with balancing loads/heights on the car decks.

They tend to do the actual boarding very last minute, so an early arrival does often mean just sitting in the car.

I believe you can arrive 2 hours early (1 hour before check in closes) however you won't be allowed board until around 45-60 mins before departure

While waiting there's facilities in the passenger terminal, but you'll need your boarding pass to get there. I think there's also a toilet block in the parking area

When we were boarding they were quite slow because they're bringing the truck trailers on at the same time. In fact one of the drivers took the bend in the ramp too sharp and banged the trailer into the crash barrier along the side

It was a whole bit of drama, all the other drivers and dockworkers were having a good laugh at his expense. Took about 10 mins to get unstuck and then they got boarding again

Back on topic, once you've onboard then you need to grab everything you need from the car as you aren't permitted back onto the car deck after departure

I found it very handy to have an overnight bag for everyone plus another bag with some snacks and drinks

You'll have access to the cabin straight away, they give you the key at check-in, it's kind of like a paper ticket. We dumped most of the our stuff there and went to explore

The cafe is open straight away, I think the brasserie is too. The food is very expensive for what you get, think airport pricing. Next time we'll probably bring some mini cereals and bread and just buy milk and butter for breakfast

The drive to Domaine Des Ormes is grand, did it myself a couple of weeks ago. Dual carriageway and motorway most of the way. The motorway should be quiet enough on a Sunday, just watch out for drivers tailgating you before overtaking, seems to be a thing in France

Be warned, both Lidl and Carrefour are closed in Dol de Bretagne on Sunday. There's a Super U somewhere which might be open, never checked. I'd recommend bringing a shopping bag of essentials and enough groceries to get you through a day

If you find somewhere open en route then you can pop in and get milk and butter. Fresh milk is in the bottles with red caps, and butter demi-sel is the same as salted butter in Ireland

Thanks, we did our first Eurocamps/ferry holiday a few weeks ago. It was absolutely brilliant but there's definitely a few lessons learned. I wrote a big list of things we'd do differently next time