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

That fine arrived very efficiently!!

>>Main complaint is the price of food, I guess UF figured out they've a captive audience. 

Firstly, peoples perception of food value depends on where they are coming from (i.e. someone who visits London or Paris, or Copenhagen flippin airport, regularly might have a different concept of whats expensive than someone who would only ever eat out in a Supermac when on the road), but yea, €20 for IF mains is a tad on the high side for what you get . https://www.irishferries.com/globalassets/ships/ulysses/menu/2024-ulysses-boylans-menu.pdf

Still, on Irish ferries theres meal deals which are be good value and far far cheaper than going ala karte. For our upcoming irish ferries crossing we have booked the family of 4 Meal Deal for €53.95 - 2 Adult Mains & 2 Kids meals & 4 desserts & Tea/Coffee or juice. We also went for the brekkie deal which is even better value, Family of 4 Breakfast Deal for €40 - 2 Adult Full Irish or Healthy Breakfast & 2 Kids Breakfast & Tea or Coffee or Juice. For both meals it allows us to do touristy stuff before departure/ can make good progress on the other side, so was happy to book the options as the alternative would be no cheaper if doing a land based restaurant in IRL or FRA .

»Very poor on storage as in no storage at all, especially in the kitchen/living room end, which sucks when you bring as much dry food as we do.

Yep, mobile homes can be a disaster on storage which is why we bring our dry stuff in one of those Ikea plastic tubs and we just leave that near the sink or somewhere like that should there be a lack of storage. Packing cubes are another thing we really like for that sort of a trip, as it fits around any stuff like the ikea boxes in the boot and when in the camper van/ caravan everyone has their own personal cube with knicks and socks rather than rummaging in a case

Yeah we went with the Ultimate holiday home this year, my thinking that we could go down to the Premium ones next year to save some cash

Think we'll be sticking to the Ultimate ones however, the homes are fine but they get worn out pretty quickly

Ours had a broken lock on the bathroom door, the gas oven went on strike more often than the average French worker and the water pressure in the shower was effectively a dribble

To be clear, we had a great time and are planning on going again next year, but it was a bit of an eye opener to what is considered a "good" mobile home

just a quick question on the final cleaning in France (probably booking with eurocamp who are looking for 70euro) how fussy are they on the cleaning?
Has anyone just done it themselves and how did ye get on? We would leave the place clean anyhow so probably just need to polish the windows beyond what we normally do

Only asking now as suddenly a dozen places have availability for the weekend after next in Brittany / Normandy but don’t fancy paying the cleaning fee for just 3 nights stay

Depends also on your need, I'd get the cleaning if I'm under pressure to leave early as it frees up your time to pack and go, otherwise if i was departing late, then id DIY it.

But even staying 3 days with kids you can end up with quite the mess - sand in showers, handprints on windows and sun-cream smudges on cushions... I'd be getting the cleaning added.

That sounds pretty standard pricing for a restaurant tbh

Main issue I've always had with eating out is that price isn't necessarily an indicator of quality. I've had some pretty amazing meals and some extremely average ones for around €20

I actually found the self catering side of the holiday to be a bit more relaxing. I wouldn't say it involved a lot of cuisine, frozen dinners mostly and trying to figure out how a gas oven works (and failing a lot). However at least I'm not spending €15 for nuggets and chips for the kids again only for them to go on hunger strike

I also found it made eating out feel a bit more special when we did it, even though it was often for crepes or ice creams rather than a meal

Hmm, okay yeah that's a bit steep

My point was more that the only place you can say the food quality definitely matches the price is McDonald's or a Michelin Star restaurant. Everything else just gets lumped into the middle

I found the food in Les Ormes to be pretty average as well, pizza restaurant was good enough, but not great

I'd definitely be looking off-site for eating out

genuine question, why would you need to take pictures of presses and drawers? There’s no penalty for moving stuff around.

So there's nothing missing and we're a bit OCD about leaving the place as we found it

Has anyone every had any good experiences with getting decent gluten free food in France, anywhere in France?

Another few weeks away, and more stresses with regards to getting gluten free food, and to a lesser extent, vegetarian. We have both in the family. Even getting food from restaurants that are labelled is impossible. Asking servers if they've something sans gluten/ble is like asking them for a kidney.

Would we be better served just driving and looking at staying towards the east next year?

Cheers. Might check them out.

Auberge de Jaunay is nice alright.

We normally wander in towards St GCdV or SJdM (bit further from Chapelle Hermier). Parking in StGCdV stresses me out though 😂

Yes, Galettes out the daughters ears, those, and a hit and miss salads which inevitably has croutons even when you ask for it sans. It's head wrecking, especially when it's a teary teen! I thought restaurants throughout Europe were to label foods and highlight allergens. Seems to be the usual arrogance with the french, they will not conform!

Can anyone recommend campsites towards Paris, but not specifically a stopping point for DLP.