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hi there, we went down to the vendee with our 3 kids (and their dvd players) for the first time last year.  We go further down than La Yole (we are near Chantonnay) and we towed our van down on the way and having left it there just drove ourselves back.

On the way we stopped after about 3 hours driving from Calais at Neufchatel en Bray, on the way back we just left at about 10 and drove all day, getting to Calais around 6.30-7.

We use the tunnel so as to use our clubcard vouchers and if you get there early (as we did both ways) they just put you on an earlier shuttle.  Found it easy and cheap!

This time we are stopping over in Caen - bit of a detour but have teenager learning about ww2 so doing some d day stuff!!  Wanted to stop on the way anyway as wanted to arrive on site with enough time for kids to burn off energy while I set up before I pack em into bed and drink wine!!

you'll have a great time in the area though - its really good for families

We're doing Brittany Ferries with an overnight sailing both ways this year & it's wotking out at £600 plus.  HOWEVER, to me this is worth it for the shorter journeys in England and France, the cost of overnight stopovers including food, the hassle of overnight stops and the convenient ferry times.

Last year we stopped over in Normandy after a daytime crossing (on the way to the Loire) and because of ferry delays, we were pitching in the dark which wasn't much fun.

This year I have a romantic image of sitting on deck with a glass of wine as the sun goes down as we sail towards St Malo....just wait, it'll be stormy and we'll be puking all night!