Bonjour! We are settling into a lovely holiday in carnac but beginning to worry a bit about packing up & driving back to the ferry on time. The weather also looks as though next week may be a bit iffy - it's already rather windy at times. We have a 3 year old and a 4 year old too. All those factors together don't seem like a recipe for an easy decamp and loading of car ready to leave by 9ish!!!!
We had a long, tough drive down too which didn't help.
So.... We're thinking of packing up at a more leisurely pace and maybe stopping in the middle somewhere. I have internet access on my blackberry but only that. Please can somebody remind me of a few websites or chains that might be useful? Thank you lots!
------------- Easter 2011 - Lincoln Farm Park nr Oxford
July 2011 - Camping de la Baie, la Trinite sur Mer (near Carnac). Yippee!!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
There are sites on the coast at the bottom of the Cherbourg peninsula. Les Castels chain www.les-castels.com have a site near Granville called Le chateau de Les-Eaux. This is probably just over half way to the ferry.
Kyriad, Campanile, Premier Classe (which I think are all part of the same group) are of a good standard. Premier Classe are a bit cheaper as they dont have a restaurant but all the ones we have seen are next to a Campanile hotel which does have a restaurant.
Down scale a bit are Marmot though they still have en suite rooms and generally a restaurant and then there is Formula 1 which are a bit cheap and cheerful and dont have en suite facilities.
I'm sure there are others but I dont know of them. Perhaps someone else can give you other alternatives.
Good Luck with your search
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
The main problem with booking a budget hotel at short notice, this time of the year is that most will be fully booked, especialy if the Tour de France is in your area, although this year the TDF is now heading down the far South West, then along the bottom of France to Italy.
We have found that Hotels that say they are fully booked often have rooms available on the day, as many folk pre-book numerous hotels, and then cancel the ones that they don't use on the day!.
Novotel at Bayeux is very convenient for Caen - you'll all be able to get in one room. Quiet location out of town near ring road, plenty of shops round and about and a nice little park where the kids can play - also has spacious grounds.
Dont panic, we have stayed at Kyriads near St Malo and at Eperleques near Calais on at least 3 occasions. They are of a good standardand I think you can get family rooms. They have a telly and en-suite and have tea and coffe making etc. More expensive now due to the euro but they are good.
The restaurants are good and offer breakfast as an extra. If we were catching an earli-ish ferry we didn't bother as we ate on the boat as although its not a bad breakfast it is continental and not that cheap. After having been away for a while I fancied a bit of a cooked breakfast which we got on the boat.