We haven't been this year and we are already thinking of 2016! Our friends want to go back to the Dordogne area so any suggestions of good sites with water slides. We have stayed on Soleil Plage, La Palombiere, Moulin de La Pique and would like to somewhere else. I have looked at Les Penyrals which looks really good anyone got another good sites to suggest, it must have a good pool complex, not too bothered about being close to the river as we had problems with mozzies at Soleil Plage.
Im happy to go back to the Vendee but our friends are there at the moment and the weathers not been great all week its been cloudy and rained a lot. Persoanlly I love the Vendee as its so easy to get to but the weather is a big decider for us all. Im in charge of organising it for us all again next year so I want a good site with plenty going on for all age groups. We all have large twin axle caravans.
Thanks
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Why don't you go somewhere different. My take is that if you go back to the same area, and the site isn't as good as those you've previously visited, then you're always thinking 'I knew we should have gone back to............'
Pick a different area completely, find a site with fantastic pools (such as those in my recent post about Swimming Pool complexes) and go there instead. That way you'll find lots of new things to do and won't tend to compare sites.
As far as the weather is concerned, unfortunately it's just one of those things. From year to year areas with the best weather can change, and whilst you may think you get better weather in the Dordogne, we met a Dutch rally one year, who had been two weeks in the Dordogne and it had NEVER stopped raining. They were eventually flooded so badly that they couldn't leave the site, for four days - then beat a quick retreat further south to the Ardeche and arrived at the site where we were staying, and where we'd just enjoyed two weeks of sunshine.
Iv stayed on quite a few of those sites you posted about great pool complexes but the problem is we don't want to go much further down than the Dordogne as weve only got 2 wks off, id love to go the Ardeche but I think its too far one 2 wks? Weve always had really good weather in the Dordogne its been red hot so probably lucky. Last year we had good weather in the Vendee and im hoping this year is too but our friends are there now and its been poor over the last week theyv had rain/cloudy and cool weather. I agree Val im up for trying new areas and sites but distance is a big factor too. Any suggestions greatly appreciated
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We went to les peneyrals last year and it's a really great site, great pool complex and slides, excellent kids clubs, evening entertainment whilst you dine in the restaurant which is actually good! A rare find at the big French sites we've been to.
However, weather last year was 23 and cloudy for 10 days out of 12 so we wouldn't risk it again and best pitches by a long shot are those at the bottom of the site and those on the same side as shower block if you want a sunny pitch, but these are booked up by those staying the current year who take preference. But when we wanted to rebook our pitch for same time this year even though we should've taken preference as per their rules, they told us no because they have a French family who come each year and they reserve it for them permanently and only release it if they decide not to come that year.
That really annoyed me and left a bit of a bitter taste for us. Access is tight on those pitches we couldn't fit on another with our large caravan even with mover. So great place if you can get a pitch and the weather!
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Yes weve been to look at it and really liked it. We are going to try somewhere else I think as weve been 3 times and want to try different places. France is a big country and we need to explore like Val says! Im being boring this year and going back to the same sites as last year but only because weve had a mad year moving house and I couldn't face researching it too much so I opted for an easier option and rebooked. We might even stay on the Vendee but try other sites near St Jean de Monts or go towards La Rochelle area?
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Frejus last year for us, having not been back there for 10 years, we went back again this year, and are doing the same next year, we just love the place.
Not for everyone I know, so it's whatever floats your boat.
We are coming back to loire again next year,far enough for us now going into our 70s.but are doing hull crossing, not calais.done the med, tsrn, charrente, and loads more, and we are having glorious weather here at the moment.
A thought for you. If you plan for a ten night stop in your main site, then spend a little longer on your stopovers, you might even feel as if you've had a longer holiday. A visit to futuroscope, perhaps, or Normandy on the way back, and then you can get further South - the culture and climate is very different. I do recognise you guys have another day of travel more than us, so it has to be part of the holiday.
If it's setting up that's the worry, invest in a cheap sun canopy/tarp from Obelink rather than awning. It's all you'll likely need over there.
Oh, and one of the nicest pools we found was at Dompierre les Ormes in Burgundy. The mayor built the campsite so the villagers could get the pool! It's quite remote, deep France.