To be dreading this holiday to France?

[thinkingmakesitso]

In September I stupidly and quite rashly booked a holiday with Brittany holidays for me and my dc. They mentioned they'd always wanted to sleep on a ferry and before I knew it I'd booked it.

Now it's next week and I'm dreading it because:

1. I'm shattered after a very hectic year. I break up Wednesday (teacher), the house is a shit hole, and I'll have to get straight into packing mode and I just can't be arsed.
2. I live 6 hours from the port so have arranged to stay the night at my parents' on the way. I find them quite stressful and I haven't been to theirs for about 8 years as they keep their house like somewhere Kim and Aggie would be needed. God knows why I thought this would be a good place to stop off.

3.I drive up an down the M1 every day and enjoy driving, but I've never driven abroad before and am getting really nervous about getting onto the ferry and driving in France - having Googled it seems they have lots of complex regulations and I will need to but hi-vis jackets for us all etc etc. Luckily we are staying only about 40km from the port, but still...

1. We are staying in a chalet on a camp site, so I will have no respite from the constant thinking about food, and clearing up. Dc are 11 & 9, so can do their bit, but I just wish we were going AI somewhere. I think it's going to be expensive over there, so I won't want to rely on restaurants too much. I'll be constantly whittling about money while there...

The area looks stunning, and I'm sure it'll all be worth it, but I feel a sense of dread rather than excitement atm... ok, not really an AIBU, but AIBU to think I shouldn't have booked it, or can anyone persuade me otherwise?

Ex teacher so I know how organized we are at work. I did a similar trip alone with my children.

I found it useful to plan each section of the journey separately. So what did I need to plan for the car journey to parents, what did we need to have ready to board the ferry, what about getting off.

You get the picture. I found within that I could plan for what I needed to do when, so for instance you will have time on the ferry to look at maps or read tourist info. ready for the French side of the drive taking pressure off doing it now.

It helped me feel organized, narrowing down what I needed to think about. In my mind it also gave me a real sense of achievement and confidence to 'tick off' each section as I achieved it.

Action planning in its more useful sense!! 😉

FGS don't take lots of food from England to France - it's much nicer there!! The only things you need to take are snacks for the trip, your own preferred brand of teabags, squash (if your DC drink it), and stuff if anyone has a special diet (e.g. I'm wheat-free so always take a few things, as I'm never sure what I'll be able to buy). Apart from that, enjoy the lovely French food and cheap beer and wine.

We're going Plymouth to Roscoff in August on the overnight - flew last year and agreed never again!
Ideally go to the toilet before getting to the ferry terminal, the lines are unpredictable and can move suddenly.
Make sure you have an overnight bag to grab when you've boarded, don't worry about getting on, the marshals are experts.
Remember where your car is, you should get a card handed to you.
Get your cabin first and then head for the food queue.
Essentials for us: enough adapters and chargers for phones, breathylyser, kettle, milk, tea and biscuits.
Driving is a doddle, the road signs will guide you.
Most supermarkets close Sunday pm so be aware of this.
And French food is wonderful, love their supermarkets.
Enjoy!

Only other things you need take, if you’re a gin drinker, is gin and tonic. You can find tanqueray in supermarkets sometimes and there are a couple of decent local gins but often only shitty Gordon’s is available and fever tree is unknown.
This for me is the stuff of nightmares so I always take my own supplies

You're going to love it. I am also a worn out teacher and all I can do is think about going to France. Its only a holiday, try to enjoy every minute of it.

Bring a basic first aid kit. Most of that stuff is vastly more expensive in France.

I was in your position a fortnight ago - I teach at an independent school so break up earlier. We broke up on the Friday but I still had over 100 external papers to mark, house was a complete tip and I felt so stressed about coming back to a mess, ferry was booked for Sunday. We did it though! I finished my marking, we tidied up and packed and went.

Overnight ferry, a week in France in Eurocamps sites, best family holiday we've ever had. As others have said, you don't need to worry about cooking/cleaning - we just lived out of our cases and mostly ate out quite cheaply or just had bread/ham/cheese/salad type meals. The dampsites are amazing and you'll have a wonderful time.

I can highly recommend the Plymouth/Roscoff route.

Roscoff is iteself a lovely little seaside town; and because it is small it is very easy to find your way out of and get underway on your journey.

I'm so jealous op. We adore the bit of Brittany we go to but not going this year.

Definitely pack as much food as you can fit in. The supermarkets are lovely but extortionate. Frankly I don't like spending all my euros on supermarket shopping and bar jam,mustard and a few toiletries find the UK much cheaper.The euro is also pants at the moment. Constantly topping up adds to the cost and takes you away from the gorgeous scenery.Depends how loaded you are I guess. I take tea,coffe,cereal,a tiny olive oil,wash up liquid,salt,pepper,rice,pasta etc. Boring staples that are way cheaper in England. I also take a few sachets and nice M&S jars to make meals with. Normally cook from scratch but who wants to spend hours cooking in holiday?

When my ex drove in France he used to put a sticky arrow on the inside of his windscreen to remind him he had to drive on the other side of the road! It really helped.

Have a lovely holiday. I'm quite sad I'll not be going back.

I absolutely love French supermarkets, but if money and all the rest of it is stressing you out, grab some pasta and jars of sauce to take so that at least you’ve got something for when you first arrive before you have to them start shopping. The French shops for baguettes and cheeses will be great. No manouvering needs to be done on the ferry, at all. Buy the French car kit at your nearest Halfords or if you’ve not had Amazon Prime get a free trial and have it delivered next day, along with anything else you still need.

Oh it sounds amazing. Try not to worry.

You know when you are not looking forward to something, but when you get there you enjoy it. Bollocks! you are going to hate every single second, by the sound of it..... It's okay to go travelling, but it really is so much nicer to come home.

This thread is very pertinent, as I am a stressed-out-to-the-max single mum who has booked a ferry/ camping (with our own tent) trip in August, and the DSes, who are 8 and 3.

The preparations are looking set to finish me off right now (I'm also going away on my own before then- didn't really plan to have 2 holidays in a row, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth etc etc..)

I keep telling myself that all the stress is beforehand. Once you're there, even with self catering, even with DC, it is still a hundred times more relaxing than being at home. Because you're away from All the Stuff. At home there is always stuff to do, lists to cross off, ad infinitum. When you're on holiday, when the kids are in bed, there is nothing to do but drink wine and read books.....and it's bliss .

I'm sure we'll both have a great time, Stubborn .

I've bought the car kit online and done some more googling of the area, which really does look lovely. Everyone has reassured me about driving onto the ferry, but my worry has now transferred onto roundabouts, which seem to me to be impossible to navigate in an unfamiliar direction. Tell me there are none near Roscoff .

We love it. I agree with other comments but one thing I would say is, if you want the loo on the motorways only stop at services where there is a petrol station, the little ones with the picnic sign are grim, a hole in the floor type loo, these break areas tend to be HGV drivers having a quick break type places. The service station stops are immaculate however

I have driven in that part of France and traffic is very light. At the busiest time of day, traffic has been like very early Sunday morning in London. I wouldn't worry about that part of it.

Ah, was just going to mention roundabouts. They seem ridiculously simple - just go the opposite way that you would at home - ie turn right. I found that I was so busy saying to myself "Must go right" that I used to forget to look left. I'd look to the right, as you would in the UK, check that all was clear, then go right too! I managed to get shouted and tooted at - quite rightly - on a couple of roundabouts. Put one of the kids in the front seat with you if you can - they are on roundabout duty. Everytime you come to a roundabout, it's their job to say " Look left, Mum, and then go right". It will soon become second nature.

Have a fab time.

I bet you'll have a great time. I'm really jealous - apart from the bit about your parents house. Travelodge?

I loved my solo holidays with the DDs, while some of that may have been happiness at not having to drag dull exH with me, I do think that it was just easier to be totally focused on them.

Practicalities, lots of easy food, the DC just have to help and work as a team...also for driving abroad I recommend getting the DC to sing 'driving on the right' to whatever tune they come up with. We do it with a grown up friend when we go on group holidays...he hasn't killed us yet!

OP your opening post sounds like the first half hour of a family feel-good movie where they outline the problems then they go on a journey of self discovery and end up much closer... If it's stress free then it'll be good. If it's stressful at times then you'll get over it together and bond through that. It'll be ok. Croissants make everything better.

Overnight ferries are good - drop your overnight bags in the cabin and go and find out what entertainment is on (often a band and/or a magician).
If you're going on a motorway/bridge that requires a toll either have a child in the front seat or remember to pull up to the booth so that the child in the back can hand over the coins.
French camp sites are great for children especially your age - playgrounds, swimming pools, often organised children's activities. Are you taking bikes? Mine spent many hours cycling round the site. There will be either a shop and/or a way of pre-ordering baguettes every morning so you can send the children to collect them. Also, the site cafe will do a take away. If you do eat out then the portions on the children's menu weren't too tiny - mine had ham & chips (jambon frites).
Look out for posters around either in the site office or around the town advertising activities - we stayed near a port with weekly fireworks or there could be the equivalent of a car boot sale which can be fun.
I've found that supermarkets are well signed in every town on billboards - something I wish we had here when I've been looking for the nearest one in a strange town. Unless you're in the centre of a very busy city then parking is often free.
Have fun - I'm sure you've sorted out all of the paperwork things especially checking your car breakdown covers you for France (the only thing I worry about when travelling on my own).

Driving is fine and ‘wrong side of road’ becomes second nature within an hour. You follow everyone else of the ferry so it’s easy.
11 is plenty old enough to cook supper. 11 and 9 is plenty old enough to clear up after meals.
I’d take a small pharmacy box, teabags and not much else.
Stick to really simple meals - bread, cheese or charcuterie, tomatoes and cucumber or other salad for lunch. Bowls of cereal for breakfast.
You can have a lie in whilst children sort themselves out.
Supper I would either do disposable BBQ somewhere beautiful, really, really simple -
pasta - tomato based and throw some prawns.
Stir fried veg with chicken
Fajitas (might be tempted to take a spice sachet)
Chicken or sausage in baguette or pitta with salad
Absolutely nothing that required lots of pans or preparation they couldn’t do. They’ll love cooking if allowed to get on with it.

Sounds lovely and will, I’m sure be a good break.

For what it's worth I am a really nervous driver and I find driving in France very straightforward - the motorways are lovely and spacious and much less hassle and aggro from other drivers than you get in places like Spain or Italy.

There are some regs about safety gear etc you need to carry but it's all stuff you can get in Halfords - just google and you will find lots of online lists of what you need.

For food, just get baguettes, ham, cheeses, tomatoes, pastries etc and do lots of picnic meals with occasional pasta etc - keep it dead simple, and have a rota for your kids to help with cleanup.

Honestly you will have a wonderful time - France is so beautiful and it really is friendly and clean and relaxed. Your kids will adore it and you can forget about the cleaning at home and just enjoy yourselves

As people have said, getting on and off the ferry is a doodle. However, one tip - the most difficult bit for us is keeping the DC occupied in the queue! You have to arrive a certain amount of time beforehand, and then wait in line in your car. By this point, mine are usually over-excited and bouncing off the walls. Bring screens, snacks, audiobooks, whatever it takes to keep then docile!