Le Brevedent, Normandy?

[marjean]

Anyone been? What was your experience?

We were planning to head down to our tried and tested routes in the Loire. However, time may be tighter than we thought so we may only have a week camping. We will already be in the Nord-pas-de-Calais region so I have been looking at sites an hour or so from there.

I saw Le Brevendent in the cool camping book but had a very bad experience on one of their recommended sites before so am unconvinced by their endorsement. It has mixed reviews on ukcampsite and is part of Les Castels. I have never stayed on a Castels site and to be honest, it puts me off a bit - I'm more a camping municipal kind of girl. However, I can't see many other sites in the region that catch my eye. I'm not bothered about being near the coast and have been to a fair few places in northern France. Walking distance to a town would be good, as would a pool but not so bothered about kids clubs and entertainment.

So, Le Brevendent... would you recommend it or go somewhere else in this area? Or would you still do a 4/5 hour trip to the Loire anyway? We're a family of 5 by the way with all dcs under 6 years.

Any thoughts welcome

Not been to that campsite - but it looks ok

could you turn up and try it out for a couple of nights and move on if no good?

The municipal at alancon is ok but it is used mainly as a stop over on the way south

If you want to be in a campsite full of British people- with lots of British staff then go to Brevedent. not my cup of tea at all - we stayed last year for about 3 nights. Having said that - the campsite itself is ok. Relatively quiet - mixture of families and older couples. Small shop selling croissants each morning. Decent restaurant (staff seemed all British). Although French family do run the campsite and they were more evident in the shop and reception. Decent base for exploring area - but have to admit my heart sinks a little when I arrive at a campsite and it is full of GB cars.

Oh - we took our tent and we were situated round a little lake - was bit cool at night - so if you do go take lots layers.

We have stayed there in April 2009 and because it was so early in the season it was very quiet. We were (almost) the only people staying there and were in a mobile home so cannot really comment on toilet blocks etc. At this time of year all of the facilities advertised: shop, restaurant, pool were closed which was disappointing. The site now doesn't open until May!
The nearest village Blangy le Chateau is very charming and has small shops including newsagent, cafe, pharmacy, bakery, tourist information centre and grocery shop - it is probably too far to walk but was accessible by bike. There were signposts to another campsite much closer to this village see camping.hpaguide.co.uk/basse-normandie/calvados/blangy-le-chateau/3825.camping-domaine-du-lac which may be suitable as an alternative to le Brevedent.
If you want to visit the Normandy beaches and Bayeaux tapestry: these are a good drive away. The closest tourist attraction is the zoo outside Lisieux.

Thanks everyone.

Trouble is with pitching for a few nights is that with only a week to spare, it might not feel like much of a holiday. We don't travel particularly lightly, as you can imagine! We usually have the luxury of at least three weeks on the road.

I agree about the GB-numberplate-spotting-heart-sinking feeling. I do like to feel I'm properly away from it all.

Interesting about the mobile homes as I was considering booking one of those. And about the distance to the nearest village as we don't take bikes and it's lovely not piling in the car.

Hmm. Will have more of a think. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

We stayed there over night last year on the way down to the Dordogne. We ate in the restaurant, DCs swam in the pool and we had a nice walk round. We were early season and the campsite was very quiet and very pleasant. A very nice lake with birds all around. We would happily overnight there again but wouldnt plan to spend more than that there.