Talk to me about France!

[BaconAndAvocado]

Considering taking a family holiday in France in the school Summer holidays.
We are 2 adults, 2 DCs aged 14 and 16 and a dog.

No idea where to start.....I’ve heard of Eurocamp. Are they large resorts involving camping? What do you do for food?

Hiring a villa? What are the nicest areas?

tia

We took our own caravan but there are loads and loads of eurocamp type places all over France and they are really good!

They have all sorts of accommodation, tents, caravan or fancier lodges and have really cool 'centreparcs' style swimming complexes and loads to do.

Also consider the french Alps! So stunning in the summer, we were there skiing a few weeks ago and the blurb in the chalet for the summer months looked really good. That was in Les Gets.

Consider Annecy which is. Lovely.

Yes definitely Annecy! Beautiful to swim in the lake in summer and you can take daybtrips up into the Alps for cable-cars, ziplining, hiking, gorgewalking etc. There are some beautiful houses around the lake on Airbnb which are reasonably priced.

We’ve stayed there too! I think it is a MN favourite! It’s great but gets booked up quickly. Our kids really enjoyed it (early teens). Lots to do in the area even though it’s rural.

i think you may be restricted on a lot of things with the dog. Parts of france can get really really hot. You couldn’t leave a dog in a caravan or tent while you went out. Etc etc Not sure you could take a dog round a castle, for example. Lots of steep staircases. Those treetop adventure places are good in France, but we spent 3 hours plus there in 32 degrees, not sure that’s fair on a dog.

I live in the south of France. Restaurant prices have rocketed recently (same as everywhere else).
Mosquitos are an issue, definitely need to buy some repellent!
It looks like we're heading towards another drought, not sure how that will impact tourism though.
Personal favourites for campsites are Capfun for their water parks, the kids love all the slides and pools.

Definitely leave ddog at home with family or friends if possible, so so many places here don't welcome them and as has already been mentioned you really can't leave them in a car or tent as way too hot, even in the north.

oh which one? We went to this one:

https://www.ms-vacances.com/camping-club-ms/camping-club-la-cote-sauvage/decouvrir-le-club/
It has changed hands though since we went - seems to have got bigger and they've built over the bar with new, bugger slides. The bubble massage beds are still there though - I spent a fair bit of time on them!

We cycled everywhere and our favourite cycle was along the forest path and then as close as we could get to the beach all along that coast. It's just forest and beach and the beach was less wavy the further up we went. There's a zoo at La Palmyre and Ronce les Bains at the top of that coast is a nice town with a little train and a big wheel.

You asked about eating out - while it has got more expensive, lunch is always the cheaper option rather than eating out in the evening. You will generally find a cheaper fixed price or 'formule' option at lunchtime which are good value.

On weekdays (but not Bank Holidays)

Check out Yelloh Villages website-some
their campgrounds are amazing. We don’t “camp”’as such we get a little wooden cabin, lots of good facilities onsite

eurocamp (similar idea) website worth a look but remember they are all just independent campsites. Booking direct is usually cheaper though there are some perks with booking with eurocamp (some organise Kids clubs exclusively for British kids for example, if that appeals).

You'll need to get a crit'air sticker for your car in case you have to drive through restricted zones en route, like Rouen. There's an official gov site and costs less than 5€. Don't be sucked in to going via a third party site and paying more.

It's quicker, shorter and cheaper to go Calais, Rouen, Évreux, Dreux, Chartres and Vierzon to the south west. The A20 is free from Vierzon to just south of Brive-la-Gaillarde.

From Brive-la-Gaillarde you can go west on the D1089 essentially the RN89 before they joined up the motorway a few years ago.

Ouvrier, workman's, lunches are still quite common with soup, entrée, plat, fromage - plateau if you're lucky, dessert and coffee with 1/4l of chilled red to wash it down. Generally about 14€.

You'll need to get a crit'air sticker for your car in case you have to drive through restricted zones en route, like Rouen.

Very very good point.

There are an increasing number of zones popping up and since in some places they can include the city's peripherique, or part thereof, they can be hard to avoid (especially if they are not well signed.....).

Just took our dog to France last summer.

They need a medical clearance report which is basically almost the same as pet passport. Don't think all vets issue it-mine was one of the first my vets had ever done. You then need to take your dog to a vet in France and get them wormed there within I think five days of return travel. Alll very straightforward but make sure you have everything in order. We saw a woman sobbing in Dover who didn't have what she needed and was turned away.

Get one of those payment things to put on your windscreen for going through tolls-very helpful!!!

Oh and vet recommended a specific (expensive) flea collar as ticks were very bad in south of france despite being up to date on UK treatment

I live in France. It’s very expensive and you would get much more bang for your buck in Spain or even Italy. Last summer was frighteningly and unremittingly hot and there has been no rain this winter so there will be forest fires again ( as in Arcachon) and water restrictions.)
Obviously it is very lovely and varied. My most valuable piece of advice is not to travel on a Saturday in August.

If you travel across channel via Kent or Portsmouth, there are vets that will do the required dog certificate for ~£100, compared to £200-300 by vets in rest of country (there are cheaper ones but few and far between).

The ones at the ports are doing them all the time so can keep cost down. We used the Folkestone one last year when going on Eurotunnel, we emailed all details then booked a pick up slot with them. It was a very slick organisation.

There is also a Facebook site re dog certificates, if you on FB.

You then need to take your dog to a vet in France and get them wormed there within I think five days of return travel

Yes, it is within 120 hours (so 5 days) of return.

There are website listing recommended vets for doing this, but I would suspect that a post on MN would also bring up recommendations.

We have used vets in Annecy, Sarlat (Dordogne) and South Brittany area. All good, all spoke English. As per the dog certificates, a range of prices but that’s where recommendations come in.

Re - flea collar, our Labrador wears a Scalibor collar every year and we have never had a problem in France.