Annual French summer holiday base for family - French immersion

[livelaughcryatwork]

Hello,

My little family and I (husband and 8 year old son) are looking for an annual August holiday location in France. We are all learning French and would love to have one place that we go back to every year for French immersion and memorable childhood summers for our son. Hubby and I will be working (mostly half days) and we would love our son to make friends that also spend their summers at the same location.

What we are looking for: somewhere where families repeat visit every year, not too touristy (our goal is French immersion), sun but husband is adverse to very hot weather (he doesn’t cope in 30 degrees), enough to do for a month (day trips, local amenities, cafes, restaurants etc), we won’t have a car so walkability/bikeability is a big plus as is public transport, ideally not heaving with people (although we live in London so can handle crowds but would rather not be fighting for a spot on the beach). Ideally we would like our son to attend 1/2 day activities (sailing, kids club or similar activities) and then one of us would spend the other 1/2 day with him.

Places we have considered: Île de Ré (Le Bois), Southern Brittany (Gulf of Morbihan), Angers (for the lake and access to Loire Valley). I’ve only been to Paris so have no first hand experience with any of these areas.

Any tips would be appreciated! I’ve been trying to use ChatGPT to narrow down places but it just agrees with everything I say! I need some real life input!

A whole month in August will be very expensive as many french arebon holiday. French families often book a year or more in advance if they want the same gite or camping pitch every year.

@Happymountains yes I know. We can make it work though 😊 I realise we are very late to the party for this year so it may be next year we start (if necessary).

What you’re ideally after is some place that Parisiens have a second home, that they summer in. A lot of French folk I know tend to have second homes in either the mountains or Normandy/Brittany. Le Touquet is not known as Paris Plage for nothing.

We have a similar set up, but in Italy. Family-owned home that we just spend the summer at. DS has made friends at the beach that we see every year; he also has the local kids near our house that he hangs with in the evening.

Holiday camps (stages) are very popular with French parents, but they tend to be all day ones or residential. I have friends who regularly send their child off for a whole week to a football camp. Gare Montparnasse at the beginning of July is full of kids being sent off on their residentials.

If you can't cope with 30c+ temperatures then you need to look at Brittany, Normandy or other northern beaches. I spent every summer in Ile de Re growing up and even in the 1990s the temperature regularly exceeded 30c.

I don’t have any recommendations but I think this is a fabulous idea! How lucky your DS is. 😊

@Oriunda Thank you, this is so helpful. I will have a look in these areas and Your Italian summer set up sounds amazing by the way!

Eek good to know! I’ll cross that off our list!

@Crushed23 aww thank you! That’s so nice. I didn’t have a great childhood so trying to make his as special as we can!

I agree with this.
We have regularly holidayed in The Vendee at the beginning of July and it has often been high 30s. I was talking to a French child last night (the family is currently in the UK for studies) and her home is Nantes where it is currently 40+ degrees.

Inland Morbihan - somewhere like Ploermel, Josselin or Malestroit - might suit you.

The temperature is your limiting factor. Normandy and Brittany would be your best bets I would think unless you do something in the alps which can get very hot too but the weather is much more changeable. Not much sailing though!

As a kid, my DB, mum and I spent our 6 weeks school holiday in Le Tranche Sur Mer, Vendee. Mum was a teacher and so when term finished Dad would drive our caravan to Le tranche and return to work in the UK were we would play and hang out with the same families every year. Our French Grandparents and cousins would be there so that helped with the language but it was a wonderful time spent cycling, eating bread and swimming with groups of friends, and our French was excellent..especially swearing and profanities!

This sounds doable op with a bit of determination- i would stick with it. I spent every summer holiday in France in a euro camp tent and had a fab time. This sounds even better. Bonsoir.

That sounds like a lovely way to spend a few summers. Having endured a south-west France canicule, I would agree to avoid anything much further south west than Brittany.

Have you considered the Haute Savoie? It is a relatively easy drive, absolutely beautiful and there is no shortage of accommodation in the summer. We have spent several summers (and four months with a baby) in a village in region, both staying with family and renting (later buying) an apartment. It feels like a real home from home and our DC have learned to sail on Lake Geneva as well as skiing in our village. We still head back most years for skiing and a week in the summer and the children have made French, Swiss and English who they look forward to catching up with, or having visit us in London. I can’t say their French is perfect as French kids speak much better English than vice versa, but they can get by!

La baule in Brittany is so lovely and lots of posh French holiday makers and no Brits

The places you mention are very nice, and an added advantage is that good French is spoken and heard there. They are fairly expensive too. If you head into inland Brittany, the language can become more of a patois used by rural people, it is considered inferior French.

My choice eould be Golfe du Morbihan within 30 minutes of Vannes.

We did something similar until DS was about 14- Covid put an end to it for us. We were based in the Loire Valley for 4-5 weeks every summer.
However, we had a car with us so could get about more easily. Also we accepted that it could easily by 33degrees for days on end.
It worked really well for us. We became very comfortable with the area, DS learned more French than he’d like to admit and my a level French improved a bit.

@Lordofmyflies I absolutely love this. Especially the French profanity haha.

@Penkie thank you. We have been looking around this area. Any particular places you would recommend?

@QueenofLouisiana that sounds so lovely. Where abouts in the Loire Valley were you based? I have been looking around Angers as they have a lake there that looks lovely.

I don’t have young kids any more and never went further than Skegness as a child so I am hugely envious of this plan, it sounds brilliant!

You could check out Arradon, there's a sailing school. It's a small place but you can visit close by Vannes by bus.
If you want a busier place try Carnac but without a car it won't be easy to access.

My parents old holiday home town sounds like this. Jonzac in SW France. It’s between La Rochelle and Bordeaux and lots to do (active) including going to il de rey etc. I mean it does have tourists but maybe not as many as bigger places. Saintes is one place nearby that I loved! And Royan I liked too.

Actually you’ll probably discount Jonzac as it gets very hot. Over 30 degrees.

We have just returned from a week at the Golfe de Morbihan. The children all spoke French as did I. The campsite was mostly French people. I don't know the area well, but Sarzeau and Vannes were lovely.