vendee, anyone been

[hmb]

I have booked the family holiday in the Vendee region of France. We will be in a caravan, and I was wondering if anyone had gone there, and what is worth taking Dd (6) and ds(3) to see if the weather isn't good.

Many thanks for your help and advice.

There's a good book 'The Vendée' by Angela Bird, £9ish (website www.the-vendee.co.uk ). Also the reliable Michelin Tourist Guide (Green book) for the Atlantic Coast, £10ish.
We were there in 2001 and the weather was terrible - but it was an exceptionally bad August throughout the whole continent - many central Europe places flooded.
The good news is the sunshine record is similar to the south of France - the bad news is that if it does rain there's nothing to do. The only suggestions in 'The Vendée' are to go "inland..." (which is a long way) "...to museums, junk shops, restaurants and shopping centres less overwhelmed with other dripping campers".
Everything is based on good weather - which statistically I'm sure you'll have. I hope you've air conditioning in your car - you'll be thankful for it.
Another website (in French) www.vendee.com .
Je vous souhaite .

Merci!

This is rather what I feared. The last time we went to France we went camping in Southern Brittany, and the weather was awful....same year as you. It poured with rain for 10 days out of 12, and we had a force 8 gale one night! Oh and Ds was teething and didn't sleep.

So this time we wimped out and booked a caravan, as I got fed up of drying the bedding last time! And the car does have a/c.

Many thanks for your help

We went to a place called La Tranche sur mer in the south of the vendee a few years ago. We went for the last two weeks of the summer holidays and the weather was hot and sunny for the whole time. We also noticed that the water was warm to swim in compared to brittany. We visited some great places. Can recommend La Rochelle- lovely old french town, The Ile de Re was lovely and we went to a place inland called green venice which was lovely. We didnt go but some people visited futuroscope which would be good for less sunny days
helen

hmb - where exactly are you staying? We stayed on the Ile de Re last September with Eurocamp - had a wonderful time, the weather was fantastic. Ile de Re is lovely, (lots of cycle tracks) but expensive to get there (toll bridge) - have to admit that being in a tent was hard work, (DS only 18 months) we then had a caravan at the next site. Presumably if you are on a caravan site there will be lots to do, swimming pool, children's park - maybe even a children's club??
I am sure you will have a great time.

We have booked to go to the Dordogne this year, we love France.

St Jean de Monts, which I have now found our is quite 'developed' ( not our usual thing). We are in a canvas holidays caravan, and so we have a kids club for Dd, but not for ds, as he is too young. So if the weather is bad we will have to go en famille to find something or ds will be bouncing off the walls of the caravan! The camp site has access to an indoor pool, which might be helpful. I know that I sound paranoid about the waether, but the last holiday we had was a mud fest! We love France, and have has some fantasic holidays there BC.
I know what you mean about the tent being hard work, ds was 18 months when we last did it. So I've been a softie and gone for a caravan this time. That said, the tent we hired (from keycamp) was excellent, and very comfortable.

Hmb, which campsite are you at? We stayed at La Yole in ST Jean de Monts in 2001 (the wet one). Luckily, we went for the last 2 weeks in August, so it was nice weather - 2 days of rain but that wasn't too bad. Depending on where you go, some of the beaches are nice, and some are awful (cant put a toothpick between the towels). If you wait til tonight, I'll find out from dh where the best beaches were (altho' out 'best' beaches are nothing but sand dunes, sand & sea). If you drive out for about 20 mins there are some lovely ones. Our kids where 4 (just) and nearly 6 when we wnet, so not dissimilar to yours.
BTW access to indoor pool is actually a good idea when its very hot, as the kids can swim all day without getting burnt.

Le Bois Dormont, which is 1.5 miles from the beach at St Jean des Monts. Your good beach sounds like our sort of good beach. Thank you all for giving me this excellent feedback, it is a great help. I was limited in the sites I could book, as I left it a bit late. Dh may not be able to come on holiday with us, so I have MIL as a stand-in (sounds awful, but she is great fun, and I enjoy her company very much, and she is great with the kids). But as a result of this I wanted to book a caravan with 3 bedrooms, as that would give her more privacy, and that limited our choice a lot. All the ferrys to St Malo were booked as well. I can see that I will have to get organised earlier next year!

Hmb - There was a similar thread last year which may give yu some more ideas - just searched for Vendee under subject title and only got this thread back plus last years. Just that it will save me trying to type out my recommendations again.

Excellent! many thanks for all the advice....I love Mumsnet!