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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Anyone know Brittany?

27 replies

Surfermum · 05/07/2005 15:48

We're about to book a camping holiday in Brittany and have opted for a site on the coast near Fouesnant. Has anyone been to that area? What's it like?

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littlemissbossy · 05/07/2005 15:56

Don't know that part of Brittany.... but hope it's nice, we're staying in that region in 4 weeks! FWIW that coastline is supposed to be lovely

Enid · 05/07/2005 16:01

yes i do will post later

Original poster
Surfermum · 05/07/2005 16:38

Thanks Enid.

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Enid · 05/07/2005 17:07

tell me exact where site is

have kids to tea so speed posting

Original poster
Surfermum · 05/07/2005 17:10

I'm not sure exactly. It's the Canvas site Camping L'Atlantique. It says it's right by a beach, and a 10 min drive to Beg Meil beach, and 3 miles from Fouesnant.

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Ellbell · 05/07/2005 20:18

Beg Meil is lovely. Was there a couple of years ago (though staying further east - near Moelan s/ Mer). Benodet is also nice though more obviously 'touristy'. You can do boat trips and things from Benodet if the weather isn't great. Sorry not to be able to tell you more - was only there for a day. But a lovely area.

ggglimpopo · 05/07/2005 20:19

Message withdrawn

ggglimpopo · 05/07/2005 20:21

Message withdrawn

Tortington · 05/07/2005 20:55

yes have been there.
the site is right on an estuary the beach if not very big and is on the estuary rather than the sea itself and is full of seaweed.

the site is nice. they only turned the slides on in the pool if there were enough people at the pool which pissed me off.
the entertainment in the evening was non existant - this is very important to us as being pissed is an intergral holiday feature for the custy household. ther was no one - i repeat - no one at the bar or near the bar area. thats no one. which meant i had to speak to dh all holiday.

i got really upset and we left 4 days early went to a nother campsite and paid to be there earlier ( as it was a two site holiday)

so if your into quiet. with lots of quiety things, no drinking, no socialising, no atmosphere. then this is the site for you.

Ellbell · 05/07/2005 20:57

Weather was fab when we were there (in September). However, if anyone read my post on the 'potty-training while on holiday' thread a couple of weeks ago, about how dd1 disgraced herself by peeing copiously through the holes in the seat bottom of a plastic chair in a restaurant with a tiled floor (so lots of nice splashback )... well, that was in Benodet, so I can't think of that area without embarrassment.

happymerryberries · 05/07/2005 21:02

w nt there 4 years ago and it peed down for 2 weeks. did't find the site as quiet as custy but i did manage to sit in someone elses diahorroea in the loos! a ghastly occurrance which i never want to repeat!

kids had fun tho

teeavee · 05/07/2005 21:06

brittany os v. family firendly - though I dpon't know that exact area. I've lived on the north coast and now i'm in the south west, and i can guarantee good beaches wherever you go.
Also good for cheap easy meals out, such as crepes (which children love) and moules-frites (ditto)
Brittany is great for the type of beach holiday where you look for crabs under the stones and fish for prawns in little rock pools, but the weather is basically similar to Cornwall (+2 or 3 degrees)
My sister has come camping here with her 2 kids 3 years in a row, and loved it every time.

teeavee · 05/07/2005 21:10

I have to add that I would never book a holiday abroad in a British-run campsite. When my sister came over, I found them a brilliant campsite with NO british people, and it was much better, cause they got to play boules with the breton/french campers, eat crepes and dance traditional breton dances in the campste bar, and even went fishing and digging for cockles with another french family who had a little girl of the same age - I believe it feels much more like a proper foreign holiday if you avoid all english for the whole time - but that's just me....

Enid · 05/07/2005 21:15

It is lovely.

Concarneau is lovely and Beg Meil beach is good. There is a massive indoor pool in Fouesnant (Les Balneides) with a fab water slide that dd1 loves. La Foret is lovely for walks if it is hot (heatwave predicted for France in Aug).

This site is recommended by Mumsnetters and although you arent staying there a lot of the local info is useful (a drive from you but good to know about)

La Villeneuve gites

Milliways · 05/07/2005 22:19

This is a great discussion board for all French sites. The one you are going to has lots of (good) comments - look for "Beg-Meil". This is also a VERY cheap company to book with.

Original poster
Surfermum · 05/07/2005 23:14

Thank you - all of you, this is really helpful. And especially for that link Milliways, with Matthews I can get a caravan for £40 cheaper than the tent with Canvas. No midnight treks to the loos! Yippee!! What with your comments here and the ones I got from the Matthews site, it does sound like it will suit us as we're very much beach people and if it's like Cornwall, then it'll be home from home, or la maison from la maison! Better polish up my 25 year old French!

Custardo - we went to Magaluf last year, and while it was perhaps once my scene, it isn't now, so the quiet probably won't bother us. I'll happily sit and get sozzled on wine, while dd sleeps and dh and dsd play Uno.

But then how can I go now as all I'll think about is Ellbellette pee'ing on the floor and HMB sitting in diarrhoea! .

Thank you again one and all!

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Milliways · 05/07/2005 23:25

Glad you liked it. We've always been with Haven but are on a severe budget now. Was going to go in a tent & found this site, got 2 weeks in August on Vendee, Porstmouth Fastcraft crossing etc for

Ellbell · 06/07/2005 00:26

Hmmmm... sorry about that Surfermum! Though, looking on the bright side, at least it was ONLY wee....

Bonnes vacances!

Original poster
Surfermum · 06/07/2005 00:39

Hey, no problem! I understand all about little puddles! Thought dd had done one at playgroup last week. Mopped it up, took her to the loo to discover her knickers were try and it must have been someone's drink or another child's puddle!

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calpopscalum · 06/07/2005 18:09

Why don't you save your Tesco Clubcard vouchers as you can use them as deals tokens for French life Hoidays (they do camping in france, Italy and Spain) and you get 4 x the value of your tesco vouchers. We do this every year and I beg all family and friends for their vouchers!!! Def the cheapest way to go!!!

PS I love brittany and we're off to Le Guilvenic this year

HandbagAddiction · 07/07/2005 08:18

Surfermum - was in La Foret last week which is just down the road from Fouesnant - although I do not knoe the campsite you were at. We stayed in a cottage. Thought the area was lovely - loads to do for the children. Second was someone said about the indoor swimming place - excellent for rainy days...although make sure your dh takes proper swimming trucks as they don't allow shorts!! Also took the children on a boat trip from Benodet to Quimper for the day which they though was fun. Benodet is also lovely - the beach area very child friendly with a 'Little tikes' park attached with toddler and older child trampolines and bouncy castles. Concarneau is nice too - very pretty port area with some great child friendly restaurants. We went to one at 7:30pm on a Friday night with a 21 month old and a 2 year old in tow and no-one batted an eyelid!!

There's also a huge Carrefour in Quimper which is only a 15 minute drive away by car and on the way to Fouesnant from St Malo...so great for getting in all the supplies before you arrive - provided you have room in the car of course!

Hope that helps!

Original poster
Surfermum · 07/07/2005 20:16

Thank you HBA, that's really, really helpful. I'm getting more and more excited about going now. We're taking dd (2) and dsd (9), dsd's first trip abroad, so it sounds like there's plenty for them. DH is a strictly speedo man so he'll be fine at the pool, but thanks for the tip.

What did you do about currency? I've got some travellers' cheques left over from last year's holiday. Is it easy to change them, or are we better just taken Euros do you think?

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Original poster
Surfermum · 08/07/2005 16:59

Gentle nudge.

Can anyone help please with my question about currency? What's the best thing to do?

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Ellbell · 08/07/2005 19:55

Surfermum

I've never bothered with travellers cheques in Europe. It's really easy just to get Euros out of ATMs. They do charge you for this, though, and IIRC it's a fixed charge (not a percentage of how much you take out) so best to take out quite a lot in one go, rather than a tenner here and there. I'm sure if you want to get rid of your travellers cheques you'll be able to change them though. On the boat might be a good place. Are you going from Plymouth to Roscoff? Whereabouts in C'wall are you? (I grew up there, but have since moved 'up country'!). HTH

Original poster
Surfermum · 09/07/2005 09:25

Thanks EB. Actually I'm not in Cornwall, just wish I was . I think I have spent nearly every holiday there for the last 10 years! Can't ever bear to go anywhere else, so if Brittany is like it it'll be OK in our books. I live near Poole, so we'll be sailing from there, out to Cherbourg and back from St Malo. Adds £200 to the cost but it's not worth driving to Dover just to get a free ferry. Lucky you growing up in Cornwall, whereabouts?

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