Carry on Camping

Article reproduced courtesy of George MacFarlane. Originally published in the Glasgow Evening Times

 

So, what does this remind you of? Great beaches, sun, rolling Atlantic breakers and even a tricky links course to hack your way around.

The West coast of Scotland somewhere? Galashiels? Nope. No danger. To go 'doon' this particular water you need to cross the English Channel first and hang a left at Normandy.

The two nations might once have been part of the Auld Alliance but the similarities end when you get your first sight of the beaches. No rubbish ... just miles of golden sands, 140 to be precise, gently sloping into the clean, fresh waters of the Atlantic, which, on first inspection, thoroughly deserves to boast no less than 18 Blue Flag quality resorts.

Then there's the sunshine. Not for nothing is the Vendee Coast, known as the Cote de Lumiere (that's Light to you and me).

Throw in child -friendly resorts, gorgeous scenery and the St Jean de Monts "Ecossais" golf course, based on one of our traditional seaside links courses and you've got a near-perfect holiday destination. The other bonus is that, with Eurocamp, at the popular Sol a Gogo camp, at St Hilaire de Riez, the aforementioned beaches are just yards away.

And, just as handy, is the children's playground and, for the grownups, a friendly bar. The whole area is campsite central and it's not hard to see why. As more and more families are discovering, Eurocamp is the only way to holiday for anyone with children It really is the great outdoors. The stress ends the moment you actually manage to triumph against the odds and beat that quaint French habit of always removing your destination from the signs one roundabout too early.

But, from there on in, everything is made easy for you and the staff were friendly and helpful to a man (and woman).
Thereafter, you can ditch the hire car for the duration, unless you feel like a bit of sightseeing. We got as far as the pretty port of St Gilles Croix de Vie and, in the opposite direction, St Jean de Monts has eight km of sandy beaches, water sports and is ideal for a leisurely shop and stroll.

There are a tremendous amount of attractions for children throughout the area, including the excellent Parc Mickey-Etoile, in St Hilaire, where adults could join in too and the nearby Atlantic Toboggan Waterpark. The weather early season can be unpredictable and, on one memorable occasion, anyone who was still up headed for the beach to take in the free fireworks of a majestic mid-Atlantic storm, before hurriedly heading back indoors or under canvas as it made a bee-line for the shore.

The next day of course, was like all the rest: nearly as hot as July in Glasgow and we soon go into a routine of pool or sightseeing/shopping in the cool of the morning, before heading for the beach in the afternoon after a few pleasant hours hiding for the sun during the afternoon siesta or whatever the French call it.

The golf was a bonus and, for once, I didn't manage to spoil a good walk. It's worth the Euro 42 for the 18 trous, as the locals call them, especially the signature 11th which borders the ocean. I certainly got my money's worth. Manager Camille Goizet was pleased I found his course "manifique" and equally happy to hear I'd shot a 69, until I explained that was only for the front nine.

The pool complex was excellent with plenty of flumes and splashing around for older kids and a separate shallow area for smaller ones. A games room and large playground kept them amused later on, while the universal attractions of French beer and Sky Sports, the only television you have to endure the whole time, for the dads.

Despite a 12-hour 7 day week, barmen John Lochrie and Cedric Jase somehow kept a sense of humour right up until the World Cup final where predictably it all ended in tears and displayed a gift for deciphering accents from Glasgow to Galway and all points inbetween.

This is the kind of family holiday, where walking on the beach, jumping waves and hunting for unfortunate crabs and assorted molluscs is de rigeur. The beaches are on the whole safe and well-policed but the ever-watchful lifeguards are a testament to the dangerous riptides which can defeat even the strongest swimmer should they venture out of the well-marked safety zones. A swim in the Atlantic and a game of draughts and a bottle of the local plonk of an evening is about good as it gets. As far as cuisine went, the local supermarkets are cheap and ubiquitous. The campsite itself also does takeaways and sells essential items at a premium.

Traditionally, this part of France has always been popular with those living close enough to the Channel ports to go by car and ferry but with La Rochelle and Nantes airports 147 and 87 km away, they are accessible by fly-drive and the journey to the former takes around two and a half hours through some beautiful countryside via La Roche sur Yon.

We flew with Ryanair, and the only hitch is that you'll have to change at Stansted, or Dublin and leave plenty of time inbetween flights from Prestwick. If you don't mind driving but hate airports, then a flight to Paris and a few days at Eurodisney before heading south is another option.

Direct flights from Dublin and Shannon gave the blend of families a more Celtic feel than you would have expected but tell me this Mr O'Leary? How come a nation the same size of Scotland gets direct flights to nice sunny climes, not Eindhoven and Latvia? In case no-one has noticed, we're already well-used to the North Sea climate thanks.

Compared to some of Eurocamp's other sites like the massive Marina Di Venezia in Italy, this was a tiny site but none the worse for that. The accommodation was, as always, spotless and if possible it's definitely worth getting decking if possible to expand your living area.

Another plus of going with Eurocamp is the well-run Fun Station kids' club. Whilst rival firms had gaggles of bored-looking weans with a packet of pencils and one bit of paper between 10 of them, five-year-old Georgia and her gang including, new friend Alice, were captivated by daily adventures with the friendly Jelle Berkhout and sidekick Caz, who looked after all the children superbly.

By the end of it all, there were tears at the airport, most of them mine, at the thought of saying goodbye to it all – until next year that is...