We've driven from Roscoff to Le Paradis and Le Havre to Le Paradis in a day, tiring but done it arrived around 5ish, had the complimentary drink then put the tent up.
Fantastic site, been their 3 years on the trot, very family orientated site on the edge of the Vezere river, kayaks are rented by the site by the hour, by the day or organised trips.
Shoule you wish to pick a particular pitch they are usually very obliging and efficient via phone or email. Ellen and Ge the dutch owners are extremely helpful, there is usually a mix of Dutch and English.
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Thankyou all for your help,its very much appreciated and its good for us first timers in France to have people to ask for advice.
We probably will have an overnight stop in one of the hotels mentioned. Just a couple more questions. The hotel Chartres 2 that is mentioned says it has locked parking, do you know if this is secure to leave all our gear + 4 cycles.
Also to Bertie who has been to Le Paradis for the last 3 years, does the site have a river side beach and is the river good for swimming, messing about as well as canoeing as the other two sites we fancy both have riverside beaches.
I hope to get booked this weekend so lots to think about.
site next door is La Bouysse - similar super location, much cheaper, fewer facilities and 95% french as opposed to Soleil Plage which is 30% French, 30% Brit, 30% Dutch and 10% German/Belgian/Swiss etc..
Number of threads have mentioned bikes ect being stolen when parked. Personally i would not risk it in this country. It is the minority not the majority you have to worry about,unfortunatly all countries have tealeafs,if you chance it i would make sure your insurance will cover!
------------- Dogdorne August 13
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The french hotel chains have english speakers. It might be worth emailing the hotel to see if they have anywhere to store your bikes. The carparks are only locked between 9pm and 7am and you get a pin number to come and go during those hours
There are bits of beachish areas more rocks than sand, people do swim in it and fish in it. However, we used the pool as it was a very social pool and hard to pull the kids away, there were games organised there. We will be going back again in a few years, this year we have a chance to go somewhere else as my oldest 2 - 17 & 16 aren't coming this year and the youngest is 7 so not allowed a choice, but will take here back again to catch up with old friends who are still returning.
When we stayed at B&B Chartes 2 we had a pin number to get into our rooms and it was the same number for the the main entrance to the hotel and car park gate. We arrived before 9 and left after 7 so I cannot definately say that the gate was closed during the night (it certainly was supposed to be). All our luggage was in a roof box and boot so nothing was left visible. I would agree with Magically and check with the hotel if there is somewhere to store your bikes. The receptionist had very good english, we have a little french which we used but she delt with other customers in fluent english. If they dont have storage there was alot of parking at the back of the hotel which would be out of sight from the main enterance and you could also move your car to outside your window when you know which room you are in.
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If you want to go to soleil plage in school holidays, I would get it booked asap, as we were shocked at the prices but once we recovered I wanted to still go and see what all the fuss was about, only to find out it was fully booked!!
We are going to stay at the port limeuil las 2 weeks july. We are overnighting in dover,early chunnel next day and then stopping just south of paris.Have driven in and around paris in the past and it was ok. We will set off the next day to Le Port Limeuil hoping to arrive early in afternnon. We have 2 children and there is no way on earth I would do it in a day....I think it would be bad enough for me. We have chosen a half way site with a pool so it can be part of our hols.
Can't wait.Limeuil looks lovely and the site is on the river...hope it is as good as it looks. The owners seemed very pleasant when booking! I was put off a little by the prices of Soleil plage and decided we would never get a decent pitch either...but it looks as if it is a gtreat site when youread the reviews.
We have done Calais to the Dorgogne in a day with 2 young children twice now with no problems. No more romantic stops in quaint villages for rustic lunches these days ! They just want to get there!
Thanks so much for your help so far, we are really looking forward to our trip to the Dordogne. This site is a little addictive isn,t it I keep loging on and having a little look at whats going on and i have picked up all sorts of useful tips.
I am going to phone Chartres 2 to see if there is somewhere to our bikes but if we cannot get a hotel with somewhere to store them I know we can do the journey in a day as one or two other people have.
Tilly
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i've got 4 bikes to carry and for the same reason will not stop over night in hotel a sworried bikes will be stolen along with trailer. Despote all the locks it would ruin the holiday.
The first time we stopped in an apartment near Disneyland paris - getting the 8.40 ferry from Dover, arriving at the hotel around 3pm - spent an evening and a day in Disneyland which the kids loved, then left around 11am the next morning arriving on site around 7pm - wouldn't have had the lie-in if we'd known just how long it would take us.
We stayed at MySuiteInn - which was ideal as it is a locked complex with 2-storey apartments - ground floor is tiled and we put the bikes in the apartment. The apartments have room for the kids to play outside and our kids played for a couple of hours after we arrived and made new friends - then because we were season ticket holders to Disney we went for the evening fireworks.
This year we stopped at Le Château des Marais campsite for 2 nights. We arrived 9th August with no booking and got a pitch no problem - only 3 pitches away from our friends who were with Keycamp. We also managed to negotiate a cheap deal with the Eurocamp reps for a mobile, but on finding out how close the pitch that was available was (and how much cheaper) we pitched the tent.
We went to Chateau de Chambord the next day and then carried on - leaving around 10am and arriving about 4pm I think.
We like to make the journey part of our holiday and a 2-night stop en route feels like a proper break.
We also stopped at the Travelodge in Dover last year - I think for a Disney stop that would be overkill, but for the Loire it was OK, definitely didn't get there feeling as tired as we did 3 years ago when we went straight from Milton Keynes to the Loire.
Coming back this year we stayed at Huttopia near Versailles in a ready-erected tent - that was really cute and a day at Versailles broke the journey nicely.
Hi, Definately not worth trying to do it in a day, take a look at http://www.hotelformule1.com/formule1/index.html, you book before hand online, it's very cheap and you only pay for the room not per person (about £30 ) they take no money, when you book, but if you can't make it to the chosen hotel or are delayed provided you call the hotel before 9pm the booking is cancelled, if you don't call thay will keep a room for you all night, use the credit card you originally paid with to book in, pay, and get the room combination. Well worth it! Big tip! if you are using a navigation system make double sure you are routed round the outer perific, passing (charles degaulle airport). Not the inner one which I tackled during rush hour towing a caravan, passes quite close to the eifell tower LOL
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: driving to the dordogne
