Camping France 2024. Review Camping Sandaya Soulac Sur Mer.

 A little rendezvous had been arranged this year in France with our son and family. We had arranged to meet at the site they were staying on which was a Sandaya site at Soulac Sur Mer. We had visited that part of France many years ago and felt at the time the whole area was a bit run down. It would be very interesting to make a return visit. 

We hadn't booked the site and the website said "complet!" We got our son to check with  Reception and we managed to get a pitch for 4 nights near theirs. Not cheap at 208 Euros, but it was mid August! We decided to get the bac ( ferry) from Royan to avoid the long slog around Bordeaux.

A warm sunny morning found us on the dock waiting for the ferry. A 45minutes crossing to Verdon sur Mer followed by a short drive. Luckily it was a mid week morning, so no queues! A quick loading procedure and 45 minutes later we had arrived. Such a difference from the small scruffy ferry of 20 odd years ago. The short trip was very pleasant.

The ship was full but not rammed. Quite modern and much larger than the one we travelled on many years ago. Loading and unloading was relatively easy with no waiting around. There was a bar on board and loads of seating. We had been told not to attempt the crossing on a weekend when it was very busy, with waits up to 3 hours. When we arrived mid week there were very few vehicles waiting in the boarding lanes. Everything was well organised and nowhere near as chaotic as we remembered.

A short drive after disembarkation at Verdon Sur Mer and we had soon settled onto our new home for the next 4 nights. The campsite at Soulac was easy to find, huge and pretty full..

Our little Krystal parked up next to a new friend, Paul's van. Must be a family thing!!

Paul and Kim had a tent up on their pitch for the kids as well as their van but there was still a good bit of room, though moving in and out could be tricky.

Soulac Plage site is massive, more of a resort really. Bars, shops, gym, pool complex and right by the sea. Perfect for teenagers with loads to do. Facilities were plentiful and clean. It was a big resort though and easy to get lost, especially at night. Very busy with loads of kids and a mixture of nationalities. Pitches were sometimes on sand, fortunately we were on firm ground in the shade.

Shopping was a bit of a trek although there was a camp shop, luckily we stocked up before we arrived. Bikes are needed here too as it's a good 15 minutes into Soulac town, really too far to walk, we didn't explore taxis.

Soulac town was a real surprise. Very modern, clean and full of tourists. Nothing like we remembered and obviously now well on the up!! Loads of restaurants, bars and  clothes shopping. A very large and busy food market was right in the center of town. Fish in great abundance though a tad on the pricy side.

I kind of got the impression there were two prices one for locals and one for tourists.

We tried out a few local bars, this seemed to be the favourite.

A very enjoyable afternoon spent here taking in the town atmosphere.

The beach at Soulac was lovely. Paul and Kim went for a surf lesson. We were trying to take picture, sadly the heavens opened just at that point! They enjoyed it though.

 

A long walk to find the sea that day.

All too soon and 4 days had flown by. We did manage to return to have a paddle as the sun did come out again.

We had some lovely meals and drinks out with the kids. Soon time to say au revoir! It was a great place to spend some family time, the beach bar was great fun! Maybe another year. 

Our next stop, the lakes, to try out the paddleboard, the kids had brought us for Christmas. Now that should be interesting. Thanks Paul, Kim and the girls for a lovely few days. Safe travel home.

Camping France 2024 Review Camping du Sans Souci Fresnay Sur Sarthe and Venise Verte Coulon.

 Our third campsite this trip and another short stop on our way south. Generally speaking 2 nights makes for a good break, while 3 nights is probably the best for a good look around, a bike ride or walk.

This was a short stop as we wanted to check it out from earlier in the year. As it was August we rang to check for spaces and booked two nights. As it turned out the site was "complet" so just as well we had booked! We ended up with almost the same pitch we had last time.

A nice hedge enclosed pitch with the river behind us. The site was much as we remembered it from our earlier stop. A few more people on site and the cabins and tents all had customers, though the site did not feel crowded. Slightly more people using the facilities however and the showers were only just warm. The small on- site shop sold a few bits and bobs but the village was just a short walk away.

The village of Fresnay Sur Sarthe is quite an interesting place to wander about. There is the medieval heart of the town with the old castle at it's heart. We missed the Sunday market but the town was still busy with tourists. We stopped at the main bar for a bit of liquid refreshment.

The castle is built on the cliff side overlooking the town with very pretty gardens. The old town still shows it's medieval roots with very narrow streets and timbered buildings. The views of the river are stunning. There is an electric boat that travels up and down the waterways. Looked pretty busy and fun.

Lots of cafes and restaurants, we had a very nice pizza for dinner.

Two days sped by rapidly but we were ready to move on to our next stop. Back to another old haunt Coulon and Camping Venise Verte.

Last year we stayed at Venise Verte for the first time and it was very busy. We managed to book 2 nights online with thoughts of using our brand new paddleboard.

An uneventful 3 hour drive and we had arrived at Venise Verte near Niort. A good stop if you are travelling south or north!!

The campsite was busy but not full. There were a few huge campers on site we were pleased it wasn't us. The first pitch offered was very tight so we moved to one with more space in a better spot. It was actually a nice spot with plenty of shade, if slightly a tight fit in and out.

We took the bikes into the village of Coulon and walked along the canal. Pretty full with tourists, maybe not quite as busy as last year.

 

The weather was warm but not as sunny as last year, so fewer people on the water. We noticed that prices in the restaurants by the canal were much more expensive. We found a small restaurant further into the village and had a pleasant lunch with wine.

A wander around the pretty little church finished the afternoon off.

 

All in all a happy little interlude before moving on. Not sure if we would go back to the site when its so busy. Sadly we did not get to use the paddleboard here, the river was slightly mirky and we felt not the best place to start.