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..
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.
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.
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