Sun, sea and sand – in spades

Oct 22 2010 By Alison Handley

Alison Handley finds northern France is an ideal location for a family getaway.

My four-year-old didn’t hesitate when her grandma asked her what she’d enjoyed most about her summer break in northern France.

“Swimming in the sea, the water slides in the pool – and the moules frites”.

The latter were supposed to be an end of holiday treat for my seafood-loving husband, Wayne, after we’d spotted mussels and chips on the menu of virtually every restaurant we’d lingered outside before heading back to the campsite to cook our evening meal.

However, it turned out Eleanor had a taste for them too and it was a race to see who could dig them out and pop them into their mouths the quickest. Meanwhile three-year-old Isabel and myself shared a ham and cheese crepe at a rather more leisurely pace.

Our two weeks in the popular coastal resort of Benodet proved an ideal opportunity for the girls to make the most of a plethora of new experiences and for Wayne and myself to remind ourselves why the two-day journey (we take our time) from Walsall to the southern coast of Brittany is worth the effort.

We travelled on Brittany Ferries’ early morning Plymouth-Roscoff crossing, which is ideally timed to dock early in the afternoon, leaving ample time for the last leg of the journey of less than 100 miles.

Travelling with toddlers, we fully appreciated our four-berth cabin with its en-suite facilities, flat screen TV and porthole, although the excitement of watching the waves was soon forgotten when our two discovered there was a soft play area, face painting and children’s entertainer on-board the Armorique to help pass the six-hour crossing.

We booked through Brittany Ferries Holidays and plumped for a chalet-style mobile home on the Sunelia – La Pointe St Gilles campsite, just a kilometre outside Benodet.

We knew in advance that the 480-pitch site had a broad range of facilities, including a particularly impressive heated outdoor and indoor pool complex with water slides and a lazy river, but discovering that all the mobile homes on the site were brand new this season was a pleasant surprise.

Ours was clean, comfortable, well-equipped and the ideal place from which to explore the campsite, the lovely little sandy cove only walking distance away, and farther afield.

Mussels aside, highlights for the girls can be summed up in three words – sun, sea and sand.

We found a general pattern of mild, cloudy mornings, hot sunny afternoons and very occasional summer showers ideal for a young family.

Incidentally, we enjoyed similar weather a little further east along the coast in Carnac last September and if you are not tied to school holidays and don’t mind if some height-of-season attractions and facilities are starting to wind down, then this is a great time to slash pounds – you will be amazed at just how many – off the cost of your holiday.

Our girls would happily have spent their entire stay on the campsite itself.

The pool area, featuring water slides suitable for every age group and a huge domed sliding roof which can be closed over part of the complex according to the weather, was a huge hit, as were the children’s play areas.

This was also the year our two discovered evening entertainment, including a children’s disco, a Celtic night of Breton music and dancing and a children’s show featuring youngsters attending the various kids’ clubs.

However, it was well worth tearing them away.