HELEN Moffat raves about a 'great holiday' in a newly-discovered part of France.
My family are all great fans of France, but somewhat surprisingly, we 'd been missing a trick during recent holidays when we would bypass Brittany to head further south.
Drawn to the long golden beaches and great climate of the Vendee, we'd been used to long drives from Brittany ports, and our view of the region had pretty much been restricted to the car window.
We decided on Brittany this year to lessen the time in the car for the children, and boy were we glad we did. The area we stayed had everything we loved about the Vendee in spades, plus much more. Our campsite was at Pointe St Gilles, just a short stroll from the pretty seaside town of Benodet, and directly opposite a superb beach, which was packed with such a variety of features that it seemed to offer a new delight every time we ventured down there.
Whilst the children were a little disappointed at first that the sand was just a smidge too course to build sandcastles, the bucket was soon put to good use as they discovered the wonders of the hundreds of rock pools which emerged as the tide receded.
They caught everything from shrimps to hermit crabs, and even the odd sand lizard, and were kept amused for hours.
The beach itself lay at the mouth of a river, so the ebb and flow of the tide constantly changed the landscape – sometimes we could walk quite easily across to the sandy banks of the other shore, and sometimes, the water between us was wide and fast-flowing, but it was still always good for a bit of paddling, and the children were thrilled to find shoals of fish swimming around their feet as they splashed around.
A short stroll along the headland took us to Benodet, which had a pretty seafront, which really came to life early evening, when holidaymakers and residents alike enjoyed icecreams whilst strolling along the promendade. Needless to say, the crepes were excellent too, and sampled often.
The Monday morning market in town was another gem, where we bought what we all agreed were the best strawberries we had ever tasted (and my children know their fruit!) and some of the freshest, tastiest salad and vegetables imaginable. In fact, we tried out a number of markets on different days around the area, and found them all fantastic. Often, the stalls appeared to be held by people simply selling off excess produce from their own gardens, and the quality showed.
Though sight-seeing is never as high up our list as it used to be before children, we still managed to head to a few other attractions in the area, and loved the medieval beauty of the nearest city Quimper, about a 30 minute drive away, and the stunning walled seafront fort at Concarneau. Everywhere we went, we found clean, chocolate-box villages with elaborate churches, and friendly welcomes, especially for the children, who loved trying out their bonjours and mercis and basking in the praise they received.
Finally, the campsite itself was wonderful. Camping Pointe St Gilles boasted swimming pools which any water park would be proud to have, and thoughtful facilities geared to the families it wants to attract, (suprisingly but sadly not the case at all sites.) A lovely clean and bright nursery room provided large sink-baths for infants, and tiny toilets, plus large showers for parents to use with their youngsters.
Whilst still being developed, the bar and restaurant area is large, cool and child-friendly, and though early in the season, there was still almost nightly entertainment for the children, suitable for all ages.
I keep thinking of more things I could mention, and there's certainly more that we would have loved to do, but that's just another good excuse for us to go back and explore further, which we certainly intend to do.Brittany certainly means more to us now than ports and autoroutes, and we drove home talking about the places we want to go next year – surely the sign of a great holiday.
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