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Archive for the ‘Travel Diary’ Category
A weekend in Le Crotoy at the Résidence de la Plage
Last month Pierre & Vacances customer Andy Parker visited Picardy for a weekend get-away. Check out his review of our Premium Résidence de la Plage, and the things to do in Le Crotoy and the surrounding area:
We recently took to the shores of North France for a stay at the Pierre & Vacances Premium Résidence de la Plage in Le Crotoy, in the Bay of Somme (just an hour’s easy drive from Calais).
Le Crotoy is a pretty special place. A small town on the bay of the Somme, where Jules Verne wrote the majority of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea whilst staying in the town, just a short drive from Abbeville. Being a fishing town there are several restaurants all serving fresh catches and we managed to visit the morning market to see what was available straight off the boat that morning.
Le Crotoy, Picardy
Only visiting for a weekend trip we decided to eat out both evenings, but had we stayed longer we would have been more than accommodated to cook my own local foods with the fish markets setting up when the trawlers come back in, an amazing butchers, grocers and patisserie all within walking distance of the apartment.
We stayed in a two bedroom apartment which could quite comfortably have slept up to six people because the sofas were also beds. The living space was ideal, the kitchen was fully kitted and exceptionally clean with the espresso machine and complimentary capsules a nice touch.
There were two bathrooms, one with a bath/shower and the downstairs a spacious shower, both were perfect after a long day walking along the coast line watching the wind and kite surfers.
The view from both the master bedroom and the living room/sun terrace were stunning, spanning all the way across the bay and up the coast line.
The view from Residence de la Plage
Being a cold November, we didn’t get an opportunity to dip into the outdoor pool but its location, facing over the waterfront, seemed ideal.
We took a trip to Abbeville which was no more than 20 minutes by car. The town has a wonderful high street with a strong mixture of high street brands and independent retailers (particularly the chocolatiers). The church in the centre of town has been restored several times throughout its history and information was available in English which helped with our lack of reading French!
There are several landmarks dotted around the town which we uncovered from exploring side streets which reflect how much devastation the town saw throughout 1914-1945.
Great War cemetary in Lebucquiere
Our final trip was to a discrete cemetery for those who served in the Great War in the village of Lebucquiere. Although we’ve never been to some of the larger memorials and cemeteries which are considerably closer to Crotoy, this one held personal interest to me.
It was a drive of several hours and we decided to utilise the toll roads. They really do put UK road services to shame! Yes you do have to pay (maximum journey was from Lebucquiere to Calais at 9 Euros) but they’re fast, direct and pretty empty at peak times.
My top tip - I had no problems with driving on the other side of the road, but remember to check your headlights before leaving to see if you should purchase headlight reverse stickers which make sure you’re not blinding on-coming traffic!
Visit Le Crotoy for yourself! Andy stayed at the self catering Pierre & Vacances Premium Résidence de la Plage in Le Crotoy, Picardy. Pierre & Vacances also has a wide range of self catering apartments around North Picardy, perfect for mountain-biking, hiking and horse-riding, as well as visiting the the Somme Bay and Compiègne forest for sports and bird watching.
A Cap Esterel family holiday
The Cap Esterel self-catering resort in the South of France is perfect for families, but don’t just take our word for it – here’s a lovely letter we received from the English family who visited this summer:
Dear Pierre & Vacances,
Just a quick email to say what a fantastic time we had at Cap Esterel.
Everything was a joy and for the first time in years, we didn’t feel any need to get in the car and visit somewhere.
Overall, the biggest compliment I can pay is that everything was so easy, exactly what you want sometimes when you are on holiday, particularly with young children. Checking in was easy, navigating around the centre was easy, shopping was easy, the kids club was easy, keeping the kids entertained was easy and last but not least, eating out (every night!) was easy.
Your staff team are fabulous, most of whom either speak very good English or enough to deal with a question. The ladies on reception always had a smile, the guys in the kids club were superb and everyone else was enthusiastic and friendly.
The apartment was clean, with everything we needed, in a great location and with the most amazing view of the Mediterranean. We spent many a lunchtime watching the rich and famous no doubt, bobbing around on their gin palaces, which all added to the experience.
As a family of four with two young boys (7 and 5), we needed plenty to keep the children entertained, but this was not a problem. The swimming pools were great (the lifeguards were always attentive which is important with so much water around), the evening entertainment was fantastic and they even went to kids club 3 mornings.
Neither did we struggle to feed them in the restaurants and we felt perfectly comfortable about letting them wander round the main plaza once they’d finished, whilst my wife and I finished our meals.
Finally, how would I sum it up for other English families – a bit like multi-national Center Parcs, but outside because the weather is so much better.
I think it’s pretty certain we will be returning next year!
Regards,
Nigel English
Tell us about your family holidays with Pierre & Vacances over on our Facebook page.
A Summer Break in the Village Arc 1950
In this post, Paul Harvey experiences summer in the Alps as a guest of Pierre & Vacances at the Le Village Arc 1950 Premium Residence:
We, stayed at five star Pierre & Vacances Premium Le Village Residence located in the centre of the car-free village of Arc 1950 (metres), under the gaze of Mont Blanc. More about the superb apartment in this Residence and what a five star package offers, a bit later…
The village is delightful – built of stone and timber under stone roofing slabs. We thought it nicer than Arc 2000 above us for sure. Good to get to the mountains for a summer break, which I haven’t done for many years. Very relaxing to be back in vast Alpine meadows with the unmistakable cow bells to be heard over seemingly huge areas. No other nasty sounds to break an otherwise silent scape. The landscape is green wherever you look, broken by the occasional white patch from 2500 metres upwards.
We drove to the resort, crossing the channel with SeaFrance to get into the French mood as soon as we left Dover, then straight down to Troyes on those amazing French roads in four hours (not one set of roadworks). Troyes made a perfect stoping point. A delightful town to explore in more depth time allowing, Champagne country of course…Allow for about £100 in toll fees in total for the trip by the way.
Taking the car is a good move – with the Alpine weather being what it is, with the occasional threat of low cloud and rain, you can drive off to find sunshine somewhere else on the mountain, explore Arcs 1650 and 1850, or go down to Bourg -St – Maurice and browse the shops. The market is a good one on a Saturday.
We didn’t take kids, but clearly this resort appealed to many young families with a healthy outlook! Great walking country, gentle and serious. Our images show how stunning the views can be once the sun shines, making these clearly defined walking routes very enjoyable. Mountain biking being another option of course..very tempting!
The 1950 village had a programme of activities organised with P&V, so if you found yourself back in the village in the afternoon, you could be playing golf, tennis, archery, biking etc . Well organisd, with many prizes to be won!
Going back to the apartment was something we really looked forward to. It had a very comfortable, open plan kitchen, dinning and lounge area, alpine wood decor with the large bedroom in a similar style, views to the mountains with our own balcony also justified the five star stamp. The bathroom was also spacious. We enjoyed self-catering here as you can imagine with all the amazing local produce available. The kitchen was well stocked with all the mod cons, and everything you could need in terms of cutlery, china etc..
We also rated the pool and related facilities, and we were spoilt for choice! In our building we had a small heated outdoor pool, with a great steam room and sauna, and with a quick dash over to the opposite Pierre & Vacances Premier building, we enjoyed the larger indoor /outdoor heated pool, jacuzzi, sauna, gym. Quite an experience swimming outside and peering up to the mountain peaks above you!
You then realise just how relaxing this type of holiday is, and for a moment I imagined being in this superb Pierre & Vacances Premium Residence in the Winter, with the region opening up to 425 kms of slopes, doorstep skiing right up to the apartment building, fires burning in the reception bar areas, with even some apartments having their own fireplaces I believe!
I will be back…
To find out more about the Pierre & Vacances Premium Residence Le Village Arc 1950 and other accommodation in the same area visit – the Pierre & Vacances website: Pierreetvacances.co.uk
A family holiday to Cap Esterel
Cap Esterel, the flagship Pierre & Vacances Holiday Resort, has recently celebrated its 20th birthday. So Marketing Manager Nick thought it was about time for a visit, here’s the diary of his family holiday in the French Riveria:
The Pierre & Vacances Cap Esterel Holiday Resort is located in the beautiful Massif de L’Esterel National Park between Saint Raphael and Cannes.
Though the resort is under an hour from Nice airport, as our two kids are now both at paying age for flights, we elected to save money and drive and the low diesel costs in France also make this cheaper. But we didn’t need the car much as there’s loads to do on the resort, and the supermarket is more than adequate, the beaches are walkable and there is a train station nearby – what more do you need?!
So driving it was, and we had a great journey across the Channel with Seafrance – friendly staff, great kids play area and loads of room on the ferry! We took an overnight stop in Formule 1 in Chalons en Champagne, then 10 hours later we were at Cap Esterel!
Happy family in our holiday apartment
We were delighted with our apartment: newly refurbished with a bedroom for Granny, bunk beds for the kids (sharing for the first time!) and a sofa bed in the lounge for Mum and Dad. It was nicely decorated with pictures of the L’Esterel National Park and all the usual mod cons including dishwasher, kettle and even a teapot…….Granny was happy!
Cap Esterel teapot
We had amazing views of the med, and the supermarket, shops and bars were only a minute away. Plus we were so close to the swimming pool that when we heard the hourly announcement for the wave machine we could get our trunks on and get down there in time!
View from Cap Esterel apartment
The kids loved the main swimming pool’s wave machine and water slide, and when we wanted a longer swim we went to the upper infinity pool which was slightly warmer and with amazing sea views. We also took the train to the quieter Hameau area which has its own swimming pools and supermarket. There is a main pool (good for lengths) and a children’s pool on a large roof terrace area, also with, you guessed it, amazing views.
The Cap Esterel Train
Apart from the swimming pools the main attractions for the family were the train and local beaches. The train handily stops near the main children’s playground and is so popular that every time it arrives there is a mass-exodus from the playground! If you’re like our family you take the train just for the fun of it [up to 3 times a day!], but it’s also quite handy for getting around the Resort and travelling to the local beach at Dramonts. On Wednesdays the train also takes you to the lovely market at Agay.
Beautiful Agay Beach
We alternated between the beaches at Dramonts and Agay, both with their own advantages. Dramonts is a small and quiet pebble beach with beautiful clear water, while Agay is a larger sandier beach with a choice of restaurants, bars and shops nearby. There is a short cut from the train bridge at the bottom of Cap Esterel over the hills to join the Agay road. It’s probably a 30 minute walk and a bit difficult with buggies but worth the time saving if you like a bit of exercise. There is also a little beach on the main road opposite the entrance to Cap Esterel.
Fred playing on Agay beach
In the Resort itself there is more than enough to keep the kids occupied all holiday. The 9 hole golf course is well looked after, the lake is stunning and there are loads of water sports available. There is also tennis, football, and crazy golf – basically you name it they have it! My wife made good use of the fitness classes and the children’s clubs looked like lots of fun!
Live music at Cap Esterel
On Friday night there was live music in the main resort village area. This is an area above the main pool with the feel of a little tourist town and of course amazing views! There are about 10 restaurants, a lovely cafe with shop, bar and ice creams, plus take way pizza and rotisserie. All were good value with family offers and menu du jours. The ice creams became a favourite with the kids who worked their way through all the different flavours! And at the far side of this area is the L’Esterel hotel with its own swish restaurant.
As for ‘eating-in’, the on-site supermarket was fantastic with its own bakery, a selection of toys, a wide range of food at reasonable prices and even a special section for English customers missing their favourite ale or sauce! We didn’t bother going anywhere else.
All in all we had fantastic family holiday in Cap Esterel and can’t wait to return!
Skiing in the French Alps: our winner’s video!
At the end of March Richard Wilkinson won a skiing holiday to the fantastic French Alps destination of Avoriaz, courtesy of Pierre & Vaccances, P&O Ferries and Avoriaz.
He took wife Wendy and daughter Millie on an adventure packed week in April with plenty of snow, skiing and sun!
Check out the fantastic video of their week away skiing in the Portes du Soleil:
