France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

yes, but aside from getting the pick of the cabins, at least you get on the ferry.

We had the strange happening last christmas with Brittanny that they had a large ferry scheduled (one of the new chinese ones) that had obviously loads of cabins left, where I could book for one person and a car and get any cabin i wanted, but more passengers than that would somehow exceed what the ferry "could carry".
It seems they run some services on a minimum staffing or to a certain number of passengers that allows them to swap in a smaller ferry, hard to know…. either way if I booked earlier I would have got on the ferry with the family rather than a day earlier with Irish ferries as the alternative.

Yes there is.

We ate in the brasserie last year and it was very tasty, expensive but very good.

Sail into Bilbao and head up to Luz Saint Saveur in the Pyrenees. It's at the foot of the Col du Tourmalet and not too far either from Luz Ardiden and Hautacam. I brought the bike with me a few years back and we stayed at Eurocamp Airotel Pyrenees. The place is wedged at TDF time and I don't know how far ahead you would need to book. But if you've any interest at all in road cycling, which you obviously have, I would definitely check it out. In the centre of Luz they have something akin to the Hollywood walk of fame, and all the greats who conquered the Col are remembered in this little town.

Just getting itchy thinking about it now and I might just dust off the Bianchi again and get it set up for 2027 perhaps 🚴🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️

Did you go up the Tourmalet morning of the stage or did you stay in Luz? How did you get up the Tourmalet? Bike up early seems the only option but we have a 6 and 8yo with us, might be too much of an ask!

The Tour will be descending into Luz before heading out towards Gavarnie (which is a spectacular ending in a National Park) but be aware that it is a cul de sac.

Now, you could drive through on the morning and park up on the Col de Tentes and spin all the way down with the kids to Gavernie, let them watch the tour fly by then an adult cycle back up somehow the Col de Tentes to collect the car.

Another option is to turn off at Gavarnie-Gedre towards the Cirque du Tromouse and then spin back to Gavernie-Gedre, which would be more manageable on the return bike journey for an adult. There are two short ramps just after Gedre if memory serves me correct that would let the kids see the action.

Or just try and get a viewing point in Luz as they come past at 60km an hour?

We're staying in that site during the Tour but would love to get up the Tourmalet for the stage. Wonder is it feasible with 3 kids, might just watch up the road from Luz on a small climb

Our journey through France is in or around 11 hours. We’ve shared driving & done it in one go, we’ve shared driving & had one or two night stops en route. The big issue for us was the time of day getting off the ferry. It’s just a bit late & then there’s lunch & the day heats up & while everyone wants to get there, everyone also wants to get out of the car!

The children got to play games, watch movies etc on their devices which they enjoyed, one read which made me ill even to look at, we’d sing & there were also naps, at all ages! We’d play games for pocket money for their holiday, like spot the reg where they’d have to find the local department numbers of our destination or Irish regs from our own county or after a while just Irish regs. Sometimes older children can be more difficult!

Ideally, I think maybe a four hour drive in the cool of the morning before lunch in a place where there’s a playground or a park or just somewhere nice to relax a bit in the shade so a good break can be enjoyed by all. Then maybe a three or four hour drive to an overnight stop that has a pool. Two days driving would be enough for me, don’t think I’d want to face into a third, unless it was short enough.

we did a big trip from bilbao across the south of france to Savona in Italy and then up to Lake Annecy, on to paris and home from Cherbourg last year over 5 weeks. We had the caravan so slightly different but we found one long day driving was better than two shorter days as the set up and pack up took half a day anyway.

Kids were 16,14 and 11. Older two passed the time reading and watching movies / episodes of stuff on their phones and younger one had a portable dvd player that was great, along with some reading etc.

We could manage 8 to 9 hours if needed and did a few times as we had a lot of ground to cover. This was split up with departing around 9, drive for around 2.5 hours and then a rest break at an aire de service, another 2 hours to a lunch break at an aire, followed by 3 or four hours with a leg stretch when needed.

Initially we had planned more stops with max 5 hours driving in a day per google maps but adding on 20 to 25% as we were towing the caravan. We ditched this as one night stop with the caravan wasn't really a break and we figured out that a big day driving worked best for us with at least 3 nights in between big stints.

We did all our driving on motorways so in France the aire network made the stops very easy. Found Italy to be rubbish in that regard but thankfully we had shorter drives in Italy. I had to do all the driving as wife doesn't have a trailer licence. The tiredness at the end of a long day is staggering at times. Luckily the fridge in the caravan meant I could keep a supply of ice cold coke on hand for when i really needed it.

Port de plaisance is a nice camp, lovely pools, large supermarket next door they sell cooked chickens and everything it's very good. Also a bakery next to the supermarket is lovely.

They sell baked goods in the site shop too but you need to get early get them. We visited the wall city of Concarneau was a nice day out, maybe 30min drive. Parking was hard to find it was very busy so go early maybe.

The kids got pick and mix sweets inside the walled city, they enjoyed it but my wallet not so much 😅.

Benodet is a nice town too, maybe 30 min walk or you can drive in and park.

Les Benodettes is a nice coffee shop, which was about the only one I could find.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ERCEpNCzDNK4YYFZ6?g_st=ac

Manege Ricordel T. & Monfort F. Is an old kids fairground ride they will enjoy that

https://maps.app.goo.gl/joXDpJnYrrb9gEU49

A Nice Italian if your kids are like mine and love pasta is La Dolce Vita. You need to make a booking as it is very busy. Went four times last year and was lovely.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/uMBEitExUTxnSMwW9?g_st=ac