At the beginning of July I travelled to Paris
with my Mum and brother for my Mums 70th birthday treat. We only had two full
days in the city with travelling time on the two days surrounding them and having
now returned home I wish we’d had three clear days for exploring, as Paris is
just so vast and there is a crazy amount of things to do, especially included
with your Paris Pass.
What is a Paris Pass you might be wondering?
Well as the name suggests it is a pass that gives you access to most every
attraction in Paris as well as a Paris Visite travel card for use on the metro,
rail, tram and bus. I say most every attraction as there are a couple of exceptions,
like the Eiffel Tower and the catacombs but it is very comprehensive and there are also a load of special shopping and restaurant discounts that you can take advantage of too.
You can buy a Paris Pass for 2,3,4 or
6 days and there are differing prices for children (4-11 years), teens (12-17
years) and adults (age 18 plus).
The Adult price ranges from €131 for a 2 day pass to €244 for a 6 day pass
Teens - €81 - €135
Children - €44 - €75
So, as you can see the price per day gets better when you buy a longer pass but of course it depends how many days you'll be in Paris for.
Beziers by Eric Valenne Geostory, thanks to Shutterstock
Back in May we flew into Beziers and took the short drive to the coastal town of Vias Plage, there we stayed with Eurocamp at Club Farret campsite. We had a wonderful time and you can read all about the parc in my review blog post and if you're an artist or crafter then check out my post about their outstanding (and free) art facilities too.
As we flew to the South of France we didn't have a car but if we were to visit again we would definitely hire one while we were there and not bother paying for hefty airport transfer charges. There is so much you can access easily and cheaply with a car but without it was much more difficult.
On Foot - Vias Plage
If you want to walk out from Camping Club Farret the nearest place to go (just 5 minutes away) is the resort of Vias Plage. This is very much a seaside town and has a 'strip' with plenty of restaurants, bars takeaways, tourist shops, convenience stores and great gelato shops. We popped into town every day to buy fresh pastries, have some dinner or get ice creams to eat on the beach.
The beach itself is a lovely sandy one, with good clear waters and some very nice (if expensive) restaurants on the beach itself.
Over the May school half-term break, we flew off to the South of France arriving in to Beziers, a very short drive away from the resort Vias Plage where the 5 star Club Farret Campsite is ideally located. It appears that the end of May is still considered low season as the seaside town itself wasn't very busy but this didn't present a problem as there were many shops and restaurants open and the parc itself was so well equipped. Welcome on Arrival
Due to some great flight times, we arrived at the parc at about 5pm and headed into reception where we met Anette, who spoke excellent English and gave us a super welcome. We received a site plan and details of the activities going on during our week, then I had to leave a 20 euro deposit to make sure we returned our all-access wristbands at the end of our stay and she directed us over to the Eurocamp reception.
The parc is set on two sides of a road but don't let the word road put you off as really it is just a way for locals to access the beach and a few houses. It wasn't busy with traffic and there is a marked crossing between the two sides. The Eurocamp area is on the opposite side to the main reception and I really liked this as it was the quieter side and we were away from the town area, which I imagine could get noisy during peak season.
Our arrival time was outside of the Eurocamp Couriers regular hours so I gave them a call from their reception and they were with us within about 3 minutes; it was great service. The kids quickly helped themselves to a chess set and badminton equipment from the well-stocked area that you can borrow activities from and Leanne took us over to our mobile home and explained how things work and what to do if we needed them. All in, it was a very smooth arrival and a fabulous welcome onsite at Club Farret Camping.
Our Eurocamp Mobile Home
This year we had a 3 bedroom Esprit home, which is one of the more basic models and I tell you this as it really is good enough. We found ours to be spotlessly clean and that always impresses me as it shows that the company care. There was everything we needed for the five of us to stay there for the week and we were able to cook meals in the kitchen and to relax fully.
If like me, you're an amateur crafter who enjoys
a bit of me-time with paints or pottery then I’ve discovered the perfect break
for you. Nestled in the beautiful French countryside by the picturesque beaches
of Vias Plage is Camping Club Farret that we recently stayed at with Eurocamp.
We took this family break with the intention of
enjoying all the regular fun of a Eurocamp parc - amazing pools, kids clubs,
fun evening entertainment, play parks and a beautiful holiday parc to rest at.
I had no idea when we booked that there would be the most amazing opportunities
to get creative!
The Atelier Creatif run by a lovely German woman
called Sabine is fantastic. For six days a week (it’s closed on Sundays) who
can go along from 9-11am and 3-5pm and get involved with whatever takes your
fancy.
This is Sabine with my daughters, teaching them to tie-dye silk
All the family are on countdown, there is just 15 days until we fly over to the South of France for our stay at Club Farret Campsite with Eurocamp. I'm really pleased to have chosen this 5 star parc for our next Eurocamp holiday. Brilliantly it is just 10 minutes from Beziers airport and we were able to pick up good value flights with Ryanair from Stansted and and a really competitive in-resort transfer with Sun Transfers.
I can honestly say that every one of us is excited and each of us for our own reasons. Let me share with you what we are looking forward to -
Enjoying the Swimming Pools
We are lucky enough to have two great pools at this campsite. There is Tao Beach with a swimming area for both adults and kids (which is heated in the low season), as well as a counter-current river and bubble massage seats. There's also the Pirates Bay Pool area where there is fun by the bucketful with slides, diving board and loads of water games. My girls will also be thrilled to find there is a swim up bar. I do hope they serve mocktails as that will make one of Miss M's dreams come true!
I also see an exciting new aquadome pool with a retractable roof is being built right now. Sadly I think we'll be a little early for it as I believe it opens in Summer 2018. I'll give you an update once we are back.
Oh the weather really is dreary now, isn't it? The rain has arrived, the sky is dull, the trees are shedding their leaves and all I want to do is fly away to sunnier climes. It's not to be at the moment though, so the next best thing I can do is start to look for our perfect family holiday for 2018.
In May this year our family stayed as guests of Eurocamp at the Playa Montroig Camping Resort on the Costa Dorada, Spain and we had such a wonderful time. It was just what we needed - superb accommodation with a great decked area for quality family time, amazing swimming pools and fun entertainment that engaged us all. It's no wonder that I'm thinking we will stay with Eurocamp again in 2018.
I asked some fellow bloggers where they have stayed with Eurocamp and which sites they would recommend, here's what they said -
1km of water slides at Duinrell!
Duinrell Campsite in Wassenaar, Holland
I know quite a few friends who have holidayed here and they all agree it has the most amazing entertainment, theme park and water complex. Sounds pretty amazing, right? Alana from Baby Holiday travelled there with her young family in September this year and she says it is perfect for toddlers, in fact what she said about Duinrell was that 'it's not relaxing but fab for the kids' and every parent knows that if the kids are happy then chances are they are too!
Joy at the Sensory Seeker said their families favourite Eurocamp site (they're stayed in a few) is Duinrell as well 'as there is just so much to do both day and night for the whole family. In fact we have been several times and never managed to explore the local area as the kids love the camp so much' and her kids are much older, so that gives a great perspective from the other end of the parenting spectrum.
This is the second part of a review of our
recent holiday to Spain to stay at the Playa Montroig Camping Resort with
Eurocamp. You can find post one here and that is all about our stay with
Eurocamp and their fabulous accommodation and attentive service. This post is
about the facilities at the Playa Montroig Camping Resort.
We arrived at the parc at about 1pm and received
a friendly greeting from the Playa Montroig staff. They informed us about
logging onto the wifi, gave us some information sheets about opening times and
events taking place whilst we stayed and then sent us off to the Eurocamp
reception. I was pleased to see there was a security guard at the gate and
entry and exit barriers to monitor who was on the parc. If we had had a car
with us we had a sticky permit to display for the duration of our holiday and
we also had an identity card to prove we were staying there.
You might have seen me excitedly sharing that we
were off to the Playa Montroig Camping Resort on the Costa Dorada, Spain with
Eurocamp and now we are back it is my pleasure to share with you how our
holiday went. This is the first part of two posts about our holiday away, I've
split it into a post about the Eurocamp accommodation and one about the Playa Montroig Camping Resort facilities and services.
Rather than leave you in suspense as to whether
we liked staying with Eurocamp, I'll give you the headline quotes from my kids
first and then get into the full review -
Miss M "where are we going next year with
Eurocamp Mum? I love it! Can we try a new camp with even more pools?"
Miss E "I've had so much fun Mummy, I don't
want to go home but I'm so tired as I've had so many late nights!"
JJ "I've really enjoyed chilling on the
deck of our mobile home in the shade with my iPad. Oh and the pool is pretty
cool too but does it have to be so hot in Spain?"
A bit about us
We are a family of 5, two forty something
adults, a 13 year old (tech-mad) boy and near 10 year old twin girls. This is
the first time we have ever taken a European campsite holiday. For the first 11
years of life with children we always holidayed in the U.K. and stayed at
places like Butlins and Haven or hired a house in a seaside town. Then last
year we took our first abroad holiday staying in a hotel and the kids loved the outdoor pools in
the sunshine so much we wanted to do it again but we had found being in a hotel
on a half board basis a bit restrictive and we wanted the freedom of self
catering, hence trying out Eurocamp.
Last August we took our first holiday abroad as a family and we had an amazing time. So amazing in fact that we are again this year heading back to the Catalonia region of Spain and will be enjoying a holiday with Eurocamp at the Playa Montroig Camping Resort in Miami Platja, Costa Dorada and I was very impressed to see that it has made it onto the Guardians list of the top 20 family friendly campsites in Europe. We are all getting excited!
Situated right on the Beach and there are 4 Swimming Pools
I think this year we will probably spend most of our time on the parc, at the local beach or maybe just travelling into the nearest port town of Cambrils, which is about 15 minutes away. Of course it is the pools that the kids are most looking forward to enjoying and there are four of them so they won't be short of water-filled fun. This was in fact one of the main reasons we choose this particular site as the kids had such a ball in the water last year that I knew this would be what they would want to do at least 80% of the time. We just need to pray for some good weather now!
A post shared by Michelle Pannell (@michelletwinmum) on
Hello friends, welcome back to Reasons to be Cheerful, hosted here at Mummy from the Heart for the month of March.
How are you doing? I'm sorry I've been a bit AWOL from R2BC in February, life just seemed to get in the way and I haven't really blogged much for me, but I've been OK with that as it has given me time to be with the family, although the weather has prevented us doing anything too interesting.
We did have a fab day on Monday though as the conference centre where we live was closed and all the staff and community had a day together. We prayed, worshipped, sung gospel, danced salsa, did team games and ate lots and lots! Look at those muffins we decorated too!
Easter is on the Way!
Yesterday was the start of Lent, the period leading up to Easter where Christians shift their focus from self and external stuff and focus their thoughts on Jesus and what He did for us at Easter time. I don't much go in for the giving things up for Lent school of thought, although I definitely would if I felt something had an unhealthy hold over me. What I am doing is choosing to spend more intentional time with God each day, so my clock has been set half an hour earlier and I am doing a Psalms bible study as well as joining in with #40Acts, which is ll about being overly generous during Lent.
All booked up
I've just finished booking all the little bits and bobs that you need when travelling abroad, so this morning has been about hotels, car parking and airport transfers. Why did I need to book these things? Because we are off to Playa Montroig Camping Resort on the Costa Dorada, Spain late in May to review this holiday parc for Eurocamp.
I can't begin to tell you how excited we all are, as the parc looks amazing and the kids are really looking forward to trying out the four pools and five different water slides. Whilst I'm going to book into the spa one afternoon for a massage and manicure and my husband will be happy to explore the local area and practise his photography.
Time with my Hubby
Last Saturday my husband and I had an evening out together without the kids and it is so nice to be able to chat without constant interruptions. We didn't do anything massively glamorous (we went and reviewed a pub/ restaurants over in Brighton) but we had good food, a few laughs and a nice time together.
We also have this Saturday night together, as he got me tickets for Dirty Dancing at the theatre in Eastbourne for Christmas. I'm sure we'll have some food out too and I hope this will be a really nice evening together.
Fancy joining in?
That's it for this week, 3 short and sharp reasons to be cheerful and that was the basis of this linky when it started way back in January 2011. Everyone can join in, as when we dig deep there is always something to be thankful for and to give you even a hint of a smile! I'd love to read your Reasons to be Cheerful and it is as easy as 1, 2, 3 to join in -
1. Link up a post about something that is making you super happy/ grateful. It can be in this style or it can be anything you like - a recipe, a tutorial, a from the heart, a list - it's your blog, you choose
2. Add the #R2BC badge onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they fancy
3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and share with #R2BC
I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on twitter too
Wishing you an amazing week ahead. Be blessed, Mich x
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When Winter really hits and the gloomy weather arrives there is always one thing I want to do and that is book a holiday to look forward to in the Summer months. Up until last year that had meant a UK based holiday as we felt (at that time) it was the easier and more affordable option with younger children. Having now holidayed in Spain last year I think perhaps we had our blinkers on and should have been considering holidaying abroad with the kids from a much earlier age, as it truly was the best holiday ever.
Of course, this means that we can't go back to UK based holidays because as much as I love our coastline and think we have some magnificent places to visit you just can't guarantee the weather and seeing the joy on the kid's faces from spending every day in the pool last year is too much for me to ignore.
So this year we are heading off to Playa Montroig Resort on the Miami Platja, Costa Dorada, Spain with Eurocamp and we can't wait. I've heard so much about Eurocamp over the years and I hadn't investigated them as I didn't think they'd be for me as I don't do camping but wow, they have so much more than camping available. We are heading off to stay in a rather luxurious mobile home with a decked terrace for al fresco eating and drinking on those balmy evenings. I just can't wait and I'll be sharing more about our holiday choice in the months running up to our holiday in May but for today this post is about helping you select your ideal summer holiday too.
