We were in St Cyprien, which is next to Argeles, 2 years ago when our daughters were 19 months and 4 3/4 and we had a great holiday. A couple in our church have a house there and they leant us it. We took them to Carcasonne where the older one loved exploring the castle with her dad while I wandered with the little one in her buggy. Collioure was beautiful and we had a couple of wonderful lunches there. The beaches in the area tend to be gritty but we had a great holiday there.

Stayed on the Cote d'azur once, at a site called

Camping Du Pylone

A couple of km outside of Antibes, small but friendly site, and very handy (5 mins walk) from the railway line going along the coast, so you can visit Antibes, Menton, Monaco, Nice, and even pop into Italy

Same coast as Grimaud, maybe ... but a lot of different things to see

Thanks Elaine and CiderMonster. I'm starting to think we should go to Languedoc Rousillon, as I keep seeing lots of nice things about the scenery.

We'd like to be walking distance from a beach but we prefer smaller sites (did a big one this year and didn't like it very much).

Trouble is, I'm too demanding... I want a site that's close to the beach with a kids club and pool for my 5 year old, but I want a quiet site with little or no evening entertainment or discos so I can sit outside under the stars with a peaceful glass of wine (or two!) in the evening.

Can I avoid big sites with loud entertainment and discos or are they inevitable??

Thanks for your help

http://www.brasilia.fr/uk/bra-t1200.php

Hard to beat this campsite. It has everything for a family holiday. A bit more expensive that ones in the area but well worth it. Loads of activities every day for kids.

Hi Sarah,
Have just returned from another holiday from France & found your post; I would recommend LR over cote d'azur . Not sure which type of accomodation you are looking for ( campsite/gite/villa etc ) but would highly recommend a town not far from the boarder called 'Collioure' ( may not be quite correct with the spelling ). If you are campsiting it I would recommend Le Bois de Valmarie, & this also has a fantastic pool complex, is easy reach of a ( corse ) sand beach & is nice & relaxed. Cote d'azur is great but difficult with traffic in peak season & a bit more expensive.
Good luck
mitch

Sarah

I would agree with the previous comments about Bois De Valmarie. a really nice quiet site with a great pool complex, bar restaurant and close to a beach and a Marina with bars and restaurants. Was there in early July and had a great time. Only about 180 mobiles on site and the atmosphere was lovely. Barbecued most nights and had a few quiet drinks outside. No yobbishness or discos/karaoke etc just nice and relaxed.

Next year going to La Brasilia having read great reviews of it and having been to the area where it is located.

We have been to Languedoc and Cote d'Azur and much prefer Languedoc. For one thing, the roads are emptier. We stayed at Domaine des Naiades a couple of years ago, quite a nice campsite but didn't like quite long walk to the beach down a busyish rather unpleasant road and found it almost impossible to drive anywhere (July). The coast road (the only road) is one long traffic jam from 8.30am for most of the day, took ages even to get to the supermarket a couple of miles away. Languedoc is windier (which can be an advantage or disadvantage), has emptier roads, good beaches, good food, less expensive restaurants. Less glamorous too I suppose, but it's all down to personal taste in the end.

Strangely my experience of the roads is the opposite. We have been to Cap D'arge in LR and basically couldn't get out of the resort or into any of the others because of traffic without hours of queueing. Whereas two holidays in the Cote d'azur (Monaco and Menton) we have had no problems visiting anywhere apart from once trying to stop in Ez as it was in the middle of the day. We went back on another day early and there was no problem. The Cote d;azur also has a very good rail service linking all the coastal resorts with very reasonable fares (compared to the UK).

However both areas are beautiful and both are worth a visit.