If you want to see how long it would take to get to the Vendée from Calais, go to http://viamichelin.fr and type in your details. I would NOT do it in a day - that is if you and your family want to enjoy the journey and not take unnecessary risks as regards tiredness etc.

If you type in http://www.accorhotels.fr you will be able to access Ibis, Formula 1 and Etap hotels en route - but they only sleep 3 ... Etaps have an en-suite bathroom, F1s do not. You could also look up Mercure and Novotel on Accor's website ......... Novotel offer family rooms and usually a swimming pool, and the prices for 4 in a room are not too bad. Ibis and Campanile are reliable, but may only sleep 3 to a room. Ibis do good breakfasts (cold, not cooked) and they are NOT included in the room price.

If you can make your journey part of your holiday it's not a bad thing! Bring water and snacks!

I do hope you are planning to visit Futuroscope as part of your holiday ........ (near Poitiers) and there are even hotels close to or even in the park! Bon voyage!

I've answered nmy own question - have now booked Portsmouth - Le Havre so won't need a stopover.

Great! But it will STILL be a long day .... I know because I've done it once as a school exchange, and once on my own with the family. Please take advice about road conditions and have breaks every 2 hours or so. You may find that there are special events for youngsters at the motorway service stations en route - try googling BISON FUTE (the crafty bison) for help with your road planning as well as MICHELIN.

Ok - many thanks for the tips. I'll check out the links. We will be taking it nice and slow for safety and economical reasons.

Alsacienne - any ideas on places of interest to stop en route (off the motorway)? Just read another post reminding that the holiday starts when you leave home so would like some way to make the day of teh drive more interesting. Not looking for anything big - maybe a small town etc

Hi - you could be super sneaky!

If you contact Siblu holidays they I think they still offer a FREE 3 day stopovers at most of their parks for you to review the park and consider the oppertunity to buy a holiday caravan from them. If you look at the run from the Evandee to Calais you could break the trip in Normandy for a long weekend - it's a nice part of the world and could act as another part of the holiday.

We did this last year in late July, and then went back to the park in August for a paying week and endded up buying a caravan! That wan'nt supposed to happen. However there was no pressure from the sales people on site and it as the Litteau park is quite new (and un-developed) it might have places in their sales fleet for you to stay in that would break up your holiday / end it nicely.

Evandee to Normandy is no tolls, and about 250km, Normandy to Calais is about €20 in tolls and 350km.

Enjoy.

Steve, I will be answering your post in the very near future. I haven't forgotten.

Right Steve, here goes! I can't be too precise because I don't know whether you are intending to go south to the Vendée or west to Brittany. However I DO know that you are starting and ending your journey in Le Havre!!

Not too far from the port

Rouen - famous for burning Joan of Arc at the stake, the Cathedral, old Town, the famous Clock and the Ceramic museum might interest you.

Lisieux - if you are Roman Catholic - shrine of Ste Therese 'the little flower'.

Honfleur (east of Le Havre) beautiful old port and town.

West of Le Havre, especially good if you are visiting Brittany

Bayeux - the famous tapestry (really good audio guide for children) and the Cathedral.

Caen - abbeys, monuments and of course the D Day landings ....... you should try to visit the different beaches - Omaha, Sword, Juno and Gold - and the 360° cinema at Arromanches is excellent.

And if you get to Arromanches ............ you should try to do Mont Saint Michel, even if seen from the causeway. It does get HORRENDOUSLY packed with tourists and the main street is nothing but shops, shops and, did I mention it? SHOPS! You need to look at the tide tables or ask at a local tourist office (eg in Caen) to make sure you don't get cut off! (The car park is/was just outside the town next to the causeway on the sands!!) There are plans afoot to restrict the number of cars and tourists, and make you walk the length of the causeway, but if you have kids, go now and drive!!!

If you are going to Brittany, you might like to stop off and visit Dinan - charming inland Breton town - Dinard (much loved in the 1930s by the Brits because of its casino!!) a bit faded but none the less charming for that and St. Malo, a walled town with good atmosphere.

Don't forget to sample the cider (dry = brut, sweet = doux) especially if offered in bowl, seafood (including the famous oysters from Cancale) and the further west you go, crêpes (pancakes - with rye flour (farine au sarazin) for savoury pancakes, and the rest are sweet, with ordinary flour). Breton specialities also include Quatre-Quarts (four quarters), which is a rather heavy sponge cake, and Far Breton, which is either sponge or cooked pancake batter (clafoutis) with fruits ..... both rather heavy but good!

Moving south towards the Vendée

You could detour to take in Tours - old town and cathedral - and some of the Loire Chäteaux - in particular Blois, Amboise, Chenonceaux and Azay-le-Rideau.

Vouvray and Muscadet are local wines - both white. The Muscadet can be quite harsh - buy Muscadet sur Lie (a bit pricier, but smoother).

Now going further south - there is Poitiers and Niort with its 'Donjon' (fortified castle, NOT a dungeon per se but it probably has one too ...... I last visited it 40 years ago so am hedging my bets).

5 miles NORTH of Poitiers is FUTUROSCOPE - a theme park for cinema and scientific discovery. I'll let you find its website, but can assure you that it is EXCELLENT, but as a lot of the pavilions are white, it gets VERY HOT in summer so bring plenty of water.

How far into the Vendée do you intend to go? I can suggest visits to La Rochelle, and to its superb aquarium at Les Minimes, and sea food around the old port .......... bring a kite because the area is good for yachting ie wind!!! You could also visit the charming Ile de Ré (toll bridge!!), a boat trip inland on the Marais Poitevin, and perhaps a visit to the Puy du Fou spectacular (you'll need to find the website). Royan Zoo is good for youngsters, and the adventure series FORT BOYARD is filmed just off the coast of La Rochelle.

Pineau des Charentes, white, rose and red - fortified wines like sweet sherry but served iced - are great, Cognac (made locally ........ guess where!) are worth drinking and taking home. Try not to miss the traditional Vendéen Brioche (sweetened bread), which unlike the flower-pot shape adopted by the rest of France, is rectangular and plaited.

At present France is suffering from a lot of disruption from lorry drivers protesting about the high price of fuel Beware of long delays on motorways and in some towns, and listen out for 'operation escargot' (snail) when lorries block all carriageways of a motorway and travel in convoy at 20 kph, and also for 'barrage filtrant' when lorries block the run ups to toll booths, allowing only one lane of cars to pass, and that by snaking around the parked lorries, and generally holding up all the traffic. Hopefully this will all be resolved before the civil servants quit Paris in their droves on 10 July.

No point in going on holiday to one place - the routes to your chosen areas are full of things to visit!!

Excellent post Alsacienne. Thank you.

Alsacienne

Phew! Thank you so much for all that. Much to consider. We are actually going to St Jean de Monts so the places near le Havre & Caen are of most interest. Might consider breakfast in Honfleur after getting off the ferry.
Thanks again

Do consider stopping off at Futuroscope on the way home - I don't know of anything like it in Europe!