We spent a week in Normandy for Easter. The weather was unseasonably warm and there was plenty to occupy the kids.
We travelled from Portsmouth to Ouistreham with Brittany Ferries. We booked a cabin because it was a 5.30 am start, and thought the kids might have a sleep! Unfortunately they were over excited by the boat trip and wouldn't nap.
There was a balloon modeller who entertained the children for an hour, so the journey went quite quickly.
We stayed in a house in a village near Vire in the Calvados region of Normandy.
It was very rural and we had plenty of opportunities to meet the local wildlife. We caught some tadpoles in the stream running along the side of the house. Normandy is famous for its cheese and cream, so you'll see cows everywhere.
Here are some of the places we visited over the week.
Le village enchante, Bellefontaine
We arrived at Le village enchante at 10am, on the first day of the Easter holidays. There was no-one parked in the car park, so I walked round to the entrance to check it was open, it was luckily, so we paid (€9.50 per person, under 2's free) and went in.
We had the whole park to ourselves for about an hour, before a couple of other families arrived. You can operate some of the rides yourself like the little train and a carousel. The aerial forest walkway was really good for the whole family, even Nanny and Grandad. There was plenty to do, so we stayed for most of the day. One of the best things was, we had the whole park practically to ourselves and didn't have to queue for anything.
Carole Plage
Carole beach was perfect for rock pooling, there's plenty of sand and wide open space to run around in, It's worth remembering in France that everything shuts for a long lunch including shops. We did have a very long wait for lunch in O Gal'eau, so I had to take my pizza to eat on the beach, as the kids had been served much earlier than us.
La cote de Nacre, Saint-Aubin-Sur-Mer
As part of our trip, we were able to borrow a motorhome and drove up to the North coast of Normandy. We stayed for two nights at La Cote de Nacre, a five star campsite close to the Normandy landing beaches. It's a short walk from Saint-Aubin-sur-mer where you can admire the rococo art deco villas as you stroll to the beach.
The well looked after site has a good pool complex, with an indoor pool (essential for this part of France), and a playground with 2 bouncy castles, there was also a 10 minute mini disco.
Some of the places I had on our list to visit, but didn't have time to were:
Mont-Saint-Michel
No holiday in Normandy is complete without a trip to Mont st. Michael. We drove past the castle in the sea on the way to Carole and Chloe thought it was a Mermaid castle! It's a bit of a struggle with a buggy, because of the steps and steep narrow paths, so if you can't do without one, it's worth visiting when your children are a bit older.
Festyland Park
Festyland is a large theme park near Caen.
Zoos
There were two zoos on my list to visit, the Zoo de Jurques, because the reviews say you can get really close to the animals, and another zoo in the area Zoo de Champrepus.
Normandy is great if you want to get your kids outside, a real breath of fresh air! It's the perfect antidote to city life.
Nature & Nurture 