The great escape to France has begun, with the lure of good weather and cheap wine. We were one of the many families who fell under the spell, packed the car and headed for the continent in aMPV loaded to the gills.
In fact it was so well packed that I feel a Noble Prize is in order. The 680-mile round trip from Roscoff to the campsite at Palmyre Loisirs (just South of La Rochelle) on paper looked stressful.
Transporting a young family in a car can is a supreme test of nerves. With patience and good planning the dreaded words "Are we there yet?" need never be spoken even when you have to cover 340 miles before dark on the wrong side of the road.
With three kids ranging from seven months to six-years-old and their mum to be accommodated, I set about selecting a large vehicle up to the task. A people carrier was the obvious choice and feeling particularly indulgent I decided an automatic would be the most stress free choice.
A diesel-fuelled ('Gazole' in France) car makes most sense when high mileage has to be done, but a 2.4-litre petrol Toyota Previa was offered. It featured an automatic gearbox, cruise control, air conditioning, sliding rear doors and a vast interior that made the 28 miles to the gallon average consumption seem very acceptable.
We went on a camping holiday to France a couple of years ago with a major recognised holiday company just like many first timers. This time around as veterans, we sought out the more elusive bargain and tracked a great one down online at www.hellofrance.ie We booked our holiday online and the price paid included the mobile home, ferry crossing, cabin and travel insurance. The bill for five including baby to travel came to €1,375, roughly saving about €1,000 off the usual high street price.
Crossing times vary depending on the departure port and ship. Allow roughly 17-18 hours on board when travelling to France from Rosslare. If that is too slow and you can travel out on a Saturday (and return on a Saturday) Brittany Ferries sail out of Cork with a new vessel called Pont Aven.
It can race to France in just 11 hours in high season or a couple of hours longer in low season. Be warned, lanlubbers, the sea can get a little rough a few hours out from France. The Irish Ferries sailing gave us more days in France so we went out and back on the Normandy.
A cabin is essential when travelling with children, as it is true that no one gets seasick when asleep. Our four-berth had two loos and showers.
On board accommodation varies from reserved seating up to 4/5 berth suites. Our travel company offered a range of accommodation by way of cash supplement payable when booking. The amount varies depending on season from €10 for a reserved seat to €249 for the best cabin with TV in high season.
The outward accommodation was fine but on the return leg the cabin smelt of damp. The Normandy has a cinema and a rather limited small kids soft play area. The planning stage for any motoring trip involves many things, but most importantly all documentation must be in order, things such as driver's licence and insurance certificate plus, in my case as I was not the owner of the car, a letter from Toyota giving me permission to use it.
Headlight "beam converters" are essential for night driving plus a first aid kit is advisable. Tyre weld spray, a warning triangle plus a few tools (if you're so inclined) make a lot of sense.
Remember that if you get a puncture you'll have to get to the spare wheel and jack so pack accordingly. Top up your breakdown service cover as well.
However, it may be worth checking with your holiday insurance firm for offers as well as the AA and RAC. The best advice here is to shop around.
Remember to load your overnight Ferry bag last. If you bring a bike rack you'll need to mount an extra number plate if the bikes obscure the car's one.
Map reading can wreck marriages, so a good back-up to have is a printout of the route taken from one of the many free 'Route Finders' on the Web. These simple finders just require the user to enter a departure point and destination and hey presto! they'll deliver a detailed printable itinerary.
The RAC and AA websites provide the service but I found www.mappy.fr was particularly good as it showed the actual road signs plus positions of any speed radar traps along my chosen route.
French speed limits are sensible with 130 kph being the toll motorway limit. Be warned - you can be fined for speeding when you present your ticket at the end of a stretch of motorway if the elapsed journey time shows you were travelling significantly faster than 130Kph. Generally anything up to 10 kph above the limit is ignored. If the roads are wet the speed limit drops from 130 to 110 kph. Most dual carriageway is 110 kph (90 kph in the rain).
Road signage in France is superb. The French firmly put our local authorities to shame.
The cheapest fuel is found at supermarket forecourts and not on the main routes. We saved up to 10 cent a litre in places. In France on Sundays and Bank Holidays most fuel outlets are open but unattended, and while this is no problem for credit card carrying French who use a PIN number, I found out the hard way - after a long queue with the car full of tired passengers - that my Irish card and PIN number wasn't in the system.
Rest stops, which we made every two hours, were a pleasure as tailored made lay-bys with loos, picnic tables and even kids playgrounds abound.
A few great in-car gadgets from camping stores proved very useful. The best was an electric cooler box that ran off a 12-volt socket.
We were able to keep baby food and drinks chilled while exterior temperatures reached 30 degrees.
One device that I now can't live without is a travel converter. It changes the DC (direct current) from your car battery to AC 220 volts (alternating current) therefore allowing anything with a three-pin plug to run off the car's 12 volt socket.
My laptop, video games and even a standard domestic kettle could all be plugged in and used in the car.
Over the two weeks we clocked up 1,500 miles. I now can recite The Wizard of Oz and other kids books from memory as we had stocked up on them prior to departure.
Art materials like "megasketchers" and "fuzzy felt" also kept the kids amused and ultimately the adults stress-free. Also the unique nature of the journey makes getting there part of the holiday.