Tranquil Haven (La Croix du Vieux Pont Campsite)

Member Name: Dinkum

Product:	La Croix du Vieux Pont Campsite
Date:	30/05/06 (1889 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lot's to do, great for families, only an hour to Disney!

Disadvantages: None

We have stayed at this campsite on two occaisions. We booked our holiday via Canvas Holidays - the whole booking procedure was very easy and the staff on the phone were very helpful, we even booked our Disney passes in advance.

We travelled from the UK via the Channel Tunnel - was definitely worth paying a little extra for this express crossing. You then drive to the campsite - a pleasant, easy journey that takes about 2-3 hours. The roads are in excellent condition and the service stations on route are highly recommended.

On arriving at the campsite, you will notice the abundance of floar and fauna that is around the park - it really is very attractive. The area is also noticably very clean. You will find your holiday reps very easily as there are large signs pointing to their whereabouts.

The staff were very friendly and courteous at all times, they will lead the way to your accomodation and show you around, explaining how everything works, where to find things etc.

You can choose to stay in a Tent (not really recommended as these are known to let the rain in) or you have a choice of several different Mobile Homes. The first year we stayed in the Century Mobile (the 2nd best option)- this was a beautiful home with three bedrooms, nice living area, fitted kitchen and dining area - the Milennium and Century homes each have gas barbecues - the other choices have charcoal barbecues provided. There is also a table, chair and umbrella outside and a couple of loungers. Each mobile is set in a good sized piece of ground (placement) and are separated by hedgerows.

Our mobile home had everything inside that we could ever need - the beauty of the Millenium we stayed in during the second year was the dishwasher and the second bathroom! We were also lakeside in the second year - which was absolutely beautiful.

On site there is a wonderful pool complex that has constant observation from trained staff. The kids pool is fabulour with some small slides and fountains and is wonderfully warm. The indoor pool has a sliding roof above it which they open if the weather is hot. Some great slides at the pool complex. There is also a jacuzzi and an outdoor pool. Underneath the pool are changing rooms and showers.

The food at the restaurant is well prepared and fine to eat, but can be a little pricey. The take away (pizza, burgers, fries) is VERY expensive and to be honest not that great.

There is a little supermarket on site which stocks an adequate range, they also have beautiful fresh baguettes, croissants and pain au chocolat (and other breads and pastries) fresh daily. Well worth the walk in the morning to have these for breakfast.

There are babyrooms dotted around the complex which are always clean - these are fabulous for bathing baby - much easier than using the showers in the mobile homes. There are many laundry rooms on site, providing both washers,dryers and ironing boards. Tokens for these facilities must be purchased from the site office.

Also on site is a gorgeous lake. Fishing is allowed at te lake once a permit has been bought. You can also hire pedaloes and canoes for use on the lake.

For children most of the tour operators provide childrens clubs, the kids seem to love these and you often see the clubs out doing diferent activities. There is also a games room (pool tables and arcade games), bouncy castle, table tennis, tennis courts, trampolines, small fairground rides on site. We were wuite near these the second year but we never got any noise interference.

The site is situated in Vic-sur-Aisne a lovely little village (do not be put off by the sight of the sugar refinery as you approach VSA!)There is an Intermarche supermarket in the village - avoid it at all costs - its awful. Instead make the trip to Soissons (a ten minute car ride) and shop at Cora - its a fabulous supermarket selling everything! The cafe there is highly recommended too. You could also drive into Compiegne where there is a Carrefour - another very recommended supermarket.

The drive to Disney is easy and takes little over an hour. Parking at Disney is easy and plentiful - definitely take your own car - its not hard and much better than a coach trip. The site does however lay on coach trips to Disney - these get well booked, but may be better if you are nervous about venturing there in your car.

If you want to go into Paris for the day, book a coach trip at the site! We learnt from experience not to drive into Paris. We did it on one occaision and it was a nightmare. Parking is viryually impossible and french drivers are insane. They think nothing of bashing into your car to make a little extra space for themselves. The coach trip drops you off about ten minutes from the Arc De Triomphe and it just makes the day out so much more pleasurable. Whilst in Paris expect to be ripped off 16 euros (20 with the expected tip!!) for two cokes just because we could see the Eiffel Tower in the distance! I would recommend buying one of the city hopper style bus passes that takes you from attraction to attraction as you will never manage to walk to see them all.

All in all I would definitely recommend a holiday to this site (have only booked via Canvas Holidays and highly recommend them). The site is clean and very pretty, plenty to do and easily accessible from the UK in a day. Paris is close by as are various other places of interest like Reims, Pierrefonds, Compiegne, Soissons etc. A lovely place to tke the kids and the weather ain't bad either.

Summary: Idyllic, peaceful place for a wonderful holiday!