A family friendly French holiday! (La Croix du Vieux Pont Campsite)

Member Name: kirlykird

Product:	La Croix du Vieux Pont Campsite
Date:	15/01/09 (533 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: family friendly, services & location

Disadvantages: food & drink slightly pricey

We booked to stay at La Croix du vieux pont as a luxury tenting holiday. I call it luxury as we booked through 'Canvas' who are one of the camping companies available. This basically means that we get to choose our campsite and on arrival the tents will be already assembled and furnished. As we were traveling with eight year old twins and a two month old baby we wanted this trip to be as easy and stress free as possible.
We decided that we didn't want to drive too far so staying around the Paris area in the Ille de France region was a very good idea & this campsite looked like it was just what we needed.

*Arrival & check in*

We took the ferry from Calais to Dover (included in the Canvas price) & then had to drive across to Berny Riviere in which the camp site is located. We chose during our journey to avoid as many motorways and toll roads as possible and take in as much scenery and countryside as possible. It was a very pleasant drive and took us just over three hours to get there.
We arrived at the centre of Vic-sur-Aisne, the nearest town to La Croix du vieux pont and thought that the small town was very pretty with its small shops, chateau & fields and the campsite itself was only a few minutes down the road by car.
We found the reception area and promptly went to check in. The reception block was manned by very friendly staff who spoke a number of languages. We checked ourselves in and were given a map of the site and pointed in the direction of the canvas reps in order to find our accommodation. The reception area was clean and full of information about the local area, had safety deposit box facilities and currency exchange facilities available. We found the service here to be very good.

*Our tent*

We next headed over to the Canvas reps who took us to our tent. I was right to expect a luxury tent and that's just what it was. The tent was very large with a large lounge area with chairs and a light, a bedroom with two single beds, a light & a clothes rail and a bedroom with a double bed, a light and a clothes rail. The best par of this tent was of course the kitchen area. We had four hobs and a grill, a working area with cupboards filled with crockery, cutlery, glasses, cooking pots and utensils, everything that we need really for comfort and ease. There was also a fridge which came in very useful especially with the warm weather. Outside, we had a large pitch area and this was located ideally opposite the river. There was a table with six chairs outside, ample parking and we were positioned right next to the water supply.
Behind us there were just trees so no fear of noise from too many neighbours!
We had two toilet, shower & washing up blocks within 2 minutes walk from our tent which both had good baby changing facilities available.
We were not disappointed so far.

*The site facilities*

Shops~

There were a number of facilities available on the campsite with one of my favourite being the bakers. The bakery is open at 7am each morning with fresh baguettes baked on site along with pastries such as croissants, pain au chocolat and pain au crème. Next door there is a very well stocked shop. In comparison to many other camp sites in which I have stayed, this shop had everything and wasn't too expensive either but still not as cheap as the supermarket. (We found however, that just down the road in the car was the local Champion supermarket which was substantially cheaper) There was also a gift shop on site which sold local souvenirs and children's toys.

Food & drink~

The site has its own restaurant with a good range of different foods on the menu plus a good children's menu. The restaurant is very cosy with open fires but we found that in high season, tables were only available with a reservation.
The bar area sits next door to the restaurant and has a terrace area, an upstairs area plus a downstairs area where entertainment and discos take place. There are a good variety of drinks and ice creams available here and a perfect place to stop after a swim.
On the subject of ice cream, over towards the lake, there is also a little café which sells mainly ice cream, crepes and waffles. This was a big it with our children of course!
The site also has its own take away which offers a selection of pizzas, burgers & general fried foods. It was a little over priced and not the tastiest of foods, however it was always busy.

*The campsite*

There are a large amount of things that can be done on this site and it is huge!

Swimming ~

There are three swimming pools and one has water slides which are great fun. One pool is outside and the other two are indoor pools and both pools are manned by life guards during their opening hours.
The children's indoor pool was heated to a very nice temperature and if it got too warm inside, the glass roof could be opened up. The adult pool was a little cooler but not uncomfortably so. There are sun loungers around all of the pool areas which were nice to be able to relax and watch he children play when you have had enough for the day. My personal favourite on the adult pool site was of course the Jacuzzi, always good to have some time to relax!
In the middle of the site, there is a man made lake for swimming with a man made beach which was a popular place for many children and their families.

Lakes~

There are a number of lakes throughout the site. As mentioned above one is for swimming, some are not useable and house the geese and ducks but the largest is available for fishing and the use of the pedal boats.
These are a very prominent part of the site and add beauty to the surroundings.
There are many sports and entertainment facilities available on the site with most having a small charge. These include:

Bicycle hire
Tennis
Table tennis
Gold
Pony club
Archery
Multi sports field for football, basketball, hand ball etc...

There are many entertainment facilities in addition to these for the children such as trampolines, bouncy castles, go karts, and two large adventure playgrounds which I think my husband enjoyed just s much as he children if not more!

As a special treat for us mums visiting the site, there is also a beautician on site which such treatments available as facials, massages and sun beds. This is a lovely treat if you can stretch your time and budget to do this.

The site had many forms of accommodation from ready erected tents, peoples own tents, chalet homes, caravans and a number of gites. There is a form of accommodation for everyone.

There are a number of walkways and beautiful areas to be explored in the camp site alone, there will never be a shortage of something to do & if you really can't fill your time with the beautiful surroundings, a large stash of board games are available with the reps at the different campsite companies located on site.

*Location*


Situated in the simple charm of the countryside, this site is just over an hour from Paris. If being so close to Paris, you wish to try Disneyland Paris then an excursion can be booked from reception to take you there and back. Only a ten minute walk from site is the typical provincial town of Vic-sur-Aisne, the village square surrounded by bakeries, restaurants and bars. The town of Soissons, a 15 minute drive, has the nearest train station and offers many supermarkets, shops, bars and restaurants. We visited Soissons a few times and we took many drives out into the beautiful surrounding countryside particularly to explore the local villages and towns. One of our favourite places that must be visited within the region is he historic town of Reims with its beautiful cathedral but far more famous for being the home of champagne. There are many champagne tasting places around here and in Reims itself, a multitude of specialist wine & champagne shops, a wine lovers paradise!
*Price & value*

The reason that we chose to book through Canvas is that we received an early booking brochure through the post & with all of the discounts, our 10 night stay which included site amenities, tent pitch and ferry crossing was just over £300. This was perfect for us considering what would be ready and provided for us when we arrived. This holiday was certainly worth this money as we found his year that return ferry crossings alone start from £100!

*Will we return?*

Yes, we certainly will do. This was a perfect campsite for a holiday rather than just a driving stop over. We found the facilities and services to be very good and of a high standard. The site was very family friendly and it was no problem at all being here with a baby as everything that we needed was catered for.
I would most certainly recommend this site as good value for money and would urge anyone thinking of a family holiday to France to give this a go!

Summary: well worth a visit & will return again