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This half term we decided to head back to France and spend a week exploring the south coast of Brittany with our three children. We booked into La Grande Métairie in Carnac for another week of adventures.

NB Emma & Ian and family were hosted by Eurocamp but all views and opinions are their own.

Last May half term we went to La Vallée in Normandy with Eurocamp and loved the flexibility that the campsite offered with plenty to do onsite and off.

We packed up the car and tried to get our excited children to sleep before setting off for our Brittany Ferries ferry from Portsmouth around midnight. As we travelled down the kids dozed whilst we were treated to an amazing thunder storm. As this is the 2nd year of taking the ferry we decided to chose a quick ferry sailing of three hours straight to Cherbourg and then a slightly longer drive on the opposite side. The ferry was great fun and really easy to do. We arrived at La Grande Métairie at 3.30 pm so we were able to check in and go straight to our accommodation. You can park right outside the accommodation which makes unloading easy.

We all piled into the mobile home which was clean and tidy and excitedly unpacked to find our swimming costumes before heading up to the pool. The site is classed as a medium size. We were also placed right at the far side of the campsite so it was a good ten minutes walk with the kids up to the pool and activity stations where the kids clubs are situated.  Some people did decide to drive up and back each day to get round this but we had taken the children’s scooters so they enjoyed whizzing up and down on them.

The pool at La Grande Métairie itself was split into different sections so our younger two could play in shallow water and the eldest could practice his swimming in deeper water. The outdoor pools are brilliant with a lazy river that you could take blow up rings or floats on. There were also two types of water slide which the kids and I loved.  The weather was fantastic on the first day but as is usual the kids got a bit cold so we moved to the indoor pool which was also good. However, later on during the middle part of the week the weather took a turn for the worse and the outdoor pool became a bit too cold to use so everyone piled into the indoor pool and it did get a bit hectic at times.

Back at the accommodation, which was a three bedroom Avant mobile home, we settled down for our first evening meal and a family game of cards. This became our evening ritual for the rest of the week and it was lovely to sit outdoors together and enjoy some quality family time. The mobile home was spacious enough for the 5 of us and had everything we needed to cook, keep it clean, BBQ and store our things. The beds were comfortable and the decking area outside with patio table and chairs meant we could make the most of eating outdoors. We found the addition of a dishwasher in the kitchen area very useful too!

Unlike last year at La Valle we hadn’t planned many days out and wanted to relax around the site making use of the kids clubs and the pool. Eurocamp have a good selection of kids clubs which allows children from 6 months to 17 to be entertained. Our children are 3, 5 and 7 years so we used the mini fun station a lot which is aimed at children from 6 months to 5 years.  This offers age appropriate games and activities but due to their age parents have to stay with them.

Our 5 year old was also able to go to Leo’s fun station for children aged 4-6 and our eldest went Mac’s Fun Station for children aged 7-9. With both older classes you can sign your children in for two hours and gave us some time to relax with our youngest. During the well structured sessions our children tried land zorbing, balance bikes, bikes, treasure hunts, mini olympics and many more things. All the sessions were well organised and the staff were fun and approachable and our children loved going.

The timetable at La Grande Métairie was set for the week so we could plan what sessions we wanted to do and then look for days out around that. We did enjoy walking around the Kermario standing stones which are literally next to the campsite and having a crêpe in a little cafe.

As well as the pool complex, La Grande Métairie has two park areas and a games room for entertainment. Our children really enjoyed the park areas and they were suitable for their ages. The games room had some arcade machines, air hockey, table football and table tennis. Again our children enjoys playing on these. Our only disappointment was that the onsite petting zoo is not really a petting zoo. Signs discouraged you from feeding the animals and there didn’t appear to be any organised sessions to allow the children to go and stroke or feed the animals.

As per previous years we decided to take a good stock of food and drinks with us so our first few days were really easy and we didn’t have to race off to the supermarket. You can see what we usually take in our Eurocamp Packing List here!

The site shop is well stocked but, in our opinion, over-priced. We only used it for water and in the morning for pain au chocolate, croissants and fresh bread, which were delicious!at La Grande Métairie is situated a few miles from the nearest town and I wouldn’t suggest trying to walk there, but having our own car meant that the journey to the supermarket was fairly straight forward. We could fill up the decent-sized kitchen in the mobile home so we didn’t need to go more than twice.

At La Grande Métairie there is a restaurant, bar and take away. The restaurant seemed to be quite pricey, certain beer is and although we there in peak season it didn’t open until 6.30 pm. The bar opened at about 5 pm so there was nowhere to get food or drinks outside of the accommodation whilst the kids were at the clubs which we would’ve liked to do (perhaps this might be different in summer).

Overall, La Grande Métairie isn’t going to rank as one of our favourite Eurocamp sites but the week was relaxing and enjoyable with enough for our children on site thanks to the pool facilities and the kids clubs and we were impressed with the Avant mobile home.

Thanks to Eurocamp for hosting us at La Grande Métairie.

Why not PIN this post about La Grande Métairie