Enjoy the fun on a Eurocamp break

Are we there yet? came the familiar cry from our two sons in the back of the car.

Not for the first time I wondered-what we were doing driving hundreds of miles to a campsite on the Atlantic coast of France when we could quite easily have jumped on a plane to somewhere more accessible.

But in my relentless quest for the perfect family holiday I reminded myself that, on paper, Eurocamp seemed to have the perfect credentials. I silently prayed that this would be our holy grail. I wasn't disappointed.

The boys perked up as soon as we drew up outside our twobedroom Verona mobile home on our campsite in Jard-sur-Mer in the Vendee region. Within minutes they were playing football, leaving us to unpack in peace.

Les Ecureuils is a small and peaceful site set among tall pine trees. This being our first camping holiday, our mobile home, with its bathroom, hot and cold running water, cooker and fridgefreezer, ensured we didn't have to embrace fully the outdoor lifestyle by queuing for a shower, the lavatory or a bowl of washingup water.

However, we did spend a lot of time outdoors - even though it poured with rain.

Campers are a resilient bunch. At first I thought they were quite mad - they seemed oblivious to the weather. Even after six days of relentless rain, barbecues were sizzling and corks were popping. There was something quite magical about living al fresco in the dappled shade of pine trees. Best of all was the freedom for our sons, who are six and eight. Living in London, they get little opportunity to go off on their own. But in the safe surroundings of Les Ecureuils they had a ball.

Each morning Matthew and Dan went to buy fresh croissants from the camp shop and, while we lit the barbecue in the evening, they would go off to buy the chips from the takeaway - coming back an hour later with no change and a bag of cold chips, having been distracted by the games room on their return.

They made new friends every day - and so did we. Forgetting all about computers and Play-Stations, the boys spent their time exploring outdoors. We have never persuaded them to go to any kind of children's club but Eurocamp's Circus Club had a certain magic about it.

It was all about good oldfashioned fun - treasure hunts, water games, picnics and mini-Olympics - dreamed up by the charming and energetic young reps. We hardly saw the boys except when they needed food or money and, apart from the mini-golf (75p) and the ubiquitous games machines, they required little to keep them quiet. The local Super U supermarket provided an endless round of cheap amusements such as water pistols, badminton rackets and very cheap body boards - an essential accessory for sunny days on one of the area's spectacular beaches.

The Vendee is a large area about the size of Devon, just south of Brittany and Nantes and north of La Rochelle. With its small resorts and sandy, pinebacked beaches, it is particularly suitable for young families.

Jard-sur-Mer, a short walk from Les Ecureuils, is a pretty village with a picturesque harbour. Its old abbey, Notre Dame de Lieu-Dieu, was founded by Richard the Lionheart. There is a good range of shops, cafes and restaurants. The beach is rocky, but a few minutes' drive away is a nine-mile stretch of glorious clean sand.

Les Sables d'Olonne, to the north, is the smartest resort on the Vendee coast. Here you can visit the Parc Zoologique de Tanchet and see camels, kangaroosllamas and monkeys. There is also the Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Port, an excellent example of late Gothic architecture, and the Musee de L'Abbaye St-Croix, a 17th Century abbey with an impressive collection of contemporary paintings.

La Rochelle is the most attractive town on the coast between Nantes and Bordeaux, with its old fortified port, labyrinthine streets, ancient wooden houses and stately mansions. Nearby is Ile de Re, an unspoilt island full of vineyards, pinewoods and salt marshes.

Former French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau spent the last years of his life at St-Vincent-sur-Jard and here you can visit his home. The children, however, were more enamoured of the nearby rockpools.

For those who prefer history of the themed variety there is the Grand Parcours historical theme park at nearby Puy-du-Fou, where we enjoyed displays of falconry, jousting, magic and music amid an atmospheric reconstruction of a Norman fort, a medieval town and an 18th Century village.

At the other extreme there is Futuroscope, the European Park of the Moving Image just outside Poitiers. With its dazzling space-age buildings, stunning visual displays on huge screens and motion-simulator rides, this attraction made me long for the peace and quiet of the campsite.

Eurocamp offers great flexibility. Campers can arrive and depart any day of the week. Sites vary enormously in size and facilities offered. Not all have children's clubs, for example. You can break your journey by staying at other Eurocamp sites en route and you are provided with detailed route maps and information guides to help you find your way.

The only drawback was the long car journey.

On the way back, to pass the time, my husband played the boys some of his Beatles tapes. By the time I had endured them singing We All Live In A Yellow Submarine all the way to Le Havre I was asking them: 'Are we there yet?'

Getting there

Eurocamp (0870 366 7552 www.eurocamp.co.uk) offers seven nights' at Les Ecureuils from £581. This is for a family of two adults and up to three children travelling in one car and includes return overnight Portsmouth to Le Havre ferry crossings with cabins.