Homer Numan

Homer Numan

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Vacances En France















Our family faces a dilemma every year.

My personal idea of a holiday is good food, good wine and a lot of chilling out.

My family's idea of a holiday is twenty gos on the fastest rollercoaster in the biggest park, before climbing a mountain and abseiling back down.

So this year we thought we'd try a compromise.

Keycamp operate lots of holiday centres around France and to a large extent allow you to pace your own holiday.

We stayed in Chateau Des Ormes, in northern Brittany, an area renowned for it's seafood, wine and slightly dodgy weather.

Flying in to the tiny Rennes airport, we collected an Avis hire car. Things started badly for some of our fellow travellers when their car wouldn't start. I'm sure that one had been meant for us.

We tootled off up the road trying to concentrate on driving on the right while attempting to understand the local road signs.

Eventually we arrived at the campsite and were allocated a caravan -- one of those ones with walls so thin you need to be careful where you point in case your finger goes through.

I won't say there was a noise problem but one morning I woke up to the sound of someone farting outside. So far so charming.

The site had plenty of facilities for kids -- two great swimming pools, bungee trampolene, zipwire, scary looking obstacle course in the trees, horse riding, cycling, golf, tennis, you name it. All unfortunately not included in the price, but hey Mr.Wallet was here so no problem. Ahem.

We spent quite a bit of time off site, visiting the quaint little French town of Dol-De-Bretagne several times. Great little shops, restaurants and of course an internet cafe, one of life's little essentials.

The language barrier could be a problem -- I ended up with a large plate of ten shellfish covered in green garlic gloop. Despite the rather worrying sight of the proprietor's wee dog wandering in and out of the kitchen, I survived this meal intact.

It wasn't until later in the week that we found the ultimate gastronomic experience -- a restaurant called L'Auberge something. You can tell I was paying attention.

This place was a converted farmhouse complete with huge charcoal grill over an open fire and a large amount of local diners, always a good sign.

A nice bottle of Rose wine went down a treat along with a gorgeous helping of pikeperch, followed by creme brulee. If I'm ever given just one evening to live, this is where I want to spend it.

The pace of life tended to be laid-back -- fancy some shopping in the early afternoon? Sorry we're all closed for a two hour lunch break. Fancy some food while you're waiting? Sorry the restaurants are all full because the shop workers have all piled in at once. Or my particular favourite -- the restaurant that was closed for lunch.

Back to the campsite -- the kids club proved popular. We ended up going for lunch with one of the other families -- a brave single mum with three kids in tow. They came from the Isle Of Man so of course I had to ask if they knew Samantha Barks. And of course they did. So here is a photo of a girl who got to meet Samantha together with a girl who got to do 27 shows with Rachel. I'll let you decide who got the better deal.


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