I’d not visited France for almost 10 years so I jumped at the chance to go when the Al Fresco Team got in touch to invite me to one of their holiday parks. This trip was supposed to go ahead last year but got cancelled due to covid (of course!) so I was keeping everything crossed that the rearranged dates would go ahead.
| AD – press trip |
Our trip with Al Fresco Holidays included the ferry crossing from Portsmouth to Caen as well as a week’s accommodation on one of their holiday parks in Normandy, in the north of France.
About Al Fresco Holidays
Al Fresco Holidays is one of the largest mobile home operators in the UK. They have over 17 years of experience and they are European specialists in mobile-home holidays with a wide range of top quality camping resorts.
They have holiday parks in France, Italy, Spain, Croatia, the Netherlands and Austria.
Portsmouth to Caen ferry crossing
This was my first time doing the Portsmouth to Caen crossing, however, I had done the Dover to Calais crossing before and travelled to France via the Eurotunnel and Eurostar. When I looked I was a bit concerned when I saw how long the crossing was – over 5 hours! – but I needn’t have worried.
We got the morning crossing which sets off at 8.15am. This meant that we had to set off from home at 2.30am!
I actually did quite enjoy this bit of the journey though as it did feel like a real adventure. In fact, it reminded me of school trips to France when we used to leave at midnight.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when we got to the port but the check in process was super easy and straightforward, all the signage and where to go was really clear.
We got on the ferry, left our Mini and then headed up to the top deck to watch the boat sail away. Once we’d waved goodbye to England, we headed off to get some food.
We treated ourselves to a full English (well, we were on our holidays after all!). The food was really reasonably priced and great quality. The portions were huge too – there was too much bacon for me to finish!
After this we headed to the lounge which has reclining seats and was almost empty. Here we put our heads down for a couple of hours and then I read some of my book as I was too excited to sleep!
After our naps we headed to the bar for a drink and then we were almost there. The time literally flew by.
The time was almost as long as a long haul flight but it was more bearable as you could walk around and go outside. On board there are a couple of restaurants, a bar, a shop and even a cinema.
On the way back there was also some entertainment on. There was a singer and then a quiz which we really enjoyed.
From the Caen ferry port it was then just a 40 minute drive to the holiday park along some easy roads so it was a nice introduction to driving in France.
Our mobile home
I love staying in self-contained accommodation and the mobile home we stayed in was fab. We stayed in the Azure.
It was super cosy and completely self-contained. It had three bedrooms, a shower room and separate toilet and a kitchen as well as a decking area to enjoy the outdoors.
Mobile homes are perfect if you are on a budget as you can make all your meals at home. We picked up fresh baguettes and croissants each morning from the shop on site at the holiday park, we had a couple of BBQs and we even had a baked camembert one night.
We loved the large decking area that was outside our mobile home. It was large enough for six people to sit out on and had a canvas roof so you could stay shady or even sit outside if it was raining.
We sat out here for all our meals (rain or shine!) and I also took a couple of conference calls here too!
Each mobile home on site also has its own gas BBQ. I thought this was a really nice touch as it saves you from having to buy your own charcoal and firelights.
It’s also quick to get it up and running and no hassle at all. We had a couple of BBQs while we were there and really enjoyed them.
The only negative was that it may be a little small for six people. If there are just two adults and four small children I think it would be fine but if there were more adults it might be a bit of a squeeze.
However, we found it super cosy and comfy and I got plenty of rest and relaxation alongside our exploring which is exactly how I think a holiday should be! On a side note, how cute are these PJs from IDentity Lingerie?
They offer high quality lingerie and gorgeous silk pyjamas like these ones which they sent to me to wear whilst I was away.
La Vallee holiday park
La Vallee holiday park in Normandy was brilliant – it has two heated pools (one indoor and one outdoor) and a water park with a five lane slide as well as a range of arcade games, table tennis, pool and petanque so there is plenty to keep both children and adults entertained. Bikes are available to hire too.
They also offer a range of activities and entertainment including concerts, treasure hunts and archery. There’s an on-site restaurant too which also offers a takeaway menu.
We enjoyed a pizza one night on our decking.
The outdoor pool was really big and I managed to get quite a few lengths in here throughout the week. It was a lovely temperature too – slightly heated but still refreshing when the weather was warm.
One thing which was a bit of a negative for me was that you needed to pay for wi-fi for the week and it was 25 euros, although this doesn’t work out too badly if you think of the price per day.
I think probably people stay here and spend lots of time with family and out and about as well as doing activities so there isn’t the greatest need for wi-fi but as I usually do some work during holidays, it is one thing that’s quite important to me.
Things to do in Normandy
We used to go to France a lot when I was younger but my last trip was almost 10 years ago to Paris and Disneyland Paris. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I immediately fell back in love with France.
I’m obsessed with how beautiful the buildings are and the beautiful streets with outside seating at every cafe and bar. There are two seaside resorts within walking distance of the holiday park and so we spent a lot of time exploring those before heading further afield.
Houlgate
Houlgate is the closest seaside town to the park and it’s about a 20 minute walk away. We spent a lovely day here exploring the streets and partaking in a couple of drinks at the bars on street.
You can hike up to the top of the town and enjoy the views over the sea too.
There are also a couple of bigger supermarkets here where you can stock up with food as well as a bakery where we got some delicious sandwiches and a patisserie where we picked up some beautiful macarons.
One day the weather was beautiful so we spent a day on the beach. It’s a really large beach with plenty of space to sit and enjoy and, as it was a Sunday, there were plenty of locals enjoying the beach too.
A little further along the beach are some clay cliffs which is nicknamed The Chaos. Here there are lots of fossils to be found and we spent some time looking on our last day.
We also walked into Houlgate one evening and had dinner at L’arbre a Pin. There is a lovely terrace outside overlooking the sea which is where we sat and the food was amazing.
We had moules frites and beautifully cooked tender steak and were super impressed.
Dives-sur-Mer
A little bit further away, along the coast from Houlgate is Dives-sur-Mer, a beautiful harbour town and seaside resort. It’s a lovely walk here along the path next to the beach.
You can also walk on the actual beach but be careful not to get cut off by the tide.
We enjoyed walking along the seafront and looking at the beautiful hotels here and we stopped for a drink at the harbour – it was the perfect setting for a glass of champagne! We also picked out which yacht we would have!
Landing beaches
Normandy is probably most famous as home to the D-Day landing beaches. The D-Day landings took place in June 1944 and they are the largest and most complex combined airborne and amphibious military operation of all time.
We were planning to see a couple of the beaches on one day and so we headed to the furthest away, Utah Beach first. There was so much to see here though that we never made it to the others!
Stretching from Sainte-Marie-du-Mont to Quinéville, Utah Beach was so codenamed by the US Army who were landing there. There is a huge beach which you can spend some time walking along, imagining what happened here as well as a museum full of artefacts from the time.
The museum also has some showstoppers including a plane, an alligator and a military jeep.
Once you’ve finished here you can head to the cafe for a bite to eat or a drink. We had a coffee here and it was lovely.
We had the most amazing holiday with Al Fresco Holidays and it really felt like a proper adventure since it was the first time we’d been able to get out of the country for 18 months.
I would definitely recommend Al Fresco Holidays if you love quirky accommodation and outdoor living. It’s the perfect base for exploring.
