Go beyond
MARTIN WELLS discovers an ideal family-friendly region just a little further south on the Atlantic coast
FOR years, the UK’s love affair with France has been conducted largely in three distinct, and very different, locations – Brittany, the Riviera and the Alps. Each has its appeal, of course, but if you’re not a skier, or a movie star, you will probably gravitate to Brittany.
With its delightful towns and villages, proximity to any number of Channel ports and countless leisure complexes devoted to young families, France’s most prosperous department wants for nothing as a holiday destination.
But let’s face it, you can’t keep coming back to Brittany every year. After all, France is a huge country and there’s so much to see, and so little time.
A few hours’ drive due south from Brittany, easily reached via the country’s excellent toll roads, is the Charente Maritime. Wilder, less developed, less commercialised but, if anything, more charming than its northern neighbour, the Charente is perfect for those with growing, more active families.
And if you – or your kids – have had enough of lounging by the beach and building sandcastles and feel like graduating to windsurfing, or paddle-boarding, this is the perfect place to do it.
The French, of course, have been coming here since La Belle Époque and a succession of beautiful seaside resorts strung along the hundreds of miles of spectacular coastline attest to its enduring appeal.
At La Palmyre, for instance, where we based ourselves for a week at the start of September, wonderful and quirky houses built around the turn of the last century nestle among the pine trees which fringe the sand dunes.
The town itself, a little sleepy after the end of the school holidays, offers dozens of these little delights and, if you’re a well-heeled businessman from Paris, Bordeaux, or La Rochelle just 25 miles to the north, these are where you will spend the summer.
When the weather’s fine, as it invariably is, you can join them promenading through La Palmyre’s tree-lined avenues, having care-free lunches at a plethora of stylish restaurants and dividing their time between the beach, the swish marina and the racecourse. But if your budget doesn’t stretch as far as a rented villa, a cluster of excellent holiday parks a couple of miles inland offers a more than adequate alternative – a luxury mobile home at a fraction of the price.
Les Charmettes, holiday company Siblu’s magnificent flagship development, boasts two separate pool complexes, spa and beauty centres, tennis courts, bars, restaurants and a bewildering array of other services for the whole family.
While you could easily spend your whole time at Les Charmettes, a bike, available to hire on site, is a useful accessory for exploring the locale. And once you’re mobile, an immaculate network of dedicated cycle paths opens up a whole array of other attractions, all within an easy ride.
La Palmyre’s zoo is a must-visit for those who enjoy seeing wild animals in this kind of environment but if you want to release your inner ape then Parc Aventure, close to the port, offers a terrific selection of zipwires and tethered treetop routes. Go even wilder with an off-road experience at Buggy Loisirs, a jetski at Oceanic or even a flight in a powered hanglider at Air Ocean.
The town also has a great selection of beaches but you have to go slightly further afield to get the real ‘sauvage’ Charente experience. The Ile d’Oleron, just half an hour’s drive to the north, is a magnet for surfers, windsurfers and body-