My kids first trip abroad and first time on a plane! Kaelan needed some convincing as he got himself worked up beforehand about plane crashes and separation anxiety from his mother but we managed to drag him along and he loved the plane! He was giggling as it took off. I wasn’t! I had to hold his hand more for me than him.. My first experience of a Eurocamp too. We went to the campsite, Le Vieux Port in Messanges, Landes, South Western France which is a 5 star camp site on steroids but very affordable for a week. We flew into the small Biarritz airport then got a large, expensive taxi (booked through Ryanair) to the camp site which took about an hour. There aren’t really any other viable ways to get from the airport to the camp site sadly as it’s all pretty rural. That’s the only real drawback.
There was a 40C heatwave on arrival which made checking in and finding the cabin difficult but we got sorted and down to the multi pool area as quick as possible to cool off. Later that night in the early am we experienced a thunderstorm like no other. Constant, violent thunder rolls and lightning strikes with seriously heavy rain and winds knocking the huge pine cones off nearby trees onto our cabin roof very loudly. Being in a forest in the middle of a storm is not ideal but we survived the night and next morning it was as if nothing happened! Back to calm and sunshine. Mornings were a highlight, Kaelan and Joanne would get up before everyone else and cycle down to the market for fresh croissants, meats, cheeses and fruit and we’d have a lovely breakfast out on the decking before our hard days work at the pool!
The cabins at Le Vieux Port are very amply equipped. 3 bedrooms easily accommodated the 6 of us with plenty of kitchen and living room space as well as outdoor decking but there’s many types of cabin and tents. The pool area is what it’s all about here though. A short cycle to there and you have access to a wave pool, a main pool shaped like a pirate boat, kids pools and water play zones, a surf pool, tons of slides of varying heights and scaryness, a restaurant/bar, market and loads of lounge areas. The restaurant food was lovely if a little expensive. They also serve take away pizzas. There’s also tennis courts, table tennis, volleyball, boules and playgrounds.
The nearby Messanges beach is also easily reachable by bike or on foot and is very long and beautiful but a little wild for swimming.
