Stayed here for 2 weeks in July 2007 with wife and 2 children. First time to Le Chaponnet, booked through Camping Life. We were in a static mobile home, which was excellent; clean, airy, comfy and contained more than we expected in terms of equipment, fridge/freezer, utensils etc. There are 320 pitches, probably split 50/50 statics/tents and touring caravan pitches. Although I wasn’t in a tent, I was impressed with the size and privacy offered to each pitch. The site must have been there for many years as there are very mature hedges and trees, and it is these hedges that are used to divide up the pitches. So much nicer than fences! Finding the place was easy; we drove from Caen via Nantes and headed toward St Gilles Croix De Vie, a lovely town with at least a dozen restaurants, several supermarkets, post office etc. Also has a very popular market on several days of the week. Le Chaponnet is in Brem-Sur-Mer, equidistant between St Gilles and Les Sables d’Olonne. Good points; +· Definitely an excellent aqua complex. The pool is clean, has a lifeguard and is well controlled, open 10am till 8pm. It is very well fenced in all round, and entry and exit into the pool area is only possible through one gate with a good childproof lock on it. Men can wear swimming shorts, no need to wear tiny Speedo trunks here if you don’t want to! A big sized swimming pool, a pool for the flumes, and a small baby pool. +· Security of the site seemed good, barrier access operated by a key fob issued on arrival. No problems in the evening or at night with noise from other campers, teenagers, drunks etc. Visible site security in the evening. +· On-site bar just the right size for the site, reasonably priced, popular with all the people situated near us. Open till at least 11.30pm, later at weekends. Entertainment laid on about 6 nights out of the time we stayed. About half of the area given over to a restaurant, nice pizzas, popular with holidaymakers. +· Very short walk to a super butchers, bakers, newsagent and snack bar in Brem. Lidl walkable in about 10 mins. +· Would be a good base for exploring surrounding area of the Vendee. +· Any staff we had reason to speak with (bike hire, tourist information etc) were very helpful and friendly. Also great with the children (10+11) who were able to go to the pool, games room, shop by themselves and we were not at all concerned re safety due to the layout and friendliness of the staff. +· Barbecues are allowed on the site, small gas barbecues are provided with each static. Campers used communal barbecue area, seemed popular and just have to buy the charcoal and the steaks! Not-so-good points; -· No beach close by, sea is about ½ mile away. We knew this from the brochure, took 5 mins to drive to one of the best beaches you could imagine. Some other points; * The vast majority of people on the site were French, probably about 80%. Next biggest groups were the Irish and the Dutch. Didn’t see any English in 2 weeks, met two other Scottish families. * The site runs it’s own kid’s club. The leader is French with a Dutch girl helping her. My two loved it although think by the 2nd week they were less enthusiastic, possibly they repeated the same activities, I’m not sure. * Due to the lack of British tourists the bar was more an area for entertainment and socialising, with alcohol taking 2nd place to that. Not unusual to see families at a table for a whole evening without any alcoholic drinks, ourselves included. Mainly wine if anyone was drinking. * I visited 3 local wine caves with tasting sessions always available. Excellent taste, great prices. This was our 2nd visit to this area, stayed in St Gilles last year. This year hardly left the campsite as the pool was so nice and the weather so warm. Should mention we had no problems with traffic jams, although I think I am right in saying that the second two weeks in July beats the UK masses! Highly recommended and very French!
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