BY TIM HEDGLEY, GROUP TRAVEL EDITOR
OVER the next few weeks you are going to hear a lot about football and no doubt the amazing win in Lyon by Northern Ireland.
I’m in France but I’m not actually here for the Euro’s as my trip here was arranged long before any of the Irish teams qualified. There are many people who like football, but not enough to go and follow the teams and I suppose I’m one of them.
My reason for coming was to try out some alternative accommodation in France, as I knew nearly all the hotels would be fully booked over the Euro 2016 campaign.
So I did a bit of surfing on the web and came up with the Les Castell camping website. At the time Les Castel was founded caravanning was considered to be a bit crazy, whilst camping at a château has proven to be a resolutely visionary idea and has withstood the test of time.
It all began in 1959 when Georges Pilliet founded the “Les Castels” association with the goal of encouraging château owners to open up their properties to campers in order to promote, maintain, preserve and share an endangered heritage.
He thus created the first outdoor hotel chain whose main values were the setting, courtesy, comfort and tranquillity.
If being imitated is proof of a good idea, committing to continuity is the demonstration that the values that embody the chain are unique and are especially sought after today.
For over 50 years, while preserving the values it is so attached to, the chain has evolved by combining tradition and modernity with the on going concern for meeting the needs of today’s vacation.
In 2016, the Castel’s family includes 39 independent and dedicated owners who have opened up their family estates to outdoor tourism. The Castel’s campsites are located amidst some magnificent landscapes.
They’re also the expression of a preserved heritage; historic properties where hundred-year old trees thrive, where water runs peacefully, where the word ‘picturesque’ takes on all its meaning, human activity blends in perfectly with nature…and where you’ll experience one-of-a-kind holidays.
When you stay at a Les Castel’s campgrounds, you often have “front row seats” to veritable “postcards,” breath-taking panoramas and idyllic backdrops that make you daydream.
On my month long adventure visiting campsites in France I had to get the ferry over to France and found it a lot more difficult than I expected. All ferry bookings to France from Ireland had been taken by the intrepid football green and white armies.
I did the land bridge via Dublin-Holyhead with Stena Line and Plymouth to Roscoff with Brittany Ferries.
My good friends at Stena line and www.aferry.co.uk where invaluable in giving me assistance to get across the pond to France.
Both crossings were extremely comfortable and luckily my crossings were calm.
After my 0800 arrival in Roscoff my first campsite on my Les Castel trail was Domaine de l’Orangerie de Lanniron near Quimper in Brittany.
Mobile homes with wooden terraces featuring 2 and 3 bedrooms to rent. Exquisite surroundings in an old manor house and wonderful caravan pitches with electricity and water giving you all the comforts.
This is campsite is totally tranquille, all you can hear are birds singing and the odd vehicle passing by to fill another superb camping space.
For most of us, that is the one’s without the £100,000 motorhomes, the toilets and washing facilities are important.
This campsite was amazing and the facilities were truly wonderful. I don’t know of any caravan site with an indoor and outdoor pool in Ireland and yes they have the weather here but the pool was spectacular, Jacuzzi, water slides and perfect sunbathing areas right beside a bar with free wifi. Could you ask for more?
Also on offer are houses, gîtes, villas up to 11 persons in the Castle Park, apartments and studios in the castle and at the old restored farm.
The campsite also boasts restaurant, bar, shop, take away, waterpark, golf practice and putting green, Tennis, mini-golf, boules, play grounds for children, play room, entertainment and kids clubs
Parking for your caravan, motorhome or tent is set in 15 acres of tree lined avenues in a natural park consisting of 94 acres.
The Castel l’Orangerie de lanniron is a warm welcoming site, which is truly a splendid place to stay.
Amenities close by include two large supermarket chains and very cheap Diesel.
Check out www.camping-castels.co.uk/
