I was recently lucky enough to be gifted a trip to this Holiday Parc, one of my old stomping grounds. Had a great time, really fab, here is my review.
Review of La Croix du Vieux Pont and the Four Bed Lakeview Lodge
My husband John, myself, our daughter and her partner and our two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter have just returned from a wonderful holiday on this holiday parc. Our accommodation was the four bedroomed lakeside lodge. John and I were very familiar with both the parc and the accommodation as we have worked as seasonal maintenance within the holiday parc industry for many years and spent two full seasons living on “Berny”. We were very excited to be invited back as holidaymakers and perhaps see things through different eyes.
We sailed overnight into Zeebrugge from Hull as we live in Yorkshire. We treated the crossing as a mini cruise and set out to enjoy everything on-board. We quickly found our comfortable cabin and then did a tour of the vessel. There are two bars on board. One is quite lively and on this occasion a duo singing well known songs. There was a game of bingo and a disco billed too. The other bar was a quiet lounge and on the outward journey we enjoyed a solo guitarist who was good. On the return we were treated to a pianist at the grand piano. We enjoyed a couple of drinks before heading off to the self-service restaurant. There is an a la carte restaurant too. In our restaurant there was masses of choice, all eat as much as you fancy. Soups, crudités and salad selection (my favourite) carvery, curries, beef casserole, lasagne. There was cheese and biscuits and desserts aplenty. The breakfast was just the same – you name it, it was there.
Once we had docked next morning we had a three-hour drive to the parc. An easy drive too. It is just over two hours from Calais for anyone driving to Dover to sail, or Folkestone for Le Shuttle.
As you approach the site you can’t fail to miss the beautiful, huge flower beds so carefully tended and watered by the parc staff. This is just a taste of things to come. The parc is quite beautiful. It is big but every inch of it is a pleasure to saunter through. It’s like being on holiday in a park; lush, green with mature trees around the edges but the emplacements are all so big nothing encroaches or blocks out the sunshine. There are three lakes, for fishing, or for hiring a canoe or pedalo. There are swans, moorhens and ducks with ducklings to enjoy.
Facilities are many but without feeling too busy or overwhelming. Water wise there is a great pool complex with covered/uncovered option dependant on the weather. We were there in a June heatwave, so it was all opened to get the rays. There is a large proper swimming pool, a jacuzzi, a toddler pool, a lazy river, and slides too. In the middle of the parc there is a manmade swimming lake with a very sandy beach. The water is filtered so is clean and blue. Our granddaughter loved this and I was in there every opportunity too. Both the pools and the beach pool have a bar restaurant too, so it really is heavenly.
There are playgrounds too and some facilities that are available at a cost, bouncy castle, trampoline, go carts that type of thing but the prices were fine I thought.
We did not eat at the restaurants this time but in the past, we found them to be of a high standard. They were always nicely busy so that speaks for itself. There is a takeaway which was very popular. The shop in the parc was great, plenty of things to make a meal or buy something to drink and not inflated prices. The boulangerie in the morning was to queue for if you went late, but always plenty of baguettes and croissants to go around, delish! The nearest supermarket is a short walk away in the village and that is perfect for the bigger shop to get really stocked up.
The main bar has regular entertainment which is lots of fun for all the family. Karaoke, kids disco, there was a pool party too which also doubled as talent show with the Eurocamp Reps doing the judging. That was a great night.
The Eurocamp Reps were fantastic. There was nothing too much trouble. They clearly loved the job they were doing, in fact they told me they did. There was such a happy positive vibration in the guest services lodge, I was very impressed. Perhaps I might take it up again? There is Eurocamp activities for all the family. We all took part including our two-year-old who went to the tot’s club. Our children always loved the Eurocamp kids’ clubs when they were small, and it still has the same appeal now. Our oldest girl was a Eurocamp kids club rep when she was eighteen and then of course we joined in too when we got the bug.
There are new attractions that are up by the main bar, which include ten pin bowling and laser quest. There is table tennis to be enjoyed and there is one tennis court. Bikes can be hired too and there are pony rides across the road. I spotted crazy golf, zip wires and a climbing wall.
On the parc Eurocamp offer a huge variety of accommodation. There are huge Safari Tents which is very stylish. There are mobile homes of different sizes and layouts to suit every families budget. There are two, three and four bedroomed wooded lodges too. On this occasion we were staying in a four bedroomed lodge with a lake view. It was a strange feeling to be back inside the lodge. I could see the curtain poles and the curtains that we had put up, felt like coming home! The emplacement all over the site are generally large. The lodge emplacements are three times as large as my garden back at home. It was lawn, with matures trees all around for privacy and shade and how pretty it looked too. In front of the big deck was a huge mass of pink wild roses, smelt beautiful.
There are steps up to the deck. The deck has a picnic bench style table and chairs to sit ten. There is an awning for shelter from the elements be it rain or shine (its generally shine). Once inside there is an open plan space with lounge area, dining table and chairs for ten and a fully equipped kitchen. The kitchen boasts full sized integrated dish washer. A full-sized electric oven and a four-burner gas hob. The fridge freezer is tall and of a large capacity.
There is a double bedroom downstairs along with a loo and a large shower room.
Once up the stairs there are three more bedrooms. The master overlooks the front and has the lake view. There is a balcony large enough to sit out on and enjoy the view. The other bedrooms are spacious, one has bunkbeds the other has twins with a pull out single bed beneath each twin. There is a loo and a very large bathroom with bath and shower over. Plenty of storage everywhere and because there are shutters as well as curtains it is possible to keep the lodge cool when the sun gets its hat on.
We really enjoyed our holiday, it was over too soon. We know from our experience living there that there are very many and varied places to go off and see but, on this occasion, we just stayed on the parc and relaxed. We watched the world go by, we fed the ducks when they waddled up to our deck to say good morning. As the heat of the sun ebbed away we cooked our dinner on the BBQ and enjoyed a bottle of wine. In the mornings we bought fresh bread and croissants and enjoyed those sitting on our lovely deck with a cold glass of orange juice.
We had the opportunity of inviting people in to look around our lodge, this was such a lot of fun. Everyone seemed very impressed. We enjoyed chatting about our own experiences, about which other sites are in the Eurocamp brochure that they might like too and which of them we have worked on in the past.
This Holiday parc really does have something for everyone, be it just enjoying the facilities on the parc or venturing out and about to Paris, Disney or the vineyards of the Champagne region. Closer to the parc, even in the village itself there is so much history to discover, caves used as hospitals in WW1 and WW2. There are war cemeteries and only half an hour drive away is Compiegne where the Armistice was signed ending the hostilities of WW1. I can, and do, recommend this Eurocamp Holiday parc experience to everyone and I am very much looking forward to my next visit, see you there!
