Surviving a long car journey in France... with kids!

I recently went on an Al Fresco park holiday, to Val De Bonnal, with my daughter, sister and niece. Before we went I was very excited about splashing around in the pool, exploring local towns and countryside, gorging on cheese and drinking cheap but tasty rose wine. But what I was not excited about was the long car journeys with a 3 and 5-year-old. Not. One. Bit. Here's how we survived it! THE PRACTICAL STUFF: Before you leave, make sure you know the rules and regs for driving in France. Look on the AA or RAC websites for good information. There’s a whole load of kit that is essential to have in your car or you can be fined. Reflective jackets, breathalysers, first aid kits and more. Many companies have ready made “driving in France” packs which like me, you can buy, throw in your boot and forget about for the entire trip (the first aid kit came in useful on more than one occasion, nothing car related though!) Make sure you have European Breakdown Cover and that you are insured to drive in Europe. And investigate the Emissions stickers for driving in certain cities and towns! ENTERTAINING THE KIDS: And the winners were… BOOKS, BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS - An obvious one, but totally necessary. You really can’t have enough. Reading books, sticker books, colouring books on clipboards with mugs of crayons/pencils you can put in the cup holders. WHO’S THE DJ? – Taking turns (kids and adults!) to choose what song was played used up so much time, I really wasn’t expecting it to be such a hit. And not only did it use up time, but Disney songs interspersed with Paul Simon and Madonna was so much more bearable, in fact it saved our sanity. GUESS THE TOY – Pretty much what the title suggests. We had a big bag just full of small toys. Little animals, princesses, Disney characters (of course), whatever we could throw in there. My sister would describe the toy she was holding, the kids had to guess what it was. If they guessed it, they got to play with it. REWARDS – We wrapped up new things that we had had to buy for holiday, such as inflatable arm bands, water shoes, My Little Pony headbands. Every now and then they just got to open a present for fun. MEALS: Car lovers are going to hate me for saying this - eat in the car! Why? Firstly, your kid has just kindly sat for two hours without moving. You get them out of the car, they are about to lose their minds at the freedom presented to them. Do you seriously think it’s going to go down well when you say “hey, come and sit down and eat some lunch!”? NO! Just no. It’s like a form of torture to them. Secondly, eating takes time. You can waste a good 45 minutes feeding them lunch in the car. I won’t lie to you, it’s not pretty. The crumb situation was horrendous. And half way through the week I had to search the car as there was a whiff of rotting sugary fruit; I eventually discovered a discarded piece of melon stuck between the seats. Just accept it and prepare yourself mentally. STOPS: Before we left I had researched places to stop on the way to have a nice break. If you’re ever heading down the A26 near Troyes and the weather is good, then stop at Mesnil-Saint-Pere. It’s a beautiful crystal-clear lake with beach, toilets, showers and sandwich and ice cream bars. We weren’t prepared, so the kids went swimming in their clothes (another tip: always pack swim gear and towels in a convenient place!). However, on the way back we decided not to do any special stops. Why? Well, because the service stations on the toll roads are awesome. Sure, you pay a fair bit on the toll roads. But the service stations are worth it - every five minutes or so there was a stop. We didn’t worry about how far away the next one was. If my recently trained three-year-old declared “I need a wee” I didn’t panic, because I knew it was only a couple of km before the next batch of toilets. And what was there at nearly every single service station? A play area. Climbing frames, slides, see-saws. So that’s where we stopped every hour or two on the way back. At a service station where we could stock up on food (to eat in the car of course), take the kids to the toilets, and give them fifteen minutes of freedom and fun on a climbing frame. And they loved it! FLEXIPLUS EUROTUNNEL: On our return journey, we set off at 8am, our Eurotunnel booked for 5pm. We drove and stopped and drove and stopped and drove. When we reached the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais, there were queues. Big queues. We were slightly concerned then we saw the lane for ‘FLEXIPLUS’. Having booked Flexiplus we went that way. Past all the queues. Straight to our own terminal building with clean toilets and complimentary buffet for everyone to help themselves. The kids were delighted. We were delighted. Once we were ready we jumped back in the car, straight past more queues, and onto the next train, it didn’t matter which. Best decision ever. I hope you’ve found this useful! There’s plenty more but those are the essentials. One last thing. When you get home, have unloaded the car, started your first of ten batches of washing and had a good sleep, do yourself a favour. The day after you get back, go get the car washed, inside and out. Don't do it yourself, get someone else to do it. I dare you – with no guilt and no shame, proudly present your keys at your favourite car wash, casually mention you've been away for a week in France, walk off and get a coffee. While you're at it, buy yourself an air freshener to clear your car of that rotting melon smell- it'll be just like new in no time.