Travel review: Spread your wings to perfect France

Atop a Pyreneen peak, looking down on the Basque Country coastline as it falls into to Bay of Biscay, was one such moment.

It was high summer on the summit of La Rhun, a mountain peak shared between France and Spain, and we had the ocean beneath us to the west and the high peaks of the Pyrenees to the east.

And at that moment, an eagle swooped into view. Apparently, not unusual if you’re a frequent visitor to the mountain tops of this part of the world.

But a wondrous sight if your normal place of habitation is a small town just outside the industrial heartlands of the West Midlands.

I’d seen eagles before but always in zoos, caged, or trained in bird shows.

To see such a creature in the wild, soaring and spiralling just feet above our heads was a stunning sight.

We’d rattled up to the top of the mountain the easy way – aboard Le Petit Train de la Rhune. Think the Snowdon railway but with sunshine and you’re on the right, erm, track.

It runs from the little town of Col De Saint-Ignace and it pays to book ahead.

We’d spotted it while perusing our options of what to do as we serenely sailed into the port of Santander, a couple of hours along the Basque coast.

We’d been to this part of the world before but previously taken the shorter cross-channel route before a long drive through France.

This time we opted for the long crossing to northern Spain before motoring into France – and it was a revelation.

The Portsmouth-Santander crossing with Brittany Ferries takes a full day but rather than eating into our holidays, it actually became part of it. It was like a mini-cruise to get our annual trip to the continent under way, you could almost feel the stresses falling away as the coast of England disappeared from view.

A hearty evening meal, a couple of drinks and we slept the sleep of the dead in our cabin as we were rocked into our slumbers by the gentle roll of the ferry. This is the way to travel – and when you get there, you’re all set to explore in your own car.

I’ve been on my share of package holidays over the years and they’re great. But since first hopping on a ferry, I’ve yet to return to the package operators. Frankly, I can’t see it happening any time soon either.

There’s a spirit of adventure in striking out on your own that I wouldn’t swap.

On this trip, we booked our base at the small-ish Huttopia Landes Sud campsite. That said, we weren’t going to be roughing it or having the hassle of putting up our own tent. No, we booked a ready-prepared safari tent complete with kitchen and our own bathroom.

Now I realise many will screw up their noses at the idea of this kind of ready-made ‘glamping’ but hey, it’s one less job to do when you’re supposed to be relaxing.

The site was four or five miles inland from the Atlantic breakers which make this part of France such a draw for surfers.

The site was quiet with only a nod towards evening entertainment and set in the vast Landes forest which stretch from the Spanish border almost all the way to Bordeaux.

If it’s a getaway you want, this is the place. Often the only sounds to be heard are birdsong, crickets and wind blowing through the pine trees.

There’s the obligatory site restaurant, swimming pool and morning croissants and bread can be ordered in. There’s also a river bordering the site which you’re welcome to take a dip in, but beware... it’s cold.

That said, it didn’t take long to warm up again in the 30C French sunshine and the campsite made for a superb base from which to explore.

We enjoyed a day at a water park at Seignosse, which was superbly equipped and pretty quiet even in the August school holidays – we had most of the slides to ourselves for the early part of the day and, even in the afternoon, there was little waiting time to enjoy the thrills.

There are beaches by the dozen to explore but with this coastline famed for its surfing breakers most swimming is done in the numerous nearby lakes, which are obviously much calmer and, importantly, much warmer than the ocean.

There’s also plenty to do for the youngsters too – not least the brilliant Aquapark at Lac Biscarosse, about a half-hour car journey from our campsite.

This is an inflatable waterpark floating on the lake and it’s huge fun. From throwing yourself from 10metre platforms, whizzing down zipwires, throwing yourself headlong down slides or trying to bound from one giant inflatable ball to another, I guarantee you will make a splash.

I also guarantee you will be exhausted within half an hour and there’s a good chance of minor whiplash with plenty of visitors being bounced around the inflatables.

We flopped on to the lakeside beach to recover afterwards, replenishing energy supplies with fresh bread and French cheese.

And we discovered a superb spot, away from the main hubbub where we could swim in serenity. And it was bliss. A perfect day, a perfect spot, a perfect holiday.

TRAVEL FACTFILE

Russell Youll travelled with Brittany Ferries, which operates the longer routes from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth direct to Brittany, Normandy and northern Spain.

Travel overnight bycruise-ferry in your own cabin with en-suite facilities or be whisked across the channel in as little as three hours.

He sailed south from Portsmouth to Santander with an en-suite cabin, and returned from St Malo to Portsmouth.

Return fares for these two sailings in mid-season start from £350 return for a car plus two, including en suite cabin on the overnight sailing to Spain.

Book online at brittany-ferries.co.uk