Near Paris, Le Village Parisien

Where do I start? The location of Le Village Parisien if just outside the village of VERREDDES on the way to CONGIS. It is not the easiest place to find by far as the only indication is a 8 x 8 inch brown caravan sign for which you require the eyes of an owl in order to locate. The entry to the site is controlled by electronic barrier which you have to park right outside in order to book in at reception. This practice blocks the entire entrance and makes you very popular with other clients staying at the site who wish to enter the site while you arrange your stay.

Staff are reasonably helpful and polite despite the technical support (handyman) which I will address later. The site itself has a mixture of static units, tourer's and tents which are located within their own overgrown hedged boundaries, with access to power and water. You have to be a talented driver or a man mountain in order to manoeuvre a touring van into the pitches as they are very tight with little room in order to manoeuvre. If you have a plane spotting fetish you can frequently indulge yourself, as this site is directly on the flight path which serves the Charles De Gaulle airport which serves Paris and is very busy when they are not on strike.

The site is served by 3 toilet blocks with a notice which reads "PLEASE LEAVE THESE FACILITIES IN THE SAME WAY YOU WISH TO FIND THEM." This would mean that you would have to spend three hours cleaning them on your initial visit for this to be upheld. As a UK caravan club member I am simply spoilt by the quality of sites which are provided to members. PARISIEN is supposed to be 4 star camp site however I have stayed at certified locations none of which have provided such poor unclean facilities. There are two pools which are occupied by more insects than people, and are so cold that a family of penguins would feel at home on site if it wasn't for the poor cleanliness.

Upon arrival at the site the electric hook up did not work and I had to connect to an adjoining vacant site, which took a couple of hours to rectify. On one particular day the electric failed on our pitch and I informed two people of this prior to switching the van fridge onto battery power and leaving for the day. Upon my return you can imagine how delighted I was that this issue was not addressed. I once again informed another member of the reception staff and a site handyman who was in fact English. He informed the French handyman who stated to him "ENGLISH, YOUR PROBLEM" to the reply of "YOUR CLIENT YOUR PROBLEM" a further hour down the line and the French handyman attended the locked fuse box at the bottom of the pitch, switched a switch and left without even confirming that the power had been restored.

The site purports to be in partnership with DISNEY however I very much doubt this to be true, as Disney is all about fun and this site is far from it. Tickets for Disney are available on site however cheaper at the door, and please don't expect a shuttle bus or similar as being laughed at in any language is demeaning. The site is approximately 30-40 minutes drive from Disney, with a 2 euro toll either way. Travelling the most direct route from Calais to the site expect an approximate 25 euro toll charge, which is also a bitter pill to swallow.

I was happy to leave the site and it was the only time I smiled and even that was hindered by the warden who was buzzed out of bed at 0635 hours having been informed that the gate would be open at 0630 hours. I have never experienced being released from prison however I expect the feeling not to be dissimilar.

We returned to England and stayed at Black Horse Farm in Folkestone (caravan club site extremely nice and clean!) where my two children played on the beach which was thoroughly enjoyed, and my wife and I vowed that our caravan would not return to french soil.