THE wind starts in the Massif Central, rushes through the Rhône valley and kisses you vigorously on both cheeks as you step out of the terminal at Aéroport de Marseille Provence. The combination of the Mistral and dazzling summer sun is an immediate sign that, although you have flown barely 1,000 miles south, this is a very different land.
On the 90-minute car journey west towards Montpellier, along the extensive and well-maintained motorway network, the wind drops and the landscape reveals its parched beauty. The air conditioning is turned up a notch or two: this may be France during a generally ropey summer but the climate here remains defiantly Mediterranean.
There is another pleasant surprise at the toll booth. The attendant is friendly and attentive, much more so than I imagine his British counterpart would be were toll booths a widespread fixture of UK motoring.
I respond with a diffident but hopefully understandable merci. Linguists will scoff but as a conscientious objector to compulsory French lessons at school (Grade 4 CSE – trust me, that's very bad), this is daring stuff. I suspect Mrs Laing is mildly impressed. In the back, the boys can't resist yet another rendition of their current favourite song. "In the south of France/ Where the naked ladies dance…"
No naked ladies on view. Just mile after mile of sparkling Golfe du Lion coastline, white sand, sophisticated resorts and big towns. There is the huge expanse of the Camargue nature reserve but the coast is generally built up and bustling. Despite that, it rarely seems crowded and feels remarkably relaxed.
There's really not much doubt that this is a fantastic place for a family holiday. The question – particularly for Scots – is getting there. Is it worth at least an extra day's driving each way? We ducked that question and tried a different approach: fly-drive. It's certainly not the cheap option but, if it frees up two days of your precious annual summer holiday and reduces travel stress, it is worth considering.
Granted, air travel can be a lottery. But KLM/Air France got us from Edinburgh to Marseille, via a connecting flight at Schipol, and back again, without a hitch. Marseille airport, as well as being conveniently located for much of the south of France, is also good for car rental. There is no need to wait for a bus to collect your wheels; the car rental section is the first thing you see on leaving the terminal. The roads themselves are well signed and – maybe I just got lucky – relatively free of psychopaths and idiots compared with the home-grown variety.
Our destination was the Siblu holiday park just five miles south of Montpellier. The park, Le Lac des Rêves, has been constructed near the shore of Etang de Pérols, one of a string of lakes behind the 30-mile strip of beaches running from La Grande Motte to Cap d'Agde.
Most of the mobile homes are privately owned and then let out by Siblu so the accommodation is relatively spacious and well maintained with a decent spec. Ours had a large living area, including a nicely equipped kitchen, a good-sized main bedroom with en-suite shower and two further bedrooms.
It's almost certainly worth paying the extra for a mobile home with a veranda. It adds substantially to the space and – as the temperature soars into the 90s on some days – provides a sheltered place to sit. Most nights, having adopted the habit of eating late, we enjoyed the twilight spectacle of scores of bats darting and swooping as they caught their own dinner.
Le Lac des Rêves is one of Siblu's quieter parks, but there is enough on site and in the local area to keep all but the most over-active families busy.
At the heart of the park are the pools where most holidaymakers spend the bulk of their time. One pool is geared towards adults, offering aqua-fit classes and anarchic games of water polo. The other, a huge, circular, padded affair, is where the children can safely splash about to their heart's content. A giant slide provides a quick adrenaline burst for older kids.
Outside the main centre is a delightful area, shaded by trees, where dozens of French holidaymakers indulge their passion for pétanque. The British use the area for more recognisable games such as crazy golf and table tennis. Elsewhere, and for a small extra fee, everything from tennis to beach volleyball and archery to karting can be enjoyed.
The children's clubs are free, well run, and cater for tiny tots right up to 14-year-olds. If you're really determined to get a fantastic tan while polishing off a 1,000-page novel, it is possible to book in the offspring for mornings and afternoons. Most days we opted for a morning session with the Tiger club (for five- to nine-year-olds) and which provided more than enough pirate-related mayhem to keep the boys happy.
Part of the week's childcare builds up to an evening show where the kids are the stars for the night. There's nothing quite like sitting in the open on a clear, warm evening, armed with a cold beer, watching your kids put on a show. The park's entertainment programme is pretty good and certainly varied, including local bands, but the children's performance was the highlight.
Outside the park, it would take dozens of holidays to do justice to the attractions on offer, especially the beaches. Le Petit-Travers and Grand-Travers, three miles away, and Palavas beach, five miles away, are among the best of these.
Montpellier is a beautifully preserved university town with most of its central attractions within walking distance. The Place de la Comédie is a must-see while the Grand Opera theatre is the ideal location for al-fresco coffee drinking. Barely an hour's drive to the east is Nîmes, with its wonderfully preserved Roman remains. Carcassonne, a little over 70 miles to the west, is the biggest fortified town in Europe. Inland, Guilhem-le-Désert, 30 minutes north of Montpellier, has been designated one of the most beautiful villages in France.
The late Miles Kington was my kind of French speaker. As he might have said: "Le sud de France est magnifique, especially quand tu laisses l'aeroplane prendre le strain."
FACT FILE: FRANCEA seven-night stay starts from £756 at Le Lac des Rêves (
www.siblu.com, 0871 911 7777), for two adults and up to three children in Esprit+ accommodation, departing June 29.
Return flights with KLM from Edinburgh to Marseille, including taxes and surcharges, start at £776 for two adults and two children.
A week's car hire from
www.holidayautos.co.uk starts from £144.
The full article contains 1158 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
