La Croix Du Vieux Pont campsite Berny Rivière, Near Paris, Champagne, France

The resort is centred around a stunning lake, where you can enjoy a range of activities. Not only does it offer stunning views, it is also a haven for amateur anglers. Packed with carp and trout, there can be fewer more relaxing days than sitting on the banks soaking up the sun, even if there are no guarantees you will catch your tea. Fishing permits are needed, but you can buy them locally. The nearby boating pond means you can also make a splash. Canoes and boats can be hired, or if you want something more relaxing try a pedalo. Back on dry land there are mini motorbikes, trampolines and a bouncy castle to keep the kids happy for an hour or two. Outdoor activities aren¿t exactly in short supply at La Croix Du Vieux Pont. There are basketball courts, wellequipped play areas with swing shoots and climbing frames, football pitches and there¿s also archery in the summer. If you¿re visiting at the height of summer, your budding Barry Fergusons and Aiden McGeadys can hone their skills through the Reebok International Football Academy. FA coaches run the sessions ¿ which normally have to bebooked in advance ¿ for boys and girls between the ages of five and 17. The coaching runs from July 19 to August 31, and two 90-minute sessions come in at £25. There are also plenty of amenities on-site, including a fully stocked shop with a bakery selling all the expected French delicacies and baguettes. The main restaurant is also very popular, selling everything from pizza and pasta to steak and chicken dishes. For those on an economy drive there¿s a set three-course menu, which proves good value for money. And for those who prefer the fast-food option there is also a takeaway, which is open till late. The bar is the main thrust of the evening entertainment with quizzes, karaoke and themed nights. Al Fresco offers all the usual Thomson accommodation, from the Vivaldi apartment, which houses six adults, to the slightly more compact Puccini which sleeps two adults and two children. In between there is also the mid-range Bellini and Rossini. For those who are looking at going Al Fresco for the first time, here¿s a brief overview of what to expect. It is the equivalent of your own luxury apartment in the country. They are well-equipped, like your own studio flat. The living room has its own settees and adjoining dining kitchen, and you have your own hob and oven, microwave and fridge freezer. There is also a separate shower, a heater for those colder days, and air conditioning should the temperatures hit the highs. Outside, the apartment has decking, with a safety gate for younger kids, and an outside table and chairs if you want to enjoy the views or your own barbecue. There are also sun loungers and parasols assigned to each apartment, ideal if you want to stay close to home. While there is plenty to do, there does come a time when you will want to see what else is out there. That is where La Croix Du Vieux Pont really comes into its own. Just a mileaway is the traditional French village of Vic Sur-Aisne, which offers a host of restaurants, shops and bars. Within 15 miles either side are the slightly larger towns of Compiegne and Soissons, with a direct train to Paris. Other places of interest include Pierrefonds, the fairytale castle, no more than a 20-mile round trip away. And with such cultural delights within touching distance, it is easy to see why La Croix Du Vieux Pont is such a popular holiday location. Getting There: Thomson Al Fresco is offering a special deal at La Croix Du Vieux Pont between 26 July and 10 August, for two adults and up to four children sharing a Vivaldi luxury mobile home. The full price is £1,087 but the current offer means you can get it for £872. Flights are available from Scotland. For more information on La Croix Du Vieux Pont or any Thomson's Al Fresco locations call 0871 231 3292 or visit thomsonalfresco.co.uk.

Parents, especially, will know that sinking, hopeless, feeling of finding yourself with exhausted children in a deserted industrial estate in, say Balloch, when your long-awaited and beautiful holiday destination is tantalisingly close but yet you cannot find how to get there.

Until then it had been a day of perfect driving weather on arrow straight roads from Calais through the lush flatlands of Picardy in Northern France. Tempers remained unfrayed, holiday singalongs were encouraged and even motorway stops - eat your heart out, Harthill - became mini-adventures in themselves. But, finally, late on a blistering hot Sunday afternoon, the complex one-way system in the town of Soissons defeated us. Our knight in shining armour turned out to be young lad on a moped whose English was no better than my French but defying the stereotype of a stand offish nation, cheerfully led the way on his phut phut for several kilometres bringing us almost within sight of the holiday park.

And then with a shrug, and a cheerful "Bonne Route", he was off. This unaccustomed kindness of strangers became the signature of a memorable family holiday for which the description laid back doesn't even come close. Only France, we found, can do this. Our holiday park, Berny Riviere, is a mere hour and a half north-west of Paris. Everywhere we met helpful, cheerful locals, by all means happy to take the tourist euro, but without a scowl.

Similar friendly service was the trademark of tiny roadside bistros serving the kind of hearty rustic cuisine which have critics reaching for their superlatives. Here, I told myself smugly, I had surely chosen a holiday destination where life moves at a more gentle, mellow pace.

And then, as we drove into the pretty rose garden entrance to the park, my daughters caught sight of the lake and where, I thought, is your life at a mellow pace now? Suddenly freed from the crushed and cramped confines of the car, Rachel, 15, Justine, 12, and Bethany, nine, leapt, whooped and shrieked as they jumped, swam and splashed in the lake, ignoring the formality of changing into their swimming costumes.

Naturally this big kid, in silly shorts and vivid T-shirt, jumped in alongside them. I am happy to tell you that leaping into a lake was the most strenuous activity I took part in during the entire holiday, unless you count tending numerous BBQs, opening the occasional ice cold beer or pouring another glass of the robust local red wine.

Most of these activities took place on or around the balcony of the rather superior Vivaldi mobile home we had selected with help from our new friends at Thomson Alfresco Holidays. Call it a caravan with pretensions if you like, but this three-bedroom holiday home was more than fit for its purpose. Clean, comfortable and with a proper fridge, shower and hob and oven, even the beds were astonishingly comfortable.

The first couple of days - did I mention that the sun split the skies from dawn till dusk? - were spent getting to know the area, and in doing so, time passed with that pleasing slowness that only happens on holiday.

The girls, as children do, made friends easily and not being able to speak the language of the Dutch, French, Spanish or German children they met did nothing to hinder them. Nor was there any shortage of things to do - the long established holiday park boasts a boating pond, outdoor swimming pool and waterslide, a covered pool, tennis courts children's play area trampolines and table tennis.

There is also a good value family restaurant and a bar, which is packed every night, with disco and karaoke sessions. The performances by the Singing Swanson Sisters are, I hear, talked about to this day.

A gentle saunter from the treelined site takes you to the small picture postcard perfect village of Vic-Sur-Aisne with its 13th century keep dominating the village square. Tiny it may be, but it supports four pubs and one rather fine hotel, all of which were rigorously checked by your reporter, or "just nipping up to see if the boulangerie is open dear", as my research became known.

Here too was our favourite restaurant, Le Donjon, in the corner of the square where a husband and wife team produce miracle meals for prices so low that I was convinced we had been undercharged.

On the third day we were joined by our 17year-old horse-crazy daughter, Megan, who had flown from Prestwick into Beauvais some 60 miles away and was delighted to discover that there was a Poney Club - that's the way the French spell it - just off the village square. Despite my fractured French I was able to book her a two-hour ride for the giveaway price of 16 euros.

Megan's arrival also meant she could now keep a sisterly eye on the others, which let my wife and I indulge in our favourite holiday pastime, which is roughly summed up by the phrase "let's see where this road takes us". We drove through tiny villages, no more than a huddle of houses at a cross road with cafes selling delicious coffee and cakes, walked along cool forest paths glimpsing shy deer in the distance, and window shopped in elegant towns.

And because this is an area of cathedrals - massive memorials to a more spiritual age - there is no shortage of these medieval buildings to make the most ardent atheist question his beliefs. One of our favourites was The Cathedral St Pierre, whose 150ft-tall gothic vaulting is the world's highest.

On another day, though, we had different castles in mind as we rose at an unreasonably early hour for a trip to Disneyland Paris. Even for the navigationally challenged motorist the road to the Disney Magic was a breeze.

This adult oohed and aahed his way through the five themed lands: Main Street U.S.A. , Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland and was quite happy to wave at the Princess on Parade, or pose for photographs with Mickey, Donald or Goofy. Meanwhile, my wife and teenage daughters were paying rather too much attention to a dashing and thoroughly accurate Johnny Depp lookalike in his Captain Jack Sparrow role from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Those of you old enough to remember the Saturday Serial at your local Picture House will love the trip round Walt Disney Park Studios where the tram takes you to Catastrophe Canyon. There, in a tram that bucks and jumps, you are plunged into the heart of an earth moving film shoot complete with avalanches, rain storms and blazing oil trucks. Brilliant. But tell us, you big girl's blouse, did you try the stomach-churning roller coaster rides, including Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, or Space Mountain? Don't be daft - that's what fearless daughters are for.

The next day, the last night of our holidays back at Berny Riviere, the guy who ran the pub held a firework display just, it seemed, for the hell of it.

Naturally I told the kids that it was the French way of saying farewell to favoured guests. Judging by the warmth of the welcome we received everywhere, I could well have been right.

Getting There: Brian Swanson and his family travelled with Thomson Alfresco by Eurotunnel to Calais from Folkestone and stayed at La Croix du Vieux Pont, in Champagne. The price for a family of up to six, staying seven nights in a Vivaldi mobile home in August 2007 is £1,202. For further information, or to book, call 0870 166 0366 or visit www. thomsonalfresco. co. uk