An honourable mention should go to Camping Le Paradis. The various places we’ve stayed in on our trip deserve a blog of their own, but our stay at Camping Le Paradis did feel – well – heavenly.

The site is run by a Dutch couple and has a very special feel. It’s off to a good start since it is located in the beautiful Dordogne region near the picture-perfect village of Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère. The landscaping is absolutely stunning and there was a riot of flowers and edible herbs throughout. We had the benefit of staying in the off-season so there were few other people in the park. It felt as though we were some sort of landed gentry with a massive estate at our disposal – the children cycled freely around without fear of other cars; ran riot in the well-equipped playground; and we had the brand new indoor heated swimming pool and spa practically all to ourselves.

We chose to stay in a very snug little cabin due to the cooler autumn weather. The whole thing had a luxurious feel and even better we had UK satellite TV! The children hadn’t seen any television in English for over two months, so they enjoyed Peppa Pig and we forced them to watch the inaugural show of Strictly Come Dancing followed by (after they had gone to bed) the Graham Norton Show. And we don’t even watch TV.