Le Criquet

Camping Le Criquet occupies 5 hectares of greenery on rue du Criquet in Freneuse, in the Yvelines department, about 60 kilometres from the porte Maillot in Paris. It is ten minutes from the station and shopping centre of Bonnières-sur-Seine; Monet’s gardens at Giverny, the château de La Roche-Guyon and the centre of Vernon are said to be less than twenty minutes away. Shops are less than two kilometres away.

The site has 152 pitches. It works largely as a second-home community, with many mobile home owners who have been settled here for years, but it also rents accommodation for short stays: wooden bungalows with a semi-covered terrace, a chalet styled like a traditional caravan wagon, mobile homes with one, two or three bedrooms, and budget-priced caravans. The campsite is aimed at private holidaymakers and at professionals travelling for work.

On opening, the website is clear: mobile home rentals are available all year round, while the residents’ season runs from 15 April to 15 November. A holidaymaker or an employee on assignment can therefore book accommodation in winter. The washroom block is heated in winter and includes a cubicle adapted for people with reduced mobility.

The management highlights an eco-friendly approach: solar lamps for outdoor lighting, careful water management and local suppliers.

Visits to Giverny, the château de La Roche-Guyon and Vernon, all less than 20 minutes away; walks in the Vexin.

The facilities are modest and suited to a quiet stay. The washroom block, heated in winter and with an accessible cubicle, is the main off-season asset. The campsite also provides a changing table, an iron, kitchen equipment and board games, as well as petanque balls, rackets and balls. Wi-fi is deliberately limited to the common areas and some pitches, for ecological reasons.

Non-dangerous dogs are accepted at no extra charge. The mobile home rentals are aimed at private guests and at professionals who want somewhere more pleasant than a hotel room after work. The pitches are offered to residents and for short stays, including one night in a tent; the website does not say which periods of the year they are available for passing visitors.

The campsite has no swimming pool. To swim or try water sports, guests need to go to the Mousseaux-sur-Seine leisure centre, a 120-hectare lake. The website mentions neither a restaurant nor a grocery shop on site, but refers guests to the shops less than two kilometres away. The site is run on the spot by a small team, who keep the place peaceful.

On site, there is a multi-sport pitch, a petanque court, a new play area, a table football and a table tennis table. Children and adults can also borrow rackets and balls at reception. The setting is mostly an invitation to stroll and relax.

The Mousseaux-sur-Seine leisure centre, less than twenty minutes away by car, offers windsurfing, sailing, catamaran, canoe and kayak, outdoor and indoor tennis, archery, mountain biking and BMX, volleyball, football, basketball and handball pitches, and a golf initiation centre with an 18-hole course and a 6-hole compact course. Hiking trails start from Freneuse, on the edge of the Vexin nature park: the ridge road gives a view of the Seine from more than 115 metres up, and an easy walk leads down into the valley.

For sightseeing, Claude Monet’s gardens at Giverny, the château de Bizy, the château de La Roche-Guyon, the Fourges mill built in 1750 and the collegiate church of Notre-Dame in Mantes-la-Jolie are all nearby. Off-season, these cultural sites and walks in the Vexin remain the main things to do, to be confirmed according to their opening hours.