En famille: Sarah and her children in France . Breathless, but with an unmistakeable swagger, our three children burst through the door of our mobile home and regale us with their latest news. 'We've changed our minds about croissants and have got pain au chocolat instead,' announces Freddie, eight, swinging a bag full of freshly baked French pastries. Behind him, his twin siblings Bobby and Loulou, six, brandish a newspaper and my change, respectively, which they thrust onto the table like warriors returning from battle. We are halfway through a week-long break at Les Castels holiday park in Domaine De La Paille Basse, near Souillac, in the Lot region, and it is the fourth time our children have completed this morning ritual. It takes them approximately nine minutes to make the round trip to the campsite shop (they could do it in half the time if they weren't stopping to examine every rock and tree along the way) and the sojourn has lost none of its thrill. At home in London, such independence is the stuff of their dreams. Les Castels fits our bill completely: pool, play-park, shop, takeaway, English-speaking kids' club, games room, nightly entertainment. Domaine De La Paille Basse has the added aesthetic attraction of being built round an original medieval village restored by the grandparents of the current owners nearly 40 years ago. Accommodation is a mixture of tents, touring pitches and mobile homes. We opt for a three-bedroom mobile home perched on a small hill surrounded by woodland, with an unbroken view of the valley below. Inside, the sleek lines and cool grey colours have more in common with a boutique hotel. Bobby and LouLou share one twin-bedded room, Freddie (the earliest riser) has the other one. A Lot of reasons to be cheerful: Villeneuve-sur-Lot is one of the many pretty towns which dot the region . My husband and I have the double room, which boasts its own en-suite shower room, and we quickly settle into a routine that begins with the croissant run, breakfast on the terrace and two hours of 'mini-club' for children aged four to 12. Lunch is another lazy affair on the terrace with more fresh bread from the shop, cheeses, meat and fruits from the stadium-sized Leclerc supermarket at Souillac, before an afternoon of hurtling down pool slides and playing tennis. In the evenings, we light the barbecue provided before decamping en masse to the bar for the evening entertainment. We do manage to drag the children off site a couple of times. My favourite trip is the 40-minute drive to the Christian pilgrimage site of Rocamadour, which, like something from a children's fairy tale, clings to the cliffs above a gorge. Our children would say the eight-mile journey aboard the steam train at Martel, which handily includes an ice-cream stop and costs a family-friendly £7.50) for adults and £4 per child. The lesson from our holiday is that keeping it simple is the best rule because, for our children, the croissant runs arguably were the highlight of the day. Ferries from Portsmouth to Caen can be booked at aferry.co.uk. Fares with Brittany Ferries (0871 244 07446, brittany-ferries.co.uk) start at £79 each way for a car plus two passengers. A mobile home at Domaine De La Paille Basse (0033 2 23 16 45 02, camping-castels.co.uk) costs from £4.60 per person per night.
Les Castels holiday park is in Domaine De La Paille Basse, near Souillac . Park has been family-owned for three generations, and is great for children . Accommodation is a mixture of tents, touring pitches and mobile homes .