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Thanks everyone for your suggestions
As you say Aldra no use worrying before it happens i intend trying to use the municipals and maybe aires through the day but she who must be obeyed must have shower/No 2 facilities overnight. :lol
Whilst we like sites with facilities not to keen on those with full family stuff i.e. kids play/pools etc.
Looking for the more sedate sites and places near small villages /places to visit.
Thinking of heading for Honflour site as first from Eurotunnel then if i book say a week at one of the C&CC rally sites by then i will have the confidence to let me follow the sun around for the next couple of weeks.
Any suggestions or guidance will be greatly appreciated.
NB The 17th and 28th May are public holidays in France so be prepared for extra traffic on the road and shops etc to be closed. Make sure you have sufficient fuel, though you will always be able to get it at a motorway service station if you really need to fill up.
In general buy your bread early; if you rely on boulangerie or depot de pain to be open after 12 pm you might well end up going without.
Most shops close on Sunday anyway and some from Saturday lunchtime, though this is less common. When we lived in France it was Friday night to- sometimes- Tuesday morning. Many restaurants close on Mondays as well,especially if they have been open during the weekend. We always make sure we have at least one meal in store for those evenings when we stop too far from the shops or don't pass any during the day.
It's useful to carry small change; 1, 2 euro and 50c coins, as you often need them for tokens ( jetons) for using MH services at aires.
Motorways round major towns and cities are usually non-peage and it is sometimes a good idea to use them rather than plough through the city centre or suburbs as the N road will do. A good map or road atlas will tell you where the toll gates are.
Hi Papaken, Mrs Papaken is like me - we like our site facilities even if we have them in the MH. It sounds as if municipal sites will suit you very well. Mostly basic (loos, showers, washing machine, dish washing) but clean facilities near or in villages or towns. Someone else has probably mentioned it, but the Caravan Club site book for France covers most of them and also provides directions and usually a short comment by a user. We find it useful.
You seem a resourceful chap - not unduly worried about things you can't do anything about so do you really want to commit yourself to staying on a rally site for a full week? If you have a particular problem just ask another MHer. Like on here they will be more than willing to help and then enjoy a glass of wine with you. Just a thought.
Get health and possibly recovery insurance and enjoy your adventure - it will be the first of many.
Sue
______________________________________________________________ Sue
I did a bit of thinking about this (I know dangerous!) and from memory I can now think of a few Aires in France that did have some half decent facilities and some were free. The Aire at Broquies in the Avyeron Department in south mid France has a fantastic wet room shower and loo, EHU, stunning views and is free. The Aire at Belcastle in Avyeron has EHU, showers and loos but they werent in great condition when we were there as I think it had been closed for a while but again a stunning, STUNNING location.
If you can get your head round www.campingcar-infos.com where they have the largest list of Aires when you check each one it should tell you what facilities they have.
______________________________________________________________ Hank the Tank has a website. Follow our adventures at http://www.hankthetank.co.uk
Yes Sue still debating whether to do a rally or not think i'm going to head to Honflour then south from there.
I have just renewed my insurance this time with Scenic and it has AA european recovery/breakdown that gives me reassurance but i hope i do not have to use it. :lol
What is the price of diesel is it like here dearer at the motorway services??
I am swaying more and more to just booking an inital site and then taking it from there.
Once i make the decision Ferry or eurotunnel and book it i will organise my stop and overnight down at Dover.
Once again Thanks everyone for their imput i am really looking forward to my trip.
Hi Papaken - we spent many years camping with our kids in France without booking a site but when it came to taking our brand new motorhome over there a couple of years ago we thought it best to book a couple of sites for our first week.
We have a lovely loo and shower in our motorhome but it has never been christened! Like your other half, I like to use facilities on sites (each to their own).
Depends how long you are going for but if for a month at least then I would recommend ACSI Camp Site Guide Book which you can buy from Vicarious Books and there is a card (similar to credit card) with the book which you hand in at the camp site and this entitles you to off peak prices. I have attached a link to their campsites
Don't get too dogmatic about your accommodation - just use aires, passions, municipals or commercial camp sites as you want. Most of the Municipals are very good and have full facilities. Lots of nice aires and also lots which are just scruffy car parks in the middle of towns - nice place to park your pride and joy! Also remember that on the majority of aires there is no pitch markings so you have to be prepared to be parked 1 meter (if you are lucky) from the next motorhome or just get settled down on a nice pitch just to get another motorhome slipping into that space between you and the next motorhome, but that does appeal to a lot of motorhomers it is not my cup of tea.
Go mad a buy bottled water for drinking. We do that even in the UK as you don't know what the previous user of the water point has used it for etc. Bottled water is cheaper in France.
Get a SatNav (we have TomTom), it is well worth it as it saves you on map reading and when you are on the wrong side of the road with sign posts in different formats it is great to have some help from the SatNav. Also, nearly all sites and aires have latitude and longitudes which I think is essential as sites are often not too easy to find from the descriptions and maps.
French roads are generally quieter that in the UK so N and D roads are a pleasure to use and passing through villages and towns as they do enable you to shop as you want for food. Most towns have a bakers so fresh bread is always available but do remember that Monday's can be difficult.
Use the motorways if you want to. It can be costly (Beaune to Paris in our motorhome was €32 but it is over 3.5tonnes) but is very relaxed and faster with far better lane discipline than in the UK).
Make sure that you get guides of campsites and the All the Aires books as they are very useful.
Don't read too much into what you read on this site, most of the motorhome owners here are obsessed by the cost of things. I fail to understand why anyone would want to spend their holidays parked 1 meter from the next motorhome, on a car park in the middle of a town, with no facilities - just to save €10 to €20 - still everybody to their own just enjoy your holidays and do whatever you want.
Unless you want to we decided on our first visit to book a site a Gines for 3 days to "get used to things" and on reflection we would have been better to leave it less committed. You get used to driving on the right very quickly and part of the fun of the holiday is seeing the country which unless you move the motorhome each day you do not do when you are based on one site for a week.
If you just want a cheap GPS to take on holiday.
Carrefour are doing a 5" Mappy 14 country with all the usual features for €79.
Ray.
______________________________________________________________ The FSA licensed a twice convicted fraudster to handle our life´s savings. Guess what? He robbed us. http://raynipper.com
Cheapest fuel in the supermarket "petrol" stations. I seem to remember SuperU have the best prices but there's not a lot between them. Private stations and motorways are always more expensive in our experience. Diesel is cheaper then Petrol.
Going on toll roads (peage) is easily avoided - there are lots and lots of signs before you reach the booths. Don't panic if you do though - it's all part of the learning experience and you can easily come off at the next junction - it may be some distance though .
Think about getting a good map so if you see a nice looking village in the distance you can check the name and programme the satnav to take you there. This said, I am the satnav in our MH so wouldn't know how to programme one if I tried Many times we have found beautiful secluded villages just by wandering down a road that looked interesting and in a MH you can.
My view on bottled water is that France's water is at least as good as ours so I am quite happy drinking it from the tap. This I have done all round France for the past 25+ years and am still here to tell the tale.
Enjoy your trip
Sue
______________________________________________________________ Sue
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