hi Rosemary,
I've got to agree with Gillian about how easy it all is, the only bad / expensive bit is getting over there, and the hardest bit is coming back
if you want to break yourself in gently, you could always stick to the areas nearest the Channel ports, from Calais round to Roscoff. Brittany is particularly easy way to get into it.
It helps a lot if you speak a little bit of French, it breaks the ice, and, anyway it is polite.
We tend to aim for the municipal sites they are usually very good, cheap, and handy for the towns [eating and drinking establishments abound!]
There are several web sites with details of sites.
or you could try Camping Cheque, which is a sort of half way house between going it alone and being organised.
Whereabouts did you fancy going to? or at least aiming for? how many of you and what ages? what do you like to do?
We're a bit like Gillian, and never seem to get too far easily distracted, and enjoy just mooching along on the back roads. 8)
So, if you want to post some more details I'm sure we can all provide lots of suggestions.