CAMPING-CAR PARK

[BKen1]

After spending some time in France this year we used one of this organisations sites and have since been getting updates via email as to there portfolio of sites and it may be of interest to any other motorhomers out there of there locations ,which seem to be in major tourists areas.

 

At the first site you pay the fee ..all are barrier controlled and CC payment ..plus 4€ for the card the machine spits out this is a one and only payment, you then use the card at there other sites with discount.

 

Below is the link showing there latest offerings

 

http://r.mailing.campingcarpark.com/hitukbx95udvl.html?utm_source=sendinblue&utm_campaign=LES_AMBASSADEURS_PARLENT_DU_RSEAU_CAMPINGCAR_PARK_!&utm_medium=email

 

Hope this info is useful

 

Brian K

 

[Steve928]

We've just this afternoon checked in to our first one of these at Gap. €14 isn't too bad but I could have done without the rigmarole of buying the card and credit, standing in the baking sun at the end of a long drive. Once in it's OK but only OK; feels pretty run down with the main building boarded up. Plenty of folk here though but almost no French of course.

[phalange]

we stayed at the one near Gap about 2 months ago. it used to be a municipal campsite until the new company bought it around May time and the building isn't in use anymore. I thought it was ok, a pleasant short stroll down the river to the village, free wifi, quiet. Perhaps in the long term they might spend a few euros and tidy it up a bit. The same company own one at Ais Le Bains as well right next to the lac, this is also an ex municipal campsite.

[Bulletguy]

Steve928 - 2016-09-08 3:15 PM

 

We've just this afternoon checked in to our first one of these at Gap. €14 isn't too bad but I could have done without the rigmarole of buying the card and credit, standing in the baking sun at the end of a long drive. Once in it's OK but only OK; feels pretty run down with the main building boarded up. Plenty of folk here though but almost no French of course.

 

Take comfort from the fact though it's currently dry and even occasionally a bit sunny when it manages to glimpse through the layers of thick cloud here in my part of UK....."baking" only ever happens when i switch the oven on!

 

The frenchies will be sleeping at 3pm or on extended lunch breaks which last a couple of hours! :D

[Tracker]

Many thanks for taking the time and the trouble to post the information as I am sure there will be those who will benefit from your experience and information.

[BKen1]

Come to think about it the one we stayed in at Aix Le Bain on the lake had a disused toilet block all boarded up ..so I guess they are collecting old campsites and using them for motorhomes only... ours was full come the evening so they seem to be doing ok lets hope they eventually spend some money upgrading them, not as many power points as pitches here but managed to piggy back off our neighbours lead as did most everybody else . Wifi only near the entrance but good .

 

 

Brian K

[derek500]

We bought a card last year and so far have only stayed at one site, Le Conleau, Vannes in Brittany.

 

Very good aire, been there a couple of times now. Lovely location, with bus or cycle path to Vannes.

 

They're in Spain now, too.

[Steve928]

Bulletguy - 2016-09-08 3:37 PM

 

Take comfort from the fact though it's currently dry and even occasionally a bit sunny when it manages to glimpse through the layers of thick cloud here in my part of UK....."baking" only ever happens when i switch the oven on!

 

I guess that it wasn't just the 32 degrees to blame. I'd pulled up to the barrier and hopped out leaving the engine running expecting it to be a simple process to get in so was being basted by engine heat too with the fans running flat out. I just wanted in to get my cold beer opened but the machine wanted all my details including mobile telephone number which neither of us could remember.. We reversed out under a shady tree and cooled down before restarting the long-winded process.

[Steve928]

I'm not sure that they have the formula quite right. We've had a rare 2 night stop here and 6 or 7 vans have turned up at the barrier duing the day but have gone no further. Either the price or the hassle is putting them off and they reverse away and go elsewhere.

 

Looking 3 or 4 days ahead we shoiud be visiting the Mt. Ventoux aire at Beduoin and I see that is now part of the same network. It looks to have been tidied up and levelled so I have already topped up my Pass d'Etapes card and hope to breeze through the barrier like a pro :-)

[Derek Uzzell]

I’ve never stayed at a Camping-Car Park aire and, although I’ve looked at the main website

 

http://www.camping-car-park.com/fr

 

and read through the FAQs, I’m still not certain what the procedure is to enter the aire if one does not have a PASS'ÉTAPES card.

 

Would it be possible, please, for someone to describe in detail what’s involved? Brian K’s original posting suggests that the procedure is quite straightforward, but Steve’s comments suggest maybe not.

 

(I vaguely recall - when the Camping-Car Park network was in its infancy - that there were widespread criticisms on French forums about the bloody-mindedness of the entry system and its unnecessary complexity.)

[BKen1]

The procedure is long winded on the first visit they ask you for email address telephone No. home address how many nights, van reg, credit card details and a few other details cant remember them all,but you only need to follow the instructions on the screen (select the language first obviously).

On the first visit you pay the 24hr price PLUS 4€ which is a one off enrolment fee for want of a better description ..so at Aix Le Bains where we stayed its 13€ a night and our was a first visit so the total was 17€. any sites after that you only pay the 24hr rate.

 

Once you complete the process the machine gives you a ticket and a Plastic Credit Card sized Pass which you then pass over the sensor in the box adjacent to the barrier ,make sure you pull up the van to the barrier. You can then use the card to get in and out so long as you have credit on it . You can now use the card at any of there other sites. It is possible to top up the card.

We paid for one night but stayed 2 ..so we had to reenter our credit card details in order to get out.

Be careful with your timing if you go over the 24hr you have to pay for another 24hrs.

At Aix le Bain the entrance is narrow so you need to hit it head on (if you get my meaning) saw a couple of vans catch the barrier and posts. There does seem to be a lot of pillars, posts, signs around the entrance which can be a little off putting.

 

Think thats about it

 

The pitch was a good size, price good considering its location and wifi excellent although it was only near the entrance. I see they are adding new locations weekly and you can catch up on youtube all be it in French (lol)

 

Brian K

[Derek Uzzell]

Thanks for that information, Brian.

 

I don’t know if it’s practicable to obtain the 4€ PassEtapes card on-line in advance (the Camping-Car Park website suggests not)

 

http://www.camping-car-park.com/en/nos-formules

 

but that ought to be easier than faffing around at the machine by the barrier.

 

I might try it and see what happens.

[Steve928]

(Beaten to it by Brian K, but I'll leave this mostly duplicate information here anyway).

 

Entry either to stay for periods of 24 hours or for a short (4 hour?) stay to access the services is via a credit card size plastic 'Pass Etapes' card which is used to activate entry and exit barriers and (in some cases) the services borne inside the aire.

 

If, upon arrival at the entry barrier, you don't have a Pass Etapes card then you need to obtain one from the entry machine, which is similar to a parking ticket dispenser. The card costs a one-off payment of Euro4. I can't recall the exact menu choices that the large touch-screen display offers but they are something like 'Recharge my access card' or 'Obtain my access card'. Having pressed 'Obtain' then you'll need to enter email address, mobile phone number, full address and vehicle registration and select an initial amount with which to charge the card e.g. Euro10. Payment is made using a debit/credit card on the adjacent reader and then the new Pass Etapes card is spat out for you to take.

 

You then pass your card in front of the barrier's reader/keypad unit, up it goes and you drive in.

The same goes for exiting at which point your card is debited to cover your stay.

I don't think the card really holds any information; it is likely just used to identify your account on their central computer system; you can also recharge and manage your account online.

No paper receipts are given but you get an email confirmation of each payment made.

 

If you already have a Pass Etapes card then you can at any time select the 'Recharge' option and add credit to your card. You may well be able to raise the barrier and drive straight in even with no credit on the card although we didn't try this, preferring to stop at the barrier and charge our card with the amount required to cover our anticipated stay. Clearly though you won't be able to raise the exit barrier until the correct amount of credit exists on your card.

 

Of course familiarity has made it all seem straightforward but it seems to be the lengthy registration process and that perhaps-unexpected initial Euro4 payment that leads to people reversing away and going elsewhere. We stayed on 4 of their aires during our holiday and liked them all.

 

 

[phalange]

Steve928 - 2016-09-29 1:35 PM

You may well be able to raise the barrier and drive straight in even with no credit on the card although we didn't try this, preferring to stop at the barrier and charge our card with the amount required to cover our anticipated stay.

 

 

You can enter with zero credit on, i did this at Aix les Bains and then just topped the card up once in to the required amount for exiting.

[Steve928]

phalange - 2016-09-29 2:52 PM

 

You can enter with zero credit on, i did this at Aix les Bains and then just topped the card up once in to the required amount for exiting.

 

Thanks, that's handy to know.

 

[Keith T]

Sounds rather like yet another complication in what used to be such a simple procedure - turn up and park for free, or pay a small amount to a machine in coins, and get a ticket...!

 

For the price of very little more now, though you can still stay on a full facility campsite...oh, expect they have now jumped on the bandwagon of a tourist tax..(or rather the maire has!), . and this recent trip (still in France now) has generally been 0.61 euros pppn, and in some case there has been an added 'Eco' tax, of 0.39 pppn, which adds another €2 per night top the fees......

 

Overall though the sites are still a lot cheaper than UK, and you can still turn up and get a pitch and then pay when you decide to move on. Fuel is still cheaper than UK (Diesel),and its much more pleasant driving.

[Derek Uzzell]

Keith T - 2016-09-29 5:08 PM

 

...For the price of very little more now, though you can still stay on a full facility campsite...

 

That’s undoubtedly the case, but a significant feature of Camping-Car Park (CCP) sites are that they are open all year round and access is 24/7, which is most unlikely to be the case with a caravan site.

 

This 2013 forum discussion may be of interest

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Camping-Car-Parks-/33573/

 

The CCP network was started in 2011 and in late-2013 there were just 21 CCP sites throughout France; now there are 61. However much the concept was initially disliked by French motorcaravanners, the scheme has evidently been a success.

[Uncle Bulgaria]

We came across this scheme in Azay le Rideau recently. Campsite guide said the town's campsite should be open, but it wasn't, but the aire had been created by fencing off part of the campsite and making a separate, barrier controlled entry. Agreed it was a faff with the initial registration, and buying the pass, and it took about half an hour for the card to be registered on the system before it would open the barrier. The site was fine. Electricity was at least 10 amps. The network is now some 68 aires. I guess we will see more of these as we have found campsites (even those listed in the ACSI Camping Card scheme) are closing earlier than the stated date. These sites may be a good value alternative to a full campsite especially out of season. I'm going to put the app on my 'phone and use the network as another alternative to the full campsite or the zero facility aire.