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French aires


360david

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Im toying with going down through France in the spring stopping off at the aires rather than campsites

Never used the aires system so a bit unsure of what to do. Ive got the books listing the aires but my command of the french language is not good, So i might have a problem with reading any instructions at the entrances. We stayed in a campsite in Brittany earlier this year and there was an aire down the road. It had a barrier and very complicated instruction as to how to get in. Are they all like that.

Can someone put my mind at rest and say its easy.

All advice appreciated

David

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In the "All the Aires" book it explains the different sites and their entry requirements.

They range from a tarmac car park with free entry to barriers needing a card or "jeton" from a local shop.

No single system, just local communities offering stopovers for tourists.

Just relax and ask others if unsure.

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David

 

As mentioned by fjmike, to use a French Camping-Car Park (CCP) ‘aire’ requires an access-card as explained here

 

https://campingcarpark.com/en/the-concept/

 

and, once one has signed up to the scheme and obtained the card, entry and exit should be straightforward.

 

(If you say which campsite you stayed on in Brittany, it should be possible to identify if the nearby aire with the complicated barrier-system was a CCP installation.)

 

Some non-CCP aires do have a barrier system nowadays and the entry/exit procedure (often involving credit-card payment) can be confusing or tricky - and not just for ‘foreign’ motorcaravanners. But the majority of French aires still have no barriers.

 

As advised above, it’s not something to be overly concerned about.

 

 

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Yes it’s easy.

 

Firstly I’d suggest you dump the books and if you have an Android smart phone download the free Park4Night app. We use it exclusively for Aire hopping in France (and Germany). You can identify Aires by target location and by map view and by type (eg free/fee/facilities). Best of all, it includes real time comment updates by other motorhomes who have recently stopped at your target Aire and if the comments are not in English, automatically translates them. We’ve discovered some idyllic Aires this way.

 

Secondly, if you’re concerned about your lack of French then use Google Translate on your phone. Not only will it translate real time spoken conversation (I held a conversation in Chinese that way) but you can take a photograph and it will translate the image text into your target language or alternatively translate the text in real time and overlay the English onto the image.

 

Thirdly, we toured extensively through France last year staying exclusively in Aires. We paid a nominal fee for just three of them and just one had a barrier and that was at our last stop before our ferry crossing (Saint-Valery-sur-Somme). So not really an issue, just embrace the adventure.

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Only problem I've had in 10 yrs is paying to get out having card's refused and having to get a French man to pay for us paying him with cash.

I'd recommend the Camping car park aires and buying the card on line (it's easier than using the card machine at the aire) which you then add money to and enter and exit the aire with it

https://campingcarpark.com/en/map/

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Yes we find it easy.

 

Generally when touring and not needing to be anywhere in a hurry, what we do the night before is decide roughly how far we want to travel the next day and pick an area from AtA for an area suitable that contains a few Aires checking the book as to their nearby iffy or undesireable locations and make a list of the coordinates for the Satnav. Then the next day when we arrive at the nearest Aire and it ticks all the boxes ie not full, closed down etc etc, park up and chill. If not move on to the next nearest etc, works for us.

 

Tip......Keep the drinking water topped up where it's gratis and even a little French goes a long way once they discover you have made the effort.

 

Bon voyage

 

B-)

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Have spent about 5 months each year in France for the past 6 years using Vicarious aires book and campercontact. More and more aires changing to campingcarpark so suggest buying their card and preloading with say 20 euro. .Touring France really easy using aires and very cheap. We have recently returned from a 3 month trip and our overnight expenditure was 139 euro and that included 5 nights on a camp site in Piriac sur Mer. Don't worry you will soon get used to using them and will find your favourites to re visit
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Also if you have problems with a.language, download a translator to you smartphone (if you have one) point it at a sign and it will be translated. The 'gold standard' for this is windows, unfortunately will cease on phones in a couple of years, but it might also work on a tablet or laptop.
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With Campingcarpark you don't need to pre load the card, it allows you to enter even if there is little or nothing loaded. You just have to top it up before you leave. If your not sure that you are going to stop inspect the Aire on foot as even if you go in and straight out it will deduct 5 euros.
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The only thing I’d add is that according to Alan Rodgers there are approximately 4,000 Aires in France. I understand that Campingcarpark has signed up about 200 of them – ie about 5%. That number will undoubtedly grow and it’s understandable that Campingcarpark will attempt to sign up the more popular (lucrative) stopovers. If you’re not fussy though and unless you’re targeting to overnight at a particular location, you’ll usually be able to pick up a free Aire not far away.
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There are many different types of aires and other than the book that is reviewed annually and very good for most aires, Park4night has details of far more aires and places that you can stay that you might not have thought about. also the ACSI website might have details about camp sites that have aires attached. We tend to use aires or park 'off piste' for three or four nights and then find a camp site to pump & dump and use the showers for one night.

 

Some of the aires that you pay for are not as good as some of the free ones. Some aires that you pay for offer nothing that you cannot find in a supermarket car park for free. On Park4night you can see reviews from recent users that give you a feel for the place and alert you to any changes that might have been made. You can also find details of places where you can fill with water and dump your grey and toilet waste without charge. In some free aires the electricity is also free although becoming quite rare now.

 

If you are independent of EHU then your choice is a lot wider. But first you have to leave the British mentality behind. In France, unless you ignore a sign or act stupidly you are unlikely to suffer the 'Can't park here' attitude. Park considerately and you will be OK in picnic areas, haltes nautiques, kayak and canoe bases and if you are pushed for time and can't find anywhere else, supermarkets allow campers to park overnight and an increasing number have water and sewage disposal facilities. The water supply may need a token from the supermarket reception, but the waste disposal is normally free.

 

You may see signs for Flot Bleu and Euro-Relais. These are stations where you can obtain water and electricity by inserting a token. Usually you buy the tokens at a local shop of restaurant. There will be a sign somewhere. Tokens are called Jetons.

 

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A list of Flot Bleu service points can be found here

 

http://www.flotbleu.com/liste-relais-flot-bleu

 

http://www.flotbleu.com/

 

and there’s a 2016 list of Euro-Relais ‘aires’ here

 

http://www.bornes-eurorelais.fr/notices/listes-implantations-bornes-EURORELAIS.pdf

 

http://www.bornes-eurorelais.fr/

 

(in some instances the services will be free of charge.)

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