Aire at Bléharies in Belgium

[Way2Go]

Has anyone used the Aire at Bléharies (50.51696, 3.421775) in Belgium?  Its apparently got parking for 10 x MH and has facilities and is by the side of a river.

We were thinking about it as a convenient overnighter on the way back from Luxembourg.

Any views would be fab, thanks

W2G

[tonyg3nwl]

Hi, That is excellent timing to make the post as I have just been plotting outbound route .

 

Original thought was to try Aire in Lille, but this one at Bleharies looks more attractive so have inserted it into route as a likely stopover point.

 

We will be in that area 28 May, heading ultimately to Innsbruck area, via Romantische Strasse. Proposed route will take us via Luxumbourg,Trier,Kaiserslautern,Mannheim,Bad Mergentheim,Rothenburg, Augsburg,Fussen and seeking Stelplatz/Acsisites/Camping chequesite on the way.

 

Satnav has been loaded with poi's in different files for ACSI, CampingCheque,Stelplatz,Aires,FrancePassion etc, and associated books, Maps, etc are already stowed in the van. Essential provisions also loaded, as are the gas bottles. Bikes still to be added as is bedding and clothing and water tank to be dealt with( to fill or not to fill?). Fuel tank to fill, navigator to load and then off to weighbridge for a quick confirmation or otherwise that we are not overloaded. ( who or what gets left behind if we are ???) (what about money, whatever that is ???)

 

Ferry crossing booked (Sea france via Dover), passports up to date, Travel insurance arranged (Caravan Club red pennant), yellow jackets, triangles all on board, so what have we forgotton?

 

Just 2 weeks to go and then the world's problems can be ignored for a while.

 

tonyg3nwl

[Way2Go]

So Tony . . . . . now I've disclosed this apparent gem of a spot I'm expecting a full report from you as to what it's like.  A picture or two would be fab ;-)

I'm not off until early June.

Incidentally the details are :-

Bleharies 10SP [N/Ve/g]

N - night / overnight parking (general) possible

V - supply (fresh water) for a fee

e - disposal free of charge or in parking fee

g - charge up to 8 € / 24h (2 persons)

Have a great trip as the itinerary sounds brilliant.

W2G

[rolyk]

That's useful info as we're leaving on the 31st May heading for our first main stop at Interlaken. I was thinking of making an overnight stop at the aire about 25 miles south of Namur. But our train is not until 2.20pm so unless we can get an earlier one it may be a bit ambitious and the Bléharies one may be more sensible.

 

Roly

[Way2Go]

Now look - if I arrive there and find that it's full I'm gonna be pretty miffed now that I've told you where it is :-)

[Guest JudgeMental]

we have found Belgian Aires always to be full/near full (with the exception of Brugge probably because of price) One we use regularly when visiting our MH dealer at Eeklo, is always jammed...No problem though we park next to it in Boat club car park and enjoy a few beers in their club house.....

 

Motorhoming is popular in Belgium and aire network not very extensive in comparison to their neighbours.

[Way2Go]

Thanks JM . . . nice shades BTW . . . and are those the famous lady boys behind you !!

[Guest JudgeMental]

 

Nooooooo

[Brian Kirby]

YES!  But he couldn't tell - it was those shades you know!!  :-D

[Way2Go]

. . . . and the one on the right hasn't got her vest on.

[MandyAndy]

YOU dirty Ole' men!! :-D

 

I wouldn't recommend Lille last time we tried it was full of gypsies and I mean full.

 

We found Belgium a lovely place to visit and the Aires are in some really pretty places.

 

Mandy

[bigal]

Hi I've been on the aire beside the canal at Bleharies several times but am not aware of the facilities mentioned unless this is a different place. Is this the one by the overhead bridge across the canal?. I buy handmade chocolates from the shop in the village for my daughters so it's a must. B-)

[Way2Go]

Hmmm.  Looks like I'll need to maybe look a bit wider then?  The source I used showed the facilities mentioned.  I was hoping to find somewhere to dump everything on the way back to Dunkirk.

Thanks for the update.

[Guest JudgeMental]

There is this the Aire at Tournai? slightly north of Bléharies...it has water dump etc.

 

I cant see an aire at Blenaires on camping car info

 

 

http://tinyurl.com/32dsf5e

[Way2Go]

Many thanks E.  That looks like a good backup plan - much appreciated.

I got the Bleharies information from a set of POIs from the http://home.arcor.de/telbus/womo-sp/ReadMe-1st_engl.html web site which shows a date of 06/12/09 for the Benelux set.

What I really like about this set is that each entry contains information about the aire/stelplatz which is brilliant in something like AutoRoute.  You just click on a POI in the area you're interested in and up it pops with all the information about number of spaces, service facilities and charges etc unlike a lot of other sets where you have to then refer to a book or their web site to find out more.

W2G

[Guest JudgeMental]

Mmm.....Interesting, is there a garmin version for download, I clicked on it and its all a bit beyond me.

 

will this include all the French ones as well or just their favorites......in other words do I keep this running with my old sets :-S

[bigal]

Way2Go - 2010-05-10 7:14 AM

Hmmm.  Looks like I'll need to maybe look a bit wider then?  The source I used showed the facilities mentioned.  I was hoping to find somewhere to dump everything on the way back to Dunkirk.

Thanks for the update.

Just had a look at Bleharies with Google Earth and it seems that there is only the one Aire in the area. It is possible to get a water bottle filled from the timber office building behind the Aire and there is also a drain for grey water but no facilities for tipping a cassette as far as I am aware. The office staff are very good and are approachable so perhaps things have changed. There are toilets of course within the offices but these are not for public use as far as I know. If you would like to try it out the address is : Quai de l'Escaut and it is approached on the D169 from St. Amand Les Eaux which leads to the N507 into Bleharies the Aire is then on the right hand side at the end of the Rue d'en Bas. Hope this is of some use to you, B-)

[Way2Go]

JudgeMental - 2010-05-10 3:39 PM Mmm.....Interesting, is there a garmin version for download, I clicked on it and its all a bit beyond me. will this include all the French ones as well or just their favorites......in other words do I keep this running with my old sets :-S

It's essentially a flat text file which needs a bit of work to convert it into something meaningful.

It takes substantially longer to explain than to actually do which is why you now have an AutoRoute version and a Garmin version for France sat in your email account :-)

There's also an English set of explanations as to what the  codes mean i.e. V/e/g etc.

W2G

[Way2Go]

bigal - 2010-05-10 9:09 PM

Way2Go - 2010-05-10 7:14 AM

Hmmm.  Looks like I'll need to maybe look a bit wider then?  The source I used showed the facilities mentioned.  I was hoping to find somewhere to dump everything on the way back to Dunkirk.

Thanks for the update.

Just had a look at Bleharies with Google Earth and it seems that there is only the one Aire in the area. It is possible to get a water bottle filled from the timber office building behind the Aire and there is also a drain for grey water but no facilities for tipping a cassette as far as I am aware. The office staff are very good and are approachable so perhaps things have changed. There are toilets of course within the offices but these are not for public use as far as I know. If you would like to try it out the address is : Quai de l'Escaut and it is approached on the D169 from St. Amand Les Eaux which leads to the N507 into Bleharies the Aire is then on the right hand side at the end of the Rue d'en Bas. Hope this is of some use to you, B-)

Thanks for the update - much appreciated.

W2G

[tonyg3nwl]

JudgeMental - 2010-05-10 3:39 PM

 

Mmm.....Interesting, is there a garmin version for download, I clicked on it and its all a bit beyond me.

 

:-S

 

I have just converted the file to CSV format which can now be used by POI loader, ( in my case to upload onto MIO Satnav) . Conversion was done by firstly opening it with notepad, changing the name, and saving it back under new name and as a text file. The loading the text file version into works spreadsheet and checking for any format errors, the saving in final form as CSV file compatible with poi loader. (Easy !!!)

 

tonyg3nwl

[bigal]

tonyg3nwl - 2010-05-12 9:08 AM

 

JudgeMental - 2010-05-10 3:39 PM

 

Mmm.....Interesting, is there a garmin version for download, I clicked on it and its all a bit beyond me.

 

:-S

 

I have just converted the file to CSV format which can now be used by POI loader, ( in my case to upload onto MIO Satnav) . Conversion was done by firstly opening it with notepad, changing the name, and saving it back under new name and as a text file. The loading the text file version into works spreadsheet and checking for any format errors, the saving in final form as CSV file compatible with poi loader. (Easy !!!)

 

tonyg3nwl

Well that looks interesting but it's beyond me, I'll have to talk to my grandson !!! 8-) B-)