Aires that are not Car Parks

[Solwaybuggier]

???

[robertandjean]

Sorry managed to send first one with no content here is what it should have said:

 

When subject of aires comes up it is often said that aires are just car parks well we are on an aire now that is certainly not;

 

Corre (dept 70, Haute-Saone) This private aire at the Marina features indivdual hardstanding pitches each with its own hook-up and water tap and well spaced from each other with grassed sections. There is a well designed waste dump point. It is a pleasant canal side walk into the local village with usual shops and a small Intermarche; there is a resturant in adjacent marina which serves reasonable priced meals. If required showers are available for 1.5€ This is like a first class CL but with proper facilities for motorhomes and no advanced booking worries! And whats more wi-fi is available for 3€ for 48 hours (or 16 € for a year) through Stop Wi-fi which you can sign up to on-line when you first connect. (We have found it fine and good value; are using it now) So a real gem of an aire and all for 7€/night.

 

Two other aires we have stayed on this time also not car parks are Charmes (dept 88 Voges) and Stenay (dept 55 Meuse). Both are canal side aires with good views (at Corre views of canal are limited), have marked pitches, hook-ups, showers etc (latter included at Stenay, 2 € at charmes). Cost is 6€/night Charmes, & 7€/night Stenay. Both have the Stop Wi-fi service for same cost as Corre.

 

So there we are 3 aries which are certainly not car parks! However, some aires on the other hand are car park like, but that is a story for another day

[Usinmyknaus]

Thank, RobertandJean, all now written down for future use.

 

Bob

[Arvy]

Thanks also robertandjean but I am a little confused over what is meant by: (dept 55 etc after the place name) Can I assume that it is some form of map reference or am I just being and I hate to say it "thick".

 

Cheers Les :-D

[malc d]

Arvy - 2011-08-05 3:09 PM

 

Thanks also robertandjean but I am a little confused over what is meant by: (dept 55 etc after the place name) Can I assume that it is some form of map reference or am I just being and I hate to say it "thick".

 

Cheers Les :-D

 

 

France is divided up into regions ( Normandy - Brittany etc) and the regions are divided into departments.

 

 

 

[Arvy]

malc d - 2011-08-05 3:17 PM

 

Arvy - 2011-08-05 3:09 PM

 

Thanks also robertandjean but I am a little confused over what is meant by: (dept 55 etc after the place name) Can I assume that it is some form of map reference or am I just being and I hate to say it "thick".

 

Cheers Les :-D

 

 

France is divided up into regions ( Normandy - Brittany etc) and the regions are divided into departments.

 

 

Thankyou

[602]

France is divided up into regions ( Normandy - Brittany etc) and the regions are divided into departments.

 

Hi,

 

And the departments are numbered in alphabetical order. If you follow what I mean. :-S

 

And the department number is part of the vehicle registration system ...... or it was.

 

602

[Randonneur]

As from the beginning of this year the vehicle registration system has gone national and does not include a dept number

[Rod_vw]

And back to the original subject....

 

There are some fantastic Aires to be found in rural areas of France, we notice that some regions are making a great effort to publicise their facilities for 'Camping Car' users.

Meuse in particular came to our notice this year see http://cdt55.tourinsoft.com/Upload/MEDIA_54b2e513-2a4c-4888-a630-5a90c8b8379d.pdf for their 'Camping Car' leaflet.

 

Download from the various sources of POIs and go searching for those idyllic places, we've found plenty. There are some dreadful ones out there as well though!!

 

If only UK tourist boards, Motor home manufacturers, Motor Home magazines etc. would put sufficient pressure on the powers that be to revise our rules to enable such facilities here.

 

[Derek Uzzell]

robertandjean - 2011-07-27 8:31 PM

 

...When subject of aires comes up it is often said that aires are just car parks...

 

I don't believe this statement is correct. However, if you had said "...When the subject of aires comes up it is often said that MANY aires are just car parks...", I'd have been happy to accept that as it's an accurate summary.

 

While it's undoubtedly true that some 'aires' are delightful semi-campsites, it's likely (though I readily admit to not having researched exact numbers) that a significant majority will comprise a motorhome service-point with motorhome parking on an adjacent common-or-garden car-park. This theory is easily tested by visiting the following website

 

http://www.campingcar-infos.com/index1.htm

 

and selecting, say, 20 entries at random from the "Aires de services publiques ou privées" alphabetic list and looking at the photos.

 

For information on French departments and vehicle registration-plates, the following links may be useful:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departments_of_France#Current_departments

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_France

 

My understanding is that, when the present registration-plate system was initially advertised, there was a great outcry over the loss of a departmental identification-number, hence the option nowadays to have a department number/logo on the right of the plate.

 

 

[tonyg3nwl]

Hi, I assume that the title means that there are some Aires where cars are Not permitted, and a sign saying Motorhomes only.

 

We found one such place where the Aire was Adjacent to the Car park, and the signage made it quite clear that the AIRE bit was definitely Motorhomes ONLY. As the Carpark was full, a french car parked in a Motorhome bay alongside us, and proceeded to set up picnic tables and chairs etc..

 

After pouring the wine etc, a Large Motorhome arrived and was disgusted to see the car in the bay, so a few strong words between the car driver and the Motorhomer resulted in an altercation, and a picnic table disappearing, and car was exiled to be replaced by the Motorhome.

 

moral, dont park your Car in a Motorhome Only space., it just might get "removed"

 

tonyg3nwl

[Derek Uzzell]

tonyg3nwl - 2011-08-06 8:40 AM

 

..I assume that the title means that there are some Aires where cars are Not permitted, and a sign saying Motorhomes only...

 

There will be some (probably not too many) 'aires' where parking is dedicated to motorhomes and clearly signed as such, and others where the signage is ambiguous. For instance, the car-park at Chateau-Gontier where the aire de services is located used to be split into two parts. One part had a sign banning motorhomes, but the other part had a sign allowing motorhomes but not banning cars. As motorcaravanners used to abuse the assigned parking by squatting there for extended periods, the original unlimited-duration parking for motorhomes was reduced to overnight-only and, more recently, motorhomes have been banished completely to the opposite bank of the river next to the cattle-market.

 

We regularly stay at a French aire that was originally a small campsite and is now dedicated to motorhomes. Parking is free and (as far as I'm aware) of unlimited duration. The hedge-separated pitches are mainly grassed, with a few hard-standings and everything is well maintained. Services (including 1 hour of electricity) are provided by the usual borne at 2€ per jeton.

 

Because this used to be a campsite there is a small toilet-block, now disused and with its entry-doors locked. When we last visited, the only other motorhome there had a long hook-up cable running through the narrow ventilation gap above the top of one of the toilet-block's entry-doors and (presumably) plugged into a wall-mounted socket reachable from a set of steps. "That's novel," I thought, and the municipal workers who turned up the following morning to collect equipment stored in the toilet-block must have thought the same, as we could see them looking bemusedly at the over-the-door cable arrangement. Not a good advertisement for motorhomes but, as the hooked-up vehicle wore a GB registration-plate, perhaps such behaviour would have been overlooked as something those strange tight-fisted British do.

[rupert123]

Derek, you seem to have completely misunderstood RobertandJean heading, if you read their first post on this it is very obvious what is meant. The statement is completely accurate, it has been stated on this forum several times, including by myself, although I must now admit to a slight change of mind. I agree most are just like carparks but some are certainly not.

[Brian Kirby]

robertandjean - 2011-07-27 8:31 PM

 

When subject of aires comes up it is often said that aires are just car parks well we are on an aire now that is certainly not;

 

Corre (dept 70, Haute-Saone) This private aire at the Marina features indivdual hardstanding pitches each with its own hook-up and water tap and well spaced from each other with grassed sections. ......................................................

 

Two other aires we have stayed on this time also not car parks are Charmes (dept 88 Vogues) and Stenay (dept 55 Meuse). Both are canal side aires with good views (at Corre views of canal are limited), have marked pitches, hook-ups, showers etc (latter included at Stenay, 2 € at charmes). Cost is 6€/night Charmes, & 7€/night Stenay. Both have the Stop Wi-fi service for same cost as Corre.

 

Corre: GPS N47.91563 E5.98835. Le Pre Saonier. Turning off D44 south, signposted Marina and Camping Cars. Looks excellent.

 

I have two references for Charmes. One is on Camping les Iles, and is indicated as a (presumably chargeable) dump station only. Rue des Ecluses, over canal de l'Est, and turn right. GPS N48.37704 E6.28677.

The second is beside the canal de l'Est. Turn NW off D55/Rue Marcel Goulette, at south end of bridge, into Rue Patis, then right into Rue des Abbatoirs, shortly fork right (sign Camping Cars), - GPS N48.37418 E6.29374 - which takes you under Rue Marcel Goulette to the marina. Alternative access from D157 south is via a maze of one way streets. For the brave only! The marked bays are on grass, but look very close together to me. I'd rate this as a car park on grass.

Are either of these the ones referred to above?

 

I also have two references for Charmes. The first is at GPS N49.49066 E5.18387. Turn off D947 into Rue du Port, beside Canal de l'Est. Reception in canal-side building. This is an extension of a car park, with 5 larger parking bays. I would definitely call this a car park.

The other, with barrier access, is just across the Canal de l'Est, on the island. GPS N49.48993 E5.18345. This is signed Camping Cars on the D947. Can't see any details of the bays etc (Google Earth/Streets), just an undefined, rather crowded looking, area of gravel. Which is the correct location, please?

 

What I am really pleading for, is the GPS co-ordinates for the entrances, which makes it almost impossible to go to the wrong place?

[mondo]

tonyg3nwl - 2011-08-06 8:40 AM

 

Hi, I assume that the title means that there are some Aires where cars are Not permitted, and a sign saying Motorhomes only.

 

We found one such place where the Aire was Adjacent to the Car park, and the signage made it quite clear that the AIRE bit was definitely Motorhomes ONLY. As the Carpark was full, a french car parked in a Motorhome bay alongside us, and proceeded to set up picnic tables and chairs etc..

 

After pouring the wine etc, a Large Motorhome arrived and was disgusted to see the car in the bay, so a few strong words between the car driver and the Motorhomer resulted in an altercation, and a picnic table disappearing, and car was exiled to be replaced by the Motorhome.

 

moral, dont park your Car in a Motorhome Only space., it just might get "removed"

 

tonyg3nwl

 

 

Now could you see that happening in the UK...a car moving..yea right..once your in your in is the way in the UK...Mind you I've seen a couple of caravans on aires in France..just a couple mind...and they came after dark and were away very sharp the next morning

[Cattwg]

“Thank you” Robert and Jean for those updates. – I have amended my records accordingly. Thanks also to Rod vw for a very useful link – stored for future reference.

 

Cattwg :-D

[robertandjean]

Thanks Rupert for your comment, you are spot on in your understanding of the meaning of the thread which was just to point out that there are many aires which, in our opinion, are not just car parks, which has, as you note, often been said on here.

Derrick, not sure your comments take us much further forward. On your one substantive point, the parking for motorhomes at Chateau Gontier has been moved over the river due to the development of a new boat moorings, and further work to follow, nothing to do with overstaying etc. Where you now stay is O.K. but yes is on a car park. Perhaps given your wide experience of staying on aires you could share with us some of your favourite "none car park" aires.

Brian, yes Corre is a realy nice aire and would be an excellant first aire for camp site people like yourself to try.

At Charmes he aire we are refering to is the one on the canal side, not the campsite. It might look a bit like a car park on grass from Google pictures, but when there sat relaxing on the canal side it does not feel like that (yes the pitches are closer together than Corre, but not much worse than Crystal Palace CC site where we spent the last 3 nights on our way home). The site has no views and a couple of weeks ago was busy with tent campers and did not look very relaxing.

Regarding Stenay (which think you meant) then the 5/6 spaces on hardstanding next to main building is the original aire and yes is car park like. Over the other side of the canal is the "new" much larger aire (years ago was a camp site) where majority now stay. Used to be mainly grass pitching but now almost all hard standing on marked/numbered pitches which are about same distance apart as Charmes if all full, but often only half are. So, with showers etc, more like a site than a car park. Hope this helps.

Re GPS than find camping-car infos are the most reliable, followed by Le Guide National, the All the Aires. In future will include GPS when mentioning specific airs, a useful point Brian, thanks.

 

[MandyAndy]

We have just got back today, stayed on a site next to the Seine, stunning private aire, more like a campsite.

 

10 euros for all services including EHU but you can have nothing other than pitch for 5

 

15 pitches which you can see clearly on the google map. Amazing boats passing by and you can save your pitch as others did while were there.

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?pq=hautville,

 

Hope the above works for you, it didn't work and I can't do it so the name is there if you go to the edge of the village you can clearly see the site with marked pitches along edge of river, as for Coordinates not a chance Brian

 

Mandy 8-) 8-)

[Brian Kirby]

robertandjean - 2011-08-06 9:26 PM................................Brian, yes Corre is a realy nice aire and would be an excellant first aire for camp site people like yourself to try.

 

Too late to be the first: tried a few before, but not found one we liked. Besides, we seldom cover the same ground again so they have to be a) attractive and b) where we are. "Camp site people indeed"! :-D

 

At Charmes he aire we are refering to is the one on the canal side, not the campsite. It might look a bit like a car park on grass from Google pictures, but when there sat relaxing on the canal side it does not feel like that (yes the pitches are closer together than Corre, but not much worse than Crystal Palace CC site where we spent the last 3 nights on our way home). The site has no views and a couple of weeks ago was busy with tent campers and did not look very relaxing.

 

It is an attractive location. Given only a handful of vans present, spaced with a spare pitch between each, would be fine. But there's always the plonker who turns up late and likes to snuggle in close.

 

Regarding Stenay (which think you meant) then the 5/6 spaces on hardstanding next to main building is the original aire and yes is car park like. Over the other side of the canal is the "new" much larger aire (years ago was a camp site) where majority now stay. Used to be mainly grass pitching but now almost all hard standing on marked/numbered pitches which are about same distance apart as Charmes if all full, but often only half are. So, with showers etc, more like a site than a car park. Hope this helps.

Re GPS than find camping-car infos are the most reliable, followed by Le Guide National, the All the Aires. In future will include GPS when mentioning specific airs, a useful point Brian, thanks.

 

Yes, apologies, I did mean Stenay. Sounds very good indeed.

 

My information comes from three sets of POIs (about 13,000 in total), aires, stells, sostas, etc acquired over about five years. If I think I'll use one (often for a lunch stop), I check the accuracy of its coordinates, and what it looks like, in Google Earth/Streets. Too many of the descriptions in the books are vague, and the co-ordinates are too often given for a space on the aire, which can give some odd navigation instructions. My way, I re-set the coordinates for the entrance, so the sat-nav knows which road to attack from, and I have a fair degree of certainty it is in the right place. They will keep meddling with them! :-)

[Mike B.]

Just got back from France and came back via Condor Fastcraft, Cherbourg-Poole-very efficient and very fast 2.5 hr crossing.

If anyone is coming or going via Cherbourg try this aire-new to us and we were the only ones on it but it was really nice. Private aire on a working farm 10 mins from Cherbourg. Individual marked pitches good size, gravel to pitch then grass pitch for sitting out if you want a bbq etc and really friendly couple who own it.

Charges: 7euros per night or 6 euros if you stay 2 or more nights-includes water, waste dump, electricity.

You can buy home made jams, cider and eggs from Veronique the owner and if you order bread the night before she bakes it for you ready for breakfast!!!

Definitely recommend this to anyone coming this route

Co-ordinates are 49-35'17N 1-41'29W

It is on the D650 from Cherbourg heading south about 5 miles at the village of Sideville and this is the link:

www.lorimier.fr/index

Mike

[Derek Uzzell]

robertandjean - 2011-08-06 9:26 PM

 

...Derrick, not sure your comments take us much further forward. On your one substantive point, the parking for motorhomes at Chateau Gontier has been moved over the river due to the development of a new boat moorings, and further work to follow, nothing to do with overstaying etc. Where you now stay is O.K. but yes is on a car park...

 

 

An update on the motorhome parking/servicing situation at Château-Gontier…

 

As robertandjean said last August, redevelopment at Quai d’Alsace (where motorhomes have historically parked and serviced) to accommodate river-boat moorings resulted in authorised motorhome parking being transferred to the opposite side of the river to the section of the Parc St. Fiacre car-park in front of the livestock-market buildings and bordering the river foot-path.

 

Despite robertandjean’s assertion that this transfer had “nothing to do with overstaying, etc.”, there’s no doubt that it did (the Mairie confirmed this to me when motorhomes were originally banned from parking at Quai d’Alsace prior to it being developed) and, to further discourage motorcaravanners from long-term off-campsite 'squatting' at Château-Gontier, there are no longer any servicing facilities within the town itself as the Quai d’Alsace water-filling/waste-emptying point has been deleted.

 

Notices at Quai d’Alsace and at the Parc St. Fiacre car-park advise that motorcaravanners have free use of the service-point at the Camping du Parc campsite at 15 Route de Laval on the north side of the town.

 

However, although Camping du Parc is open all-year-round, casual entry to the campsite is only possible when the Reception is open/manned. Reception opening hours are (if I remember correctly) 0900-1230 and 1330-1800, but the Reception is closed on Sundays and ‘bank holidays’ and (as we found last week) on days when there’s nobody available to man the desk.

 

The Camping du Parc motorhome service-point is near the campsite’s toilet/shower block and it’s far from the most convenient to reach due to overhanging trees, restricted manoeuvring space and the buildings nearby. It’s possible to fill with fresh water and empty toilet cassettes, but there are no ground-level grilles for waste-water or ‘nautical toilet’ emptying, so you’ll have to use your initiative (and/or a bucket) for those purposes.

 

Conversely, the campsite is an attractive place to stay off-season, with a superb new toilet/shower block and just €12 per day for 2 people, a motorhome and a 10A hook-up.

 

http://www.camping-chateau-gontier.fr/

 

[starvin marvin]

Randonneur - 2011-08-05 7:17 PM

 

As from the beginning of this year the vehicle registration system has gone national and does not include a dept number

 

Thats correct, but if you look closely at a new French number plate the department number is there at the

end of the plate, in a different colour.

[Randonneur]

starvin marvin - 2011-10-31 1:56 PM

 

Randonneur - 2011-08-05 7:17 PM

 

As from the beginning of this year the vehicle registration system has gone national and does not include a dept number

 

Thats correct, but if you look closely at a new French number plate the department number is there at the

end of the plate, in a different colour.

 

Not always, we went for new plates and we were asked if we wanted them plain or with the Department number on. The new system means that the registration number is kept even if you sell your vehicle. The previous system meant that if you sold or bought a vehicle it was given a new number each time. Our motorhome had the old style plates and when we bought it it was given the new style number at a cost to us of 260 euros. Hopefully when vehicles with the new type numbers are bought/sold the cost will go down as you are only re-assigning the number, we live in hope.

[Derek Uzzell]

Randonneur - 2011-10-31 1:32 PM

 

Not always, we went for new plates and we were asked if we wanted them plain or with the Department number on. The new system means that the registration number is kept even if you sell your vehicle. The previous system meant that if you sold or bought a vehicle it was given a new number each time. Our motorhome had the old style plates and when we bought it it was given the new style number at a cost to us of 260 euros. Hopefully when vehicles with the new type numbers are bought/sold the cost will go down as you are only re-assigning the number, we live in hope.

 

Interesting that as (as far as I can establish) the revised number-plate system introduced in France in 2009 does not permit the 'regional' identifier on the right end of the plate to be omitted. There appear to be exceptions (eg the number-plates for 'cyclos') but, in general, although a vehicle-owner can choose which regional identifier the number-plate shoiuld carry, he/she cannot opt to have no regional identifier.

 

There's plenty of discussion on French forums about this. For example:

 

http://forum.autoplus.fr/autoplus/Actualite-auto/departement-nouvelles-plaques-sujet_126_1.htm