rupert123 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 On our last trip we made a decision to use more aires, especially for single night stops, to try and get a better idea of what the enthusiasts are talking about. We used aires for 14 nights out of a total of 49, easily a new record for us. We also looked at quite a lot more but discounted them for various reasons. First was at Arques, page 448 All the Aires book. This was useful as we had a late ferry and did not want to drive far. Price 2.5e was fine but not a place we would stay other than a quick overnight stop. It is a car park and a fairly busy one in the day but quiet at night. Pleasant spot though by a lake. Froncles, page 212 All the Aires. Price 3e with hook-up. This is a really nice aire between canal and river, it also has clean toilet and showers for small charge. Would be tempted to stay here a couple of days but wanted to get south, if only more aires were like this. St Gervais. Page 556 All the aires. Stopped to visit friends otherwise would only use for quick overnight stop. Aire used by council for parking vans etc. Les Saises 554 All the Aires. Did not stay and would not be tempted to other than quick overnight. A car park next to road and contrary to all the aires book could see no facilities at all. In fairness their was some work going on installing a new ski lift so they may have been ‘swallowed’ by this. Mont Cenis. Not an aire and I have always been against free camping spots, however could be tempted by this one. Vans parked up in several places. Col du Lautaret. Not sure if an official aire but seemed to be treated as one. We stayed one night but could easily stay more. You could spend a couple of days here just wandering around in the hills, fantastic spot. Trigance. All the aires page 338. Arrived here on one of the few wet days we had. Aire is a car park but pretty quiet and 5e with hookup. Normally would only use overnight stop. Gordes. Page 350 All the aires. We looked at both aires here. The one in the car park we would not consider, one at Bories is better. Walk to Gordes is easy from here but not a place we would consider for longer than one night. Aiques Mortes 1. Page 324 All the aires. Took one look and ran away. 12e no facilities, someone is having a joke here. Aiques Mortes 2 the same. Florac page 321 All the aires. OK for quick overnight stop but arrived mid day and moved on. Florac is not much to shout about and is to far from the best bits of the Tarn to be much use. Rocamadour. Page 372 all the aires. Dusty car park, very crowded, why would anyone bother when decent campsite was doing an out of season offer 10e with hook-up. Gourdon. Page 377 All the aires. Really nice aire with good space between vans, no charge except electric, 1e four hours. Only the second aire we have seen which we would stay for more than one night. However town pleasant but not worth more than short visit, not much else to attract in vicinity. Bloke parked next to us had been their a week, goodness knows why but each to their own. Sarlet. Page 42 All the aires. Had a look, busy vans parked couple of feet apart, fled to good ACSI site down the road 11e a night, new facilities, plenty of room. Once again why was aire crowded it makes no sense. Limeuil 1. Page 71 all the aires. This aire surprised us. It is tucked away next to the river right next to a nice village. Great spot so we stayed the night. Not recommended if wet. Honfleur. Page 414 All the aires. Oh dear this place should carry a health warning. I have stayed before and vowed never to go back, however we were heading home and decided to stop of at Honfleur for a meal, arrived at about 5pm and both campsites closed, should have checked. Back to the aire, crowded as usual, no hook-up points left, as usual, now 9e just to put the boot in. Why is this M/H slum so popular? Would be good to hear others comments if they have stayed at any of these aires, especially if of a different opinion to mine. Has it changed my opinion of aires, well a little. I can certainly see the attraction of saving a bit of money and for a quick overnight stop. On rare occasions the aire is in a great position, however I still prefer sites because good aires are still ‘few and far’ between. Of all the sites we stayed on their was only one I would not use again. Only two of the aires would I consider staying more than one night. Never put in such long posts as the last two, must be getting bored, roll on the ski season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I too occasionally use aires but can never understand why many find them preferable to sites. The only benefit that I can see is ( usually ) the cost - but people who are 'aire enthusiasts' insist that this is not the reason they prefer them. (I certainly spend more time emptying waste when when staying on aires). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 we 'looked at'[ several Aires whilst over in Fance Aug/Sept this year, but so many of them were simply 'car parks. and even though free or low cost, we prefereed the local municipal sites. We did try one at PAU, which certainly was convenient for the city, but it was lunchtime and there was quite a bit of space. However, for overnight ...NO! I think it's fair to say we've been disappointed by quite a few of those listed in the latest edition of All the Aires, as I would not class them as other than a dumppoint or glorified car park. Having said that, there are some which are well worth using, but it's a shame that quite of lot of places are now making MHs park in them even if you only want a couple of hours, and have to pay the flat fee which would allow 12/24 hrs stay. Some do allow freeparking in the day and only charge overnight...we try and look carefully at the detail quoted in the Guide, especially proximity to the particular town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I have found an aires which is not listed in the book. Last year it closed to MH for July and August. This year stayed open all year solely for MH. Large hedged bays with hook-up, next to lovely beach and on bus route. Cost was €3.75, which during July and August increased to €13.75 when showers etc are opened. I have stayed on a number of camp sites and to be honest they were disaster scenes. Perhaps the wrong time of year but full of youth who wanted to party all night and tough luck to anybody else and in addition way over priced. Honfluers, well I will agree that the aires can become a bit full but pretty obvious why. Easy walk into what is a historic fishing village full of character and quality eating places. Last time I was there could not get in the aires so parked along the quayside. I did not appreciate that it was a seafood festival. Late evening we were treated to a tremendous musical fireworks display in addition to the additional exhibits concerned with the festival. Aires are not for everybody but it is everybody to there own choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophie Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 We tend to mix n match-aires/municipals/acsi sites One Aire I would thoroughly recommend is Morienval (Oise, Picardy) More a campsite really-individual pitches, separated by hedges, ehu. Owned and run by a local Landscape Gardener and his son. "Honesty Box" in reception area to put your 10 euros in for a night's stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Aires v campsites............?..........we use what ever suits as at the time, as we don't usually plan very far ahead when we get to France:D........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 sshortcircuit - 2011-10-21 6:20 PM Aires are not for everybody but it is everybody to there own choice Quite. But some healthy, well informed, well intentioned, respectful airing of ones own views is perfectly acceptable. Henry's post is very interesting to me as we have shared many similar comments on here in the past regarding Aires - largely negative, (if I may say so Henry). So it's good to see he's been out there and done some research of his own, so I both salute you for that and thankyou, you've persuaded me to buy an All The Aires book. How's that for progress? In terms of Aires comments, Honfleur? Dreadful when we used it - so looks like no change. Sarlat, yes nowt wrong but what's the point with sites as cheap as Henry says nearby? Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 The OP is filled with the phrase. "Would not stay for more than one night''...Thats the idea!I have stayed at Honfleur and in the wet it can be awful......... one of the troubles with some aire guides is that they are far from comprehensive despite their pretentious name,( maybe should be called 'A Selection of Aires') there are over 3000 Aire de Service in France, that is with services, and a lot more offering Parking only. If you want to overnight on the Calvados coast and can't stand Honfleur perhaps a search through i-Campingcar would find somewhere a lot better i.e Villers sur Mer would be a more acceptable choice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly58 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 One point here seems to have been missed Aires are not campsites , I say they are good / bad and indifferent , over the past 5 years we have stayed on many Aires some just an overnight stopover and some which were excellent for a few days we like touring and not stopping in one place for days on end usually a couple of nights in one place is enough which works for us and we also stop on some ASCI campsites if we like the area, as we all know motorhomes are not all the same and peoples tastes regards sites are also not the same its what you enjoy that counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Thank goodness there are some Motorhomers with the same view as us... We have tried a few aires but sadly just don't get it! I am sure there are some nice ones out there but generally why bother. Our view of France is that in the tourist traps, MHs are about as popular as t3rds in a swimming pool and as such are herded together in dusty, overcrowded, ghastly car parks. We find municipals good value but can only wonder at the french outlook on their sanitary arrangements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 My title for this thread is perhaps not a good choice. I am really interested in why someone would use an aire when their is a good site nearby for about 11e, especially when aires are getting more expensive, can only comment about out of high season we never go away in August. For a quick overnight, as I have said, fine but we do not go on driving holidays, we tend to relax and hang around for a bit if we like the place and the aires we can do this on are very few and far between. Any comments on the aires I mention would be appreciated and also I will continue to look for the good ones, we do have a slowly increaseing log of these. Do not want to start a row although Eddies post did bring a smile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francisgraham Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Perhaps the reason that people don't use nearby sites and stay on a poor aire is because they don't know that the site is there? Does everyone carry the CC Europe book or the ACSI book as I do. If they go away armed with just a book of aires, it may explain it? Then again I could be totally wrong!In a short time I've become a fan of (some) aires. There was one, right by the river and a very short walk from the lovely old town of St. Antonin Noble Val, that was so delightful that I stayed three days. It was free but I'd cheerfully have paid a few Euro.Surely the secret is not to be blinkered? If it's a really nice aire then use it, but if it's a horrible car park and there's a municipal or an ACSI site near by, use that.I do accept that some people are on a very tight budget and that of course puts in a whole new factor and perhaps for them it's preferable staying on a not-so-lovely aire for nothing, than forking out for a campsite. And I would argue that it's better for people to be able to go to France or other countries and stay on slightly iffy aires, than not go at all.What rather irks me is the polarisation of many, where all camp sites are ghastly and all aires are car parks by the gasworks. Some aires are superb, some camp sites are iffy and the reverse is true in both cases!I must add one caveat, I've only ever MH'd in France in the low-season, never in July or early August. Perhaps things are different in the peak season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 22, 2011 Author Share Posted October 22, 2011 sshortcircuit - 2011-10-21 6:20 PM I have found an aires which is not listed in the book. Last year it closed to MH for July and August. This year stayed open all year solely for MH. Large hedged bays with hook-up, next to lovely beach and on bus route. Cost was €3.75, which during July and August increased to €13.75 when showers etc are opened. I have stayed on a number of camp sites and to be honest they were disaster scenes. Perhaps the wrong time of year but full of youth who wanted to party all night and tough luck to anybody else and in addition way over priced. Honfluers, well I will agree that the aires can become a bit full but pretty obvious why. Easy walk into what is a historic fishing village full of character and quality eating places. Last time I was there could not get in the aires so parked along the quayside. I did not appreciate that it was a seafood festival. Late evening we were treated to a tremendous musical fireworks display in addition to the additional exhibits concerned with the festival. Aires are not for everybody but it is everybody to there own choice No Hamish this is the point I am trying to make. Their are two decent sites close to the town, both ACSI and both 13e out of high season so why use this overpriced, crowded and scruffy aire. I know i have said they were closed but even when they are open the aire is still crowded, I have driven past it on a number of occasions on my way to the comfort of the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwaviation Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 You've just written what I meant to write :-D :-D :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 rupert123 - 2011-10-22 12:38 PM sshortcircuit - 2011-10-21 6:20 PM I have found an aires which is not listed in the book. Last year it closed to MH for July and August. This year stayed open all year solely for MH. Large hedged bays with hook-up, next to lovely beach and on bus route. Cost was €3.75, which during July and August increased to €13.75 when showers etc are opened. I have stayed on a number of camp sites and to be honest they were disaster scenes. Perhaps the wrong time of year but full of youth who wanted to party all night and tough luck to anybody else and in addition way over priced. Honfluers, well I will agree that the aires can become a bit full but pretty obvious why. Easy walk into what is a historic fishing village full of character and quality eating places. Last time I was there could not get in the aires so parked along the quayside. I did not appreciate that it was a seafood festival. Late evening we were treated to a tremendous musical fireworks display in addition to the additional exhibits concerned with the festival. Aires are not for everybody but it is everybody to there own choice No Hamish this is the point I am trying to make. Their are two decent sites close to the town, both ACSI and both 13e out of high season so why use this overpriced, crowded and scruffy aire. I know i have said they were closed but even when they are open the aire is still crowded, I have driven past it on a number of occasions on my way to the comfort of the site. Unfortunately the sites were closed at the times I have been there. Had they been open I am not sure if I would use as, to be honest, I was not impressed. As I alluded to in my previous post, although the time of year is a factor, my experience of camp sites is noisy youth compare to the old foggies that tend to frequent aires which is a reason for using a good aires. Again everybody to there own Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petra Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 When we are in France we tend to stay on a mixture of Aires and sites because we enjoy touring and aires are ideal for one night stays. Yes there are some bad ones in car parks but if you dont like it move on! That's the idea of aires. As I am in a wheelchair I find aires are much better as they are closer to towns and villages whereas sites often tend to be out in the sticks so I then tend to be stranded. This year we spent a month travelling along the Normandy coastline and actually stopped at Honfleur which we thought was great, so much so that we stopped there on the way back as well. Yes there are no facilities but we have facilities in the van and we had hook up both times, and with easy access to the town. We also stayed at Le Crotoy which again gives easy level access into the town and if you get a front row spot great views. St Valery en Caux was a really nice spot again with easy access for a wheelchair into town. Isigny Sur Mer is a very small aire with only 6 spaces but we still managed to get a spot overlooking the river. There is a nice park nearby and also the town is just a few minutes walk away and it was free. All the good aires tend to get busy so we tend to arrive about lunchtime and have never had a problem getting a decent space. We stayed at Montreuil sur Mer campsite which had been recommended but we found it to be pretty average and a huge hill to climb up to the town, not wheelchair friendly. We also stayed at Arromanches Municipal site which is much better than the aire which is extremely busy and very tightly packed. The site is just behind the aire so convenient for town. To us paying 15 or 20 euros a night just to park on a piece of grass is not worth it. We dont use the facilities very often so what's the point? However if we want to stay somewhere for 2 or 3 days and just relax then sites are fine. As they say you pays your money and takes your choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petra Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Just a thought if all these people don't like aires why do they go rallying and park in a car park or a field for a few days without facilities? That's a FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilux Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 The Aire at Aigue Morte does have facilities. It has fresh water and both grey and black water disposal areas. There are quite a few around this town, three in all I think. But it is only the one on the other side of the canal that has facilities. Here there is a barriered entrance and it costs about 7/10 Euros to get out. It's great for an overnight with breakfast at the cafe just inside the walls. We stay at aires fairly frequently but mix our stays with campsites. We think aires are great for an overnight stop and although sometimes unprepossessing in terms of location they seem to be safe. I note the comment about Montrueil. It is a hike up to the town. I have noticed campervans parked overnight in the square here, apart from Fridays. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derek500 Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 Petra - 2011-10-22 5:19 PM We also stayed at Arromanches Municipal site which is much better than the aire which is extremely busy and very tightly packed. The site is just behind the aire so convenient for town. We overnighted in the parking aire by the 360 degree cinema up the hill to the east of the town. 5€. Lovely views. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 The great joy of Aires are that they give you an other choice, I tend to spend my time travelling and often need an overnight, perfect 'Aire' Situation. If I want to stay a few days and theres a camp site close to the action or with transport links (Boss is only partly mobile) Then we stay there. I have to admit that I'm with Francis on this one I just cannot see why people become so polarised.As an aside books are often out of date I rely on Archie's Camping I-camping car, ASCI-Eurocampings, Camping-car infos and GPS passion forum for my POI's. With them all loaded into the Sat Nag you always have a vast choice, and no matter how good the book says it is you can never tell until you pull up. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 As many of you know we are great enthusiasts, and users of, the aires. We enjoy being able just to turn up and stay, with no formalities, being in or near to village/town centre, and having the opportunity to chat with French 'vanners; this latter opportunity is not often possible on camp sites as few French 'vanners use them. For us aires are motorvanning as God intended!!! but we know many of you like sites and if that is what you like then great. Henri good to see you are giving more aires a try, we might convert even you in the end! Yes it is true more and more aires are now charging but this does not worry us as cost was never a factor for us. Our own depature for France has, due to the death of Jean's mum been delayed, but we feel we now really do need a break so we are leaving shortly. Given it will be November when we get over to France, we are planning a tour using in the main aires with hook-ups. We will let you know if this works out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 There may be some Aires in France that are not as good as others but I look forward to the day when we can have a similar discussion about Aires in the UK On the subject of some people prefer Aires because of they are cheaper than campsites we visited this lovely Aire in May this year it cost 7 Euros which may be expensive for an Aire it is in a lovely position by the harbour has EHU and Water included and a service point on the other side of the harbour. A sign asks that you select a pitch and the 7 Euro fee will be collected at 9.0am the following morning. At 8,30am the following morning there was an exodus of vans, (Not all British I am pleased to say),This was obviously not a 'one off' as the guys were waiting at the entrance for them, one van got away but as they stopped off at the service point across the harbour a lad on a motor bike was dispatched to collect the fee. I trust they were extremely embarrassed but I doubt it. £40000+ motorhome but can't afford to pay for services they use. https://live.staticflickr.com/2163/1589506392_bb5b5e95cb_b.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 22, 2011 Share Posted October 22, 2011 I don't understand the thread title really, it's not a case for us of Aires v camp sites, it's more about convenience of location. We do use both, and in our experiences they can be both summed up in one phrase,some are s**t, some are not.That applies to both campsites and aires. But I do think now charges for aires are both being introduced, and or increased I think more and more folk will use municipals as these tend to give the same convenience of location as Aires do, the one at Metz being a classic example of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesFrance Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Something we noticed this summer is that the Aires in southern France are much busier than they were, even out of season. We found we were often woken in the night by comings and goings, rather like staying on the CC Black Horse Farm site near the ferry ports. Another important point for us is that Aires rarely have any shade and it gets too hot down here during the day for us now. I would agree with the suggestions that Aires are for overnight stops and Sites are for longer. Happy to use both, but I do think that Aires are beginning to seem poor value compared with municipal sites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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