Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Someone told me the charge for Le Touquet is now 9E 50 cents, then to add insult to injury motorhomes are prohibited from parking anywhere other than the Aire, with quite a long walk into the centre, so I agree, we shall seek out more and more municipals in future. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tracker Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Aires V campsites makes it sound adversarial when what it really is about is two differing philosophies about how to spend each night when abroad. Some folks prefer sites and all that they involve for the perceived greater peace of mind and maybe to spend time relaxing during the day which many Aires by their very nature are not ideal for. Others prefer to do their relaxing where they choose and just park up legally for the night on an Aire prior to moving on the following day and for that they are ideal being fuss free and simples. I am neither going to defend one method nor attack another as it is up to the individual. Some Aires are more like mini camp sites and some are 'orrible but most are somewhere in between and if chosen carefully can be a very pleasant place to pass the day chatting to other like minded folk. We recently used French Aires only for 22 nights at a total cost of 20 Euros - and even that could have been avoided had we chosen to - but I am happy to pay a small charge for either parking or water when neccessary as I don't expect owt for nowt - unless it is available in which case than you very much and we always try to do our shopping locally in return. That said having to traipse around trying to get a wretched jeton can be a real pain in the bum - so we tended to seek out those that took cash or credit card or better still were free for the water based operations! So lets have no more condemnation of either and if there is one form that you do like and t'other you dislike just accept that others do like that which you do not! You're right - Honfleur is 'orrible - so why not use the one at nearby La Riviere St Saveur which is quiet and free - and neither would I pay 9.50 a night to stay at Le Touquet when there are plenty of other more pleasant places to stay not too far away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 23, 2011 Author Share Posted October 23, 2011 Rich it would be interesting if you listed the 22 aires you used and some comments on them, their may be a few others would like. I am certainly not condeming aires either, as I said we used 14 this time, but why your dislike of discussing this it is not abusive or insulting just differant points of view, aways interesting. My wife has just finished her diary on our last trip and I went back over it to look at expenses over the last four years. Like everyone I have been complaining about the increase costs of going to France but this trip, compared to one in 2008 of a similar time and distance covered cost almost exactly the same. We do now eat out less than we did and visit fewer things for which we have to pay which saves quite a lot, fuel has gone up and food has also. Campsite/aires fees are now a smaller part of the spend, this time we used more aires than ever before and now ACSI, which we did not belong to in 2008. Another problem with aires is the lack of them in some areas. For example where do the aires only people like Rich stay in places like the Tarn Gorge. I know their are aires at Millau and Florac but both are to far from the best bit of the Tarn, les Rosiere to St Enimie. On our recent alpine trip very few aires in the southern section and in fact none at all we could find in the extreme SE corner of France. Same applies to Gorge of Verdon other than the ones at the ends, both some distance from the best parts of the gorge. Good aires in the whole of Provence can be listed on the thumbs of one hand. Mercantile national park, another fantastic area no aires at all I could find. So come on you aires users give me some answers or do you all just go to Normandy and Brittany? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 To be honest we found the eastern part of France devoid of many decent Aires, but there is always a municipal, or a reasonable private site. If you are blinkered into using one particular type, be it Aire, municipal, or private then you are doing yourself no favours,BUT and this is the thing, so many aires and municipals tend to be right in the thick of it,in other words within walking distance of something to see or do, campsites on the other hand tend to be "once you are there thats it" type locations, fine for some, but not for everyone who enjoys an evening stoll into the town / village etc. And no they are not all in the northern parts of France. Try Blois, Le Mans, Metz, Carcassonne city aires to name just a few off the top of my head. Oh and Nigloland was a real surprise of an aire ! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Tracker - 2011-10-23 5:05 PM So lets have no more condemnation of either and if there is one form that you do like and t'other you dislike just accept that others do like that which you do not! I wasn't aware anyone had condemned either? I thought the thread was about Henry using Aires more, asking a reasonable question, generating a healthy thread and therefore informed comment generally about folks choices and their reasons for said choices. Puzzled Of Blackburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mondo Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 We have used Aires...Sites....Municipals....And on one occasion actually parked at the back of a church overnight (heard the bells chiming midnight but nothing else til 7 am next morning) best nights sleep I had for ages...but then again I was an HGV driver so I;m used to sleeping in what I drive.. The aires we used on our trip down to Spain and back a couple of years ago were cheap and had good facilities EHUs and Water etc...and were safe..The sites we used in France were all picked because of their open aspects..Good views of the countryside..the municipals were all good that we used...as you say Yer Pays yer Money etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 rupert123 - 2011-10-23 6:43 PM Good aires in the whole of Provence can be listed on the thumbs of one hand. Mercantile national park, another fantastic area no aires at all I could find. So come on you aires users give me some answers or do you all just go to Normandy and Brittany? No, hate the North but perhaps I am lucky and do not use books to find 'Aires de service' and 'Aires Stationment', Some how you are being badly misled or perhaps are trying to make a (faux) point?Look on Camping car infos for Aires of all types in dept 84 or where 'A year in Provence' was set. Some 40 odd Aires quoted here with pictures and not counting Aires on Campsites and the three on the Autoroute. As for the other areas you 'claim' have a lack of facilities, just choose your department and find your 'Aire'. But why bother to research if you have already made up your mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 I'm already involved in another spat on another thread, what is it about these forums that brings out all this bile from some ( including me I confess on occasions), is it because we are all faced with being walled in for the next few months i wonder. Look we have stayed at some s**t Aires, some s**t sites, some s**t municipals, conversely the opposite is true, so what......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 Retread24800 - 2011-10-23 10:30 PMrupert123 - 2011-10-23 6:43 PM Good aires in the whole of Provence can be listed on the thumbs of one hand. Mercantile national park, another fantastic area no aires at all I could find. So come on you aires users give me some answers or do you all just go to Normandy and Brittany? No, hate the North but perhaps I am lucky and do not use books to find 'Aires de service' and 'Aires Stationment', Some how you are being badly misled or perhaps are trying to make a (faux) point?Look on Camping car infos for Aires of all types in dept 84 or where 'A year in Provence' was set. Some 40 odd Aires quoted here with pictures and not counting Aires on Campsites and the three on the Autoroute. As for the other areas you 'claim' have a lack of facilities, just choose your department and find your 'Aire'. But why bother to research if you have already made up your mind.If you do not use books how do you do it, perhaps spend all your days looking, sorry do not have the time or incination to do that. Please read my post properly I did say 'good aires in Provence', perhaps you can inform us all of the good ones. I am not making up my mind just speaking from my own experience, I have the camping cars USB and use that as well but just choose to quote All the Aires as most we used on last trip are in their. I am claiming nothing about the other areas again except my own experience, suggest you do something usefull and tell us all where they are in the places I quoted, Tarn Gorge, Mercantile national park, Verdon Gorge. How am I being mislead, strange thing to say. As I have said I now use more aires so am certainly not trying to condem anyones use of them but would like to know if their are more I could use and personal recommendations are the best. Answers like yours are unhelpfull with no real contribution to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 I'm not telling anyone how to suck eggs, but my co-pilot has the job of looking out for the "campingcar" signs as we pass through places, and we have found numerous ones not detailed anywhere else, recently finding a fab one at "Long" near Abbeville neck of the woods, and another in the Dordogne that had quite obviously only recently opened as well as a couple down the Loire, both of which were private.. Conversely we have found others listed that were closed, we used to use Bologne sur mer on the docks, now m/homes are prohibited there. Can't remember anyone mentioning it in this thread, but we use France passion as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MandyAndy Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Ohhh come on 1 foot I have avoided this thread like the plague everyone knows with a heading like that a spat is bound to happen. I am just surprised it took so long :-D :-D You don't half pick em!!!! Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Mandy&Andy - 2011-10-24 6:47 AM Ohhh come on 1 foot I have avoided this thread like the plague everyone knows with a heading like that a spat is bound to happen. I am just surprised it took so long :-D :-D You don't half pick em!!!! Mandy Hang on a minute I did not "pick em" I agree though the OP's heading was bound to lead to "diverse" opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 The heading may be seen as diversive but read on and the OP no. In my view. Repeating myself for the 3rd time, surely, as a Forum and in the appropriate place, (MH matters), healthy informed comment and airing of ones views on kipping locations is acceptable. Even strong views as far as I'm concerned. Providing, and I really mean that, there's no insults, it cannot be wrong to air ones choices in this subject. Otherwise what's the point of the Forum? Somebody posting, "I don't, (or do) like sites/aires/municipals/wild/free/commercial sites" (add/delete as necessary) and then posting THEIR reasons for said view is ok isn't it? It's only when they start dictating that all the rest of us should follow suit and/or insulting folks choices that the war starts. Keyboard Warriors - keep yer fingers still :D :D Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 To be honest apart from "technical type" help I'm beginning to think these forums exist just for people to wind each other up, and I don't think I have ever read the sentiment expressed " you may just have a point". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 You may just have a point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 rupert123 - 2011-10-21 4:24 PM... 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....Was that the sound of a penny I just heard dropping? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Only just caught up with this tread, when I saw the title and the author I thought it was a war cry from Henry. Pleased to see Henry has now tried a few Aires and admitted they are not that bad. Henry you say quite a few of them are OK for one or two nights, ideal then as since we changed from a caravan to a Motorhome we rarely stay more than one or two nights anywhere. We spent 22 nights in France in September spent one night on a municipal the rest on Aires or wild camping, like Rich we only spent just over 20€ on camping in three weeks it was for convenience not money saving we use Aires. Two reasons we did not use sites, firstly most are in the valleys and we wanted to be up in the mountains for easy access as we went on holiday to go mountain walking, secondly 99% of the camp sites in the area closed on the 31st August. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 1footinthegrave - 2011-10-24 12:25 AM I'm not telling anyone how to suck eggs, but my co-pilot has the job of looking out for the "campingcar" signs as we pass through places, and we have found numerous ones not detailed anywhere else, recently finding a fab one at "Long" near Abbeville neck of the woods, and another in the Dordogne that had quite obviously only recently opened as well as a couple down the Loire, both of which were private.. Conversely we have found others listed that were closed, we used to use Bologne sur mer on the docks, now m/homes are prohibited there. Can't remember anyone mentioning it in this thread, but we use France passion as well. Come on 1foot. Why not contribute a bit and list these secret aires. Others also who go on about all the money they have saved, Lenny is the latest, but fail to list anything. Surely a forum is to share information both technical and places to go and stay. To me the best bits are peoples journeys and I always read about them on this and other forums then take note of places I might like to visit or good spots to stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 Following on from Henry's request.... This is where we stayed as a base for visiting Orleans. http://www.olivet.fr/decouvrir-olivet/tourisme/l-accueil-touristique-51.html This is a Municipal site about 10 - 15 mins walk into Olivet. Not a very inspiring walk but a pleasant high street with all the usual butchers bakers and candlestick makers await. The site itself, whilst not busy, it was closing for winter on our last day there, was blissfully quiet. You really could hear the proverbial pin drop. Of course we had the pick of the pitches, chose a riverside pitch, almost all had elec and water and we were rewarded with daily visits from red squirrel and herons. There's WiFi, a brand new facilities block and a very warm greeting at reception. There's a traffic free cycle path all the way, (20 mins) into Orleans, bus or tram service outside the site too. I think it was €14 per night, not cheap at this time of year, (in my view), but the peace and tranquility offered up were well worth the money. A really good find for our "type" of camping. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 rupert123 - 2011-10-24 11:50 AM Come on 1foot. Why not contribute a bit and list these secret aires. Others also who go on about all the money they have saved, Lenny is the latest, but fail to list anything. Surely a forum is to share information both technical and places to go and stay. To me the best bits are peoples journeys and I always read about them on this and other forums then take note of places I might like to visit or good spots to stay. Your memory is failing you Henry, on other threads I've uploaded photos of Aires saying where they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 I keep a note of all the best Aires and municipals we have stayed at in a note book in the van, so they are not immediately to hand, I have in other threads detailed them, so will not repeat here. The latest ones we discovered ( not listed anywhere that I could see ) on our last trip were in Long, in the Somme region, lovely spot adjacent to a riverside walk into the village,complete with picnic tables and benches, and as is often the case directly outside the municipal site, which was exactly where we were heading to in the first place rather than Le Crotoy which leaves a bit to be desired but is our usual stop off on the way back, so what a surprise, and if anyone takes the trouble to go would find it infinitely better than that particular municipal. Brand new service point, and free of charge to stay overnight. ( but keep it to yourselves, even the French had not discovered it yet) Even been planted up with beach hedging for each "pitch" I'll have to look in my note book for the others.............Oh should have mentioned Embry, not a million miles away, listed I think, but a fabulous Aire, more like a very well kept CL with ( paid for ) spotless showers and loo facilitiies, Flot Bleu point. Both extremely quiet spots, apart from the odd bit of duck shooting in late September ! And I promise you it has nothing to do with saving money in our case, more to find the most peaceful spots away from the hoards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 lennyhb - 2011-10-24 12:18 PM rupert123 - 2011-10-24 11:50 AM Come on 1foot. Why not contribute a bit and list these secret aires. Others also who go on about all the money they have saved, Lenny is the latest, but fail to list anything. Surely a forum is to share information both technical and places to go and stay. To me the best bits are peoples journeys and I always read about them on this and other forums then take note of places I might like to visit or good spots to stay. Your memory is failing you Henry, on other threads I've uploaded photos of Aires saying where they are. Lenny I stand corrected. Just had a quick glance at my aires list and their are a couple you listed in their. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 crinklystarfish - 2011-10-24 10:02 AM You may just have a point. Like it! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retread24800 Posted October 24, 2011 Share Posted October 24, 2011 rupert123 - 2011-10-24 1:07 AM If you do not use books how do you do it, perhaps spend all your days looking, sorry do not have the time or incination to do that. Please read my post properly I did say 'good aires in Provence', perhaps you can inform us all of the good ones. I am not making up my mind just speaking from my own experience, I have the camping cars USB and use that as well but just choose to quote All the Aires as most we used on last trip are in their. . From Earlier 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.As for the rest I disproved one part of your argument, as your theory is now busted either come up with the proof or change the theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted October 24, 2011 Author Share Posted October 24, 2011 Retread24800 - 2011-10-24 3:00 PMrupert123 - 2011-10-24 1:07 AM If you do not use books how do you do it, perhaps spend all your days looking, sorry do not have the time or incination to do that. Please read my post properly I did say 'good aires in Provence', perhaps you can inform us all of the good ones. I am not making up my mind just speaking from my own experience, I have the camping cars USB and use that as well but just choose to quote All the Aires as most we used on last trip are in their. . From Earlier 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.As for the rest I disproved one part of your argument, as your theory is now busted either come up with the proof or change the theory.Weird, what theory does anyone understand what this bloke is on about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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