GRAVELINES

[trickydicky]

hi, after reading on numerous occasions that the aire at gravelines in france was worth visiting, we thought we'd give it a try on our way to calais and we were pleasantly surprised.apart from the wind and rain (too close to england) we had a very enjoyable couple of days there.nice aire,nice town and plenty of interesting places to walk...what more do you need. the only thing that puzzled me was the setup for paying on the aire.( the new french aires book doesn't mention paying) we parked on the marina side and it wasn't until hours later when we went for a walk that we noticed a pay machine further down on the opposite side with an arrow pointing along that stretch !!!! there was nothing where we parked to indicate that you had to pay. we thought we had better get a ticket anyway, but when we tried, the machine wouldn't except our money,so we gave up, as did lots of other people.we stayed 2 nights and no one came during that time to either check we had a ticket or mend the machine. anyway, if any of you stay there, look out for the pay machine.

[Guest JudgeMental]

I thought the machine only accepted credit cards from what has been posted on here (have not visited since installed)

[hallii]

I have to say that my experience of French coin/card machines has not been a good one. They are either not working, take your money but don't issue a ticket, have complicated button pressing and no intructions, or simply don't work with UK cards.

 

Last time I used one I had to get a Frenchman to use his card and pay him 2 Euros cash!

 

H

[Guest peter]

It's only the stretch where the machine is that you have to pay for. As indicated by the notice and arrow denoting camping car parking.

We always park on the marina side and were there last week, but not between the two rows of rocks, as this is for boat owner parking only.

[sambukashot]

It's a nice area around Gravelines, plenty good walks and things to see, i parked opposite the machine with the rest of the motorhomes and never had any problems, you can also park at Grand Fort Philippe just a few miles down the road for free, see it on the map here (including photo) http://www.fulltiming.org/index.php/edit-your-stopovers/4-wild-parking/1510-grand-fort-philippe

[Basil]

We used it ourselves two weeks back and it does not accept coins only cards and it works perfectly well. You can press a button for English instructions to make it simpler if you cannot understand French.

I believe that the post that says it is only for the strech next to the machine is incorrect as it quite clearly states, albeit in French, that it is both sides of the Aire that are covered and at €6 it is not really a bank breaker. Unfortunately people not paying for the facilities they use, may well end up with them being removed as has happened at other Aires, to everybody's detriment.

 

Bas

[Mike B.]

We used it about 5 weeks ago and the machine wouldn't issue tickets. I've seen on here since then that it is working again and yes you are supposed to pay whichever side you are on. We'll be there on Saturday night-I'll let you know if it is working or not

Mike

[Steve928]

Was there last night. Machine working fine: €6 by card, ticket issued OK. All parking areas subject to charge.

I don't understand the confusion.

[Keith T]

We stayed there Friday night last week....excellent view of teh firework display.

We too were confused about paying - parked on Marina side as that was where all the MHs were parked when we arrived, and theAires book said 'Free'.

We saw a pay machine,onopposite side of the road parking area, but understood from another UK MH that it wasnt working. However later on, we saw what looked like a security guy wndeing along looking at the vehciles, and eventually he stopped and chatted to a group of Uk folk and took them to the machine top pay. He ddint bother us, and we wondered if you payed after the first 24 hrs or something similar?

Its an excellent stop off, and somewhere if we return that direction we would like mto explore a bit more.

Yes it's windy, but then whole of northern France was last weekend I think!

[Guest peter]

I stand corrected re payment on the quay side.

Sorry for any confusion, but as I don't speak or read french I was in complete ignorance of that fact, and still am. :D

[robertandjean]

As far as we understand and no matter what is written in "All the AIres" (a book with more mistakes than pages!) the situation at Gravelines is:

Payment is 6€/24 hours. This applies to all parking areas and from time of arrival. Machine can play up but main thing is to make sure bank card is pushed fully in; often need to wait a short while then push card to fully engage. When we were there some said they would not pay as no one checked. Well some said same at La Suze-sur-Sarth only to be hit with a 40€ on the spot fine rather than the 3€/night could have paid,

[peterjl]

Hi

 

The pay machine is difficult to use. We stayed once in June on way out and once in July on way back. On both occassions I tried to use my card but it would not go in far enough to register. I had a word woth some others and most had had trouble trying to make it work. I gave up after several attempts.

 

My wife said I must be doing it wrong so walked down with her card only to walk back admitting defeat.

 

I used the car in other aires, machines, etc over the month I was away with no problem so assume it is their machine.

 

Peter

 

[Corky 8]

Steve928 - 2012-07-19 8:34 PMWas there last night. Machine working fine: €6 by card, ticket issued OK. All parking areas subject to charge.I don't understand the confusion.

Could I ask ,would this be a Visa card,? we have had hit and Miss use,s with our Visa Card,

[Cliffy]

We stopped over at Gravelines for the first time during the first week in June this year, the ticket machine worked fine with the Caxton Card (MasterCard). I speak very little French but had no problems and it was obvious that tickets applied to both sides of the road.

I am suprised that no one has mentioned the the red gravel on the harbourside. It was raining when we were there and gravel was so sharp and sticky it got everywhere no matter what we did to stop it.

We will only use the Aire again as a last resort or if it is dry.

[Hopesy]

Cliffy - 2012-07-24 10:44 PM

We stopped over at Gravelines for the first time during the first week in June this year, the ticket machine worked fine with the Caxton Card (MasterCard). I speak very little French but had no problems and it was obvious that tickets applied to both sides of the road.

I am suprised that no one has mentioned the the red gravel on the harbourside. It was raining when we were there and gravel was so sharp and sticky it got everywhere no matter what we did to stop it.

We will only use the Aire again as a last resort or if it is dry.

Cliffy, beware when paying machines (tolls, fuel staions etc) with a prepaid card such as Caxton ( i use one ) as machines can sometimes take quite a sum of money off the card as security and take a while to repay it automatically. Sorry if you knew this don't want to teach you to suck eggs.