peter21 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Hi All I am breaking new ground here and planning our October trip to Spain in advance (well that is the intention). We are considering stopping the night of Monday 1st of October in the aire at La Suze-sur-Sarthe, which is just South of Le Mans, after an early eurotunnel crossing. This has had mainly very good reviews , but one blog mention in 2010 of it being overrun with gypsies and deserted motorhome wise......anyone been there recently? Thanks Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Le Fleche might be a better bet if you are concerned about gypsies. There are numerous Aires in that area of Sarthe which you could consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 This is the campingcar-infos entry for La Suze-sur-Sarthe, with the most recent comment dated 3/4/2012 http://www.campingcar-infos.com/Francais/airepda.php?numid=203&Localit%E9=LA%20SUZE%20SUR%20SARTHE Although there's no mention in the camping-car infos comments (or in comments elsewhere that I could retrieve easily via GOOGLE) of gypsies occupying that aire, you do need to be aware that this does occasionally happen with aires. It's not that common and the 'travellers' don't normally stay long. I recall arriving at the aire de camping-cars at Bouère (Mayenne) a couple of years ago and finding it well stocked with travellers' caravans - this despite a large notice at the entry to the site stating that it was reseved solely for motorhomes. Few motorcaravanners are comfortable having travellers as close neighbours on aires, so, when travellers arrive, motorhomes depart. You'll need to take pot-luck with La Suze, but the chances are small that you'll encounter a problem there with travellers. There are quite a few other places nearby where motorhomes overnight (refer to the campingcar-infos website) and I'm pretty sure that the campsite at La Flèche (not that far south) remains open until the end of October. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 I have stayed at La Suze sur Sarthe but not recently so I can't comment. I am of the opinion that the travellers in france are of a different mind set to our home grown (or not) variety. The ones in France seems to actually work, even the young ladies work selling something from their white vans at the side of ther Route Nationals. I even witnessed a man bringing what must have been more stock of matresses out on a pickup. H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onecal Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Yes,This is common on a lot of Aires from time to time as they travel from place to place and when local events are on in an area, but no actual reports of any trouble from them, on any Aires. They usually do not stay long, Reports of locals parking their old vans/motorhomes and leaving them there was a far bigger problem, with weekend use and some "wild partying" which disturbed both Motorhomer users and locals.This has been addressed by local authorities in most areas.PS, You may find they may around,,,, Le Mans in Oct, 24 hours Camions 13-14 Oct,,,and Marathon of Le Mans on 20-21 Oct 2012Regards,Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 We have stayed here several times with no problems, but things do change, so look in and see for yourself, the Main Aire is not River side but behind the hedges, but most just park along side the River anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 1footinthegrave Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 We've come across this on a couple of occasions on Aires, not that particular one you have in mind I have to say, but one in particular where we had previously stayed we had Gypsies turn up, they were truly dreadful people, even witnessing some young gypsy lads swinging a puppy from it's tail, then throwing in to the river, before repeating the same thing again, and some young woman doing their level best to break down a footbridge, we assumed for fun. Needless to say we soon moved on, and merely parked up and slept in a village square car park a few miles away. Suck it and see is really the only advise I would think, and have a backup just in case, you never know where they may crop up, thankfully it seems a rare occurrence though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 Have stayed at La Suze many times and never encountered travellers; last time was March this year no problems then and will be back in November. We always stay on the main part behind hedge,mainly with French vanners. In staying on many aires over a lot of years we have not often come across travellers so important to put in perspective. We did encounter two travellers vans at Rugles three years ago but no problem and we stayed along with a French vanner; like wise at Gurgy (dept 89) where there were five or six travellers but French vanners were happy to stay and so were we. Interestingly a couple of other British vanners did arrive but drove off at speed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter21 Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 Thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilmac Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Stayed there a couple of weeks ago with no problems - a very nice stopover :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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