robertandjean Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 rupert123 - 2015-04-16 5:26 PM My post about Honfleur may offend some but it is an honest opinion. Robert&Jean have offered me good advice in the past and have found this helpful but I happen to disagree with them here. No offence intended but at least an opinion which others can take notice of or not. Honfleur is a large car park near a pleasant town that is worth one visit but to go back, why would you. the aire, in my experience is always crowded, dirty, with no chance of hookup, now that is all true not an opinion, just fact, again I would suggest anyone going to this dump should take note of comments and be prepared. As for 'no faffing about' well at the campsite you turn up book in and drive to your spacious pitch, hook up, put the kettle on. At the aire you find your space, if there is any, squeeze you van in, making sure you can open your doors, find the ticket machine, join the queue to pay, try and figure the machine out, hope it has taken the correct amount from your card, look for a non existent hookup, check out the dodgy water supply and usually filthy toilet dump, settle down to a night of listening to every movement in the next van 18 inches away, nice, what were the attractions of this aire again? Not offended by your response at all Henri. You give your account of what you found. All we can say is we like Honfleur and always enjoy two or three nights there when in the area. We have been a lot of times, always on the aire and almost always with a hook up, certainly on the second night as people are always coming and going. In low season it is busy but not packed in like sardines, and the bins were not overflowing, we saw no rats and the empty point was clean. When we were there for the tall ships sail past a couple of years ago it was full and then some, but we stayed enjoyed the event and had great camaraderie with the French vanners. So you pays your money (had no problems finding or using machine) and takes your choice. Have now left Honfleur and on a much quieter, very well set out aire, with large hedged hard standing individual pitches at St Brice en Cogles, which think you might enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 Had Enough - 2015-04-16 4:41 PM Many people use CLs because they are in the country. That's what they want, quiet and walking or fishing or bird-watching, whatever their hobby. From the number of people using CLs it's clear that they want what's on offer. And I've never had a muddy field and I suspect that the number of people who get stuck on a CL is similar to the number who have got stuck on grass aires, of which there are many. At least on a CL there's usually a farmer who'll pull you out. I've stayed on some superb CLs including the one pictured below. Beautifully kept, with hard standing and a short walk from an interesting tourist town in the Borders. I've also stayed on some lovely aires, the best of which are in the countryside. For some reason all the ones we've tried near urban centres are crammed car parks where you're woken up early by cars and vans roaring around. There are very good aires and there are absolutely appalling ones. But I have never found an appalling CL because they have to comply with standards set by the CC. I've found simple ones, such as one by the Kennet and Avon Canal for four quid a night, where we watched deer jumping over the fences. I've found some miles from anywhere but that's what I wanted on that occasion. The CL looks and sounds great. Thanks for info, will give it a go if we decide to give Scotland another go next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan MMM Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 pelmetman - 2015-04-16 7:25 PM Duncan MMM - 2015-04-16 7:21 PM Reminder: Have contrasting opinions, disagree all you like, but don't post disparaging comments about other people, their opinions or what you perceive as their agendas. Blimey your working late tonight Duncan :-S .............Or are you taking your work home? :D ........... Just keeping an eye on you all. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Duncan MMM - 2015-04-16 9:01 PM Just keeping an eye on you all. ;) Good - that's always nice to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Stayed once. It was busy but reasonable in terms of we couldn't quite hear Helga or Helmut farting. No hook up available and by the look of the connections - no biggie as they say. However, I went to empty the khazi, I'm not in the slightest bit precious but bloody hell I bet there's better sanitation in Halifax. Or maybe not.. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-04-16 7:17 PM What is it with some of you folks, you go somewhere like Honfluer, find everyone has had the same idea, then complain about being packed in like sardines, whatever you do don't come down our neck of the woods and try parking on the favored sea front car park most weekends, or most days as the season gets underway, the clue is just as Stratford-upon-Avon is a tourist hot spot, so is Honfluer and don't kid yourself they don't both have as many rats. Best advise is to keep away if it's likely to be rammed, Honfluer just as Stratford-upon-Avon in my view only warrants one visit, out of season. Can't either for the life of me understand anyone like Rupert123 staying if he found it so dire, I certainly would not have done. Well I thought I had explained that bit, about staying, in my first post so suggest you read that as cannot be bothered to explain again. As for the rest you can stay at Honfleur in comfort, as has been pointed out by others, at the perfectly good campsite so why be crammed in on the aire, explain please. If I went back that is certainly what I would do, in fact on our second visit that is what we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 There’s plenty of information on-line about the aire and campsite at Honfleur and - I would have thought - it should be obvious from this what to expect in each case. It’s perhaps worth highlighting that the Honfleur campsite is only open from April through September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Robert and Jean make a nice post about enjoying a nice stopover on an Aire and of course out come the anti Aire brigade trying as usual to slag of Aires and say every one should stay in prison camps (I think they call them campsites). We much prefer Aires location and ease of use far more appealing to us than being locked up in a campsite. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 lennyhb - 2015-04-17 2:51 PM Robert and Jean make a nice post about enjoying a nice stopover on an Aire and of course out come the anti Aire brigade trying as usual to slag of Aires and say every one should stay in prison camps (I think they call them campsites). We much prefer Aires location and ease of use far more appealing to us than being locked up in a campsite. ;-) I'm sorry that someone has locked you up in a campsite. How did that happen? And I hope that you reported them to the police. I know the feeling though. I've felt locked up or even locked out of a couple of aires when they've had a barrier that will only go up when you've gone through some fiendishly complex credit card transaction on a machine. I attach a picture of a campsite in France that we use. It's really bad, you have so much space that you suffer from agoraphobia and to make it worse there are open fields in front running down to the river, and over the river is a view of an ancient hill village. It's really awful. I much prefer the aire in the other picture. It's very friendly. You can open a window and shake hands with your neighbours and it's great for improving your foreign languages as you can hear conversations on either side of you in French or Dutch or German. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Thanks for supportive comments Lenny. The French campsite you show Frank does indeed look nice hope does not get muddy in rain. Aire in Spain not so good, always knew France was best!! Have now moved on to aire de ramparts at Port Louis, in southern Brittany. Mention this as it is unusual in that the aire used to be part of the adjacent camp site so pitches remain as they were on site, with hook ups but shower block now closed. Even more interesting the adjacent municipal site is closed but open to motorhomes only to park overnight on. So the aire/camp site debate irrelevant here as aire only choice, if you want to be within easy walking distance of a very interesting small town, as well as catch public transport from outside gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 I'm not anti Aire , I merely posted on what we witnessed on that day. If the beautiful basin in Honfleur is a great enough draw for you to :- Potentially catch a life threatening illness in the WC chemique Contract a serious dose of the s**tes from the WC chemique Potentially electrocute yourself from the EHU bollard and/or bugger your electrical system up Then there's one extra space I'll be making available for anyone who wants it. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 robertandjean - 2015-04-17 4:13 PM Thanks for supportive comments Lenny. The French campsite you show Frank does indeed look nice hope does not get muddy in rain. Aire in Spain not so good, always knew France was best!! Have now moved on to aire de ramparts at Port Louis, in southern Brittany. Mention this as it is unusual in that the aire used to be part of the adjacent camp site so pitches remain as they were on site, with hook ups but shower block now closed. Even more interesting the adjacent municipal site is closed but open to motorhomes only to park overnight on. So the aire/camp site debate irrelevant here as aire only choice, if you want to be within easy walking distance of a very interesting small town, as well as catch public transport from outside gate. I said earlier in this thread that there are some superb aires. There are some lovely ones and there are some convenient ones, but there are some where it is absolutely clear that anyone using them is doing it for one reason only, because they're cheap or free. Why would anyone in their right mind stay on an aire that's noisy, where you are an arm's length from your neighbours and where there are filthy toilet disposal facilities? Well, we all know why don't we? Reasonable people, and I include you in this definition, accept that aires are often useful and good value but, at the same time, if there isn't a decent aire will use a municipal or other site. Unreasonable people, and people whose religion is spending as little as possible will put up with appalling crowded aires and make comments about campsites being prison camps. I have never felt imprisoned on a campsite, how can anyone? But do such people ever consider what an aire really is? An aire is a campsite, no more, no less. It's a site for motorhomes, the only difference being that you have few facilities and often, much less space, but it is still a kind of campsite, often with a fee and even a barrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 LordThornber - 2015-04-17 4:38 PM I'm not anti Aire , I merely posted on what we witnessed on that day. If the beautiful basin in Honfleur is a great enough draw for you to :- Potentially catch a life threatening illness in the WC chemique Contract a serious dose of the s**tes from the WC chemique Potentially electrocute yourself from the EHU bollard and/or bugger your electrical system up Then there's one extra space I'll be making available for anyone who wants it. Martyn Make that two Martyn, they can have mine as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 LordThornber - 2015-04-17 4:38 PM I'm not anti Aire , I merely posted on what we witnessed on that day. If the beautiful basin in Honfleur is a great enough draw for you to :- Potentially catch a life threatening illness in the WC chemique Contract a serious dose of the s**tes from the WC chemique Potentially electrocute yourself from the EHU bollard and/or bugger your electrical system up Then there's one extra space I'll be making available for anyone who wants it. Martyn You are right to point out the importance of electrical safety and health risks, things we should all take note of. All we can say is that the point we used showed no indication of bare wires and my tester indicated no problems with reverse polarity or missing earth so hooked up. Agree always risk of infection from toilet emptying points (or for that matter site toilet blocks) so always use disposable plastic gloves when emptying toilet and wash hands thoroughly on completion of task. The point did not appear better or worse than many others have used so feel with proper precautions fine to use. Thanks again for reminding us all of the importance of basic safety and hygene facts it is easy to forget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 The Iceman cometh ? ................I expect this thread will be frozen soon ;-)............ Twern't my fault Duncan :D....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 As for France passion stopovers, the last one we used was in the middle of nowhere if Saint Emilion meets that definition, a Unesco World Heritage site. Château des Laudes Christian Gombaud Saint-Christophe-des-Bardes – Saint-Emilion (GPS : N 44°53.695 ; W 0°07.642) +33 (0) 6 12 94 15 98 – faurepatrick6554@neuf.fr - www.c-g-vins.com Camper van area with trees for shelter or to have some lunch/dinner. Drinking water tap available to use for free. Sanitary block available to visitors who are stopping over. Open every day from February to end of October. We can offer a tour of the estate to visitors, as well as wine-tastings. We can also offer lunches and picnic baskets. €19.50 per basket for two people: lunch and a glass of rosé and a glass of white wine per person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan MMM Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 This thread has run its course and as it simply being used for bickering, it has been moderated and is now frozen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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