Guest Joe90 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 rupert123 - 2015-08-14 10:14 AM Joe90 - 2015-08-13 9:10 PM You've been misinformed, aires do not have closing times,! ! and having used hundreds of them over the years the one at Calais is one of the worst, the service point is usually pretty disgusting, and the constant throbbing of ships engines throughout the night do not aid a peaceful nights sleep, nor does the constant departure and arrivals of vans to get to the ferry or tunnel terminal at stupid middle of the night times, just to save a few quid.......... only ever used it once, and that was more than enough. ;-) Sorry Joe but as I suggested the marina aire this is nonsense. You cannot hear the ferry from here and no van that we heard either arrived or departed late at night. Apologies if the one you refer to is different to the one I was referring too, pictured below and the aire arrowed, if it was the same Aire then your experience differs from mine. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 rupert123 - 2015-08-14 10:14 AM Joe90 - 2015-08-13 9:10 PM You've been misinformed, aires do not have closing times,! ! and having used hundreds of them over the years the one at Calais is one of the worst, the service point is usually pretty disgusting, and the constant throbbing of ships engines throughout the night do not aid a peaceful nights sleep, nor does the constant departure and arrivals of vans to get to the ferry or tunnel terminal at stupid middle of the night times, just to save a few quid.......... only ever used it once, and that was more than enough. ;-) Sorry Joe but as I suggested the marina aire this is nonsense. You cannot hear the ferry from here and no van that we heard either arrived or departed late at night. Matter of definitions, I think. If Joe 90 is talking about the old aire in Calais, beside what used to be the municipal campsite, at the end of Avenue Raymond Poincare, then what he says is absolutely correct in all respects and should not be described as nonsense. However, I think Henry probably means the newer aire beside the yacht marina, along Boulevard du 8 Mai, at the end of Rue de la Mer, which is significantly further from the port entrance, and from which the ferries would not be audible. Henry could usefully have been more specific in locating the aire he meant. Under the circumstances, describing Joe's response as "nonsense" seems very unreasonable. Sorry, crossed with Joe90's post above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Ah..........it would appear we are talking about different locations, thanks for the clarification, and I did not know of the Marina aire ;-) It may be of help to Henry to note I think the word "nonsense" has now been banned by the moderator, even if one is clearly talking nonsense as some of us do from time to time :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timabob Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 As a newcomer to this forum, if this post is off topic I apologise in advance. In an earlier post in this thread reference was made to the site https://www.aire-service-camping-car-panoramique.fr/carte . It looks a very useful site, but I notice that the North East of France has no Aires showing. Since various contributors have been talking about Aires in Rheims and Calais, I presume that Aires exist in this part of France, but does anyone know why they are not covered by this, other useful, site? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 timabob - 2015-08-14 11:55 AM As a newcomer to this forum, if this post is off topic I apologise in advance. In an earlier post in this thread reference was made to the site https://www.aire-service-camping-car-panoramique.fr/carte . It looks a very useful site, but I notice that the North East of France has no Aires showing. Since various contributors have been talking about Aires in Rheims and Calais, I presume that Aires exist in this part of France, but does anyone know why they are not covered by this, other useful, site? At the top left of the website that the link takes you to is a picture of a small map - if you click on that you will see that the site only covers " north west and south west " France.. There are aires in the rest of the country ! ( ... but don't know of a relevant link - I'm sure someone else does ). ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Regarding aire at Reims, then yes entry is by way of a barrier which is lifted by phone call or walk over to reception of youth hostel which aire adjoins, and closes at 10.00 pm.(unless barrier broken, as last time we were there, then drive straight in). If you want to visit Reims then aire is well placed to walk to cathederal but limited spaces, think 6 or 7, and does fill quickly; also although there is a barrier aire is next to public park and people do cut through so best to make sure everything secure. If just wanting a stop over then aire at mareuil sur ay although further off A 26, leave at junction 17 on to D3, is really nice. For first stop suggest Gravelines marina aire, then take A 16, A25 via Lille then A26 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Joe90 - 2015-08-14 11:15 AM rupert123 - 2015-08-14 10:14 AM Joe90 - 2015-08-13 9:10 PM You've been misinformed, aires do not have closing times,! ! and having used hundreds of them over the years the one at Calais is one of the worst, the service point is usually pretty disgusting, and the constant throbbing of ships engines throughout the night do not aid a peaceful nights sleep, nor does the constant departure and arrivals of vans to get to the ferry or tunnel terminal at stupid middle of the night times, just to save a few quid.......... only ever used it once, and that was more than enough. ;-) Sorry Joe but as I suggested the marina aire this is nonsense. You cannot hear the ferry from here and no van that we heard either arrived or departed late at night. Apologies if the one you refer to is different to the one I was referring too, pictured below and the aire arrowed, if it was the same Aire then your experience differs from mine. ;-) Cross purposes I guess Joe. No that is not the one I meant and agree with you about that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 Brian Kirby - 2015-08-14 11:16 AM rupert123 - 2015-08-14 10:14 AM Joe90 - 2015-08-13 9:10 PM You've been misinformed, aires do not have closing times,! ! and having used hundreds of them over the years the one at Calais is one of the worst, the service point is usually pretty disgusting, and the constant throbbing of ships engines throughout the night do not aid a peaceful nights sleep, nor does the constant departure and arrivals of vans to get to the ferry or tunnel terminal at stupid middle of the night times, just to save a few quid.......... only ever used it once, and that was more than enough. ;-) Sorry Joe but as I suggested the marina aire this is nonsense. You cannot hear the ferry from here and no van that we heard either arrived or departed late at night. Matter of definitions, I think. If Joe 90 is talking about the old aire in Calais, beside what used to be the municipal campsite, at the end of Avenue Raymond Poincare, then what he says is absolutely correct in all respects and should not be described as nonsense. However, I think Henry probably means the newer aire beside the yacht marina, along Boulevard du 8 Mai, at the end of Rue de la Mer, which is significantly further from the port entrance, and from which the ferries would not be audible. Henry could usefully have been more specific in locating the aire he meant. Under the circumstances, describing Joe's response as "nonsense" seems very unreasonable. Sorry, crossed with Joe90's post above. Not sure how I could have been more specific as I clearly said Marina aire, nothing new about it been their for ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 14, 2015 Share Posted August 14, 2015 As Reims is a logical waypoint for a route leading from Calais to Chamonix, Steve will need to decide whether he exits Calais on the E15 (168 miles to Reims) or on the A16 (204 miles to Reims via Abbeville/Amiens). If the latter then the Aire de la Baie de Somme seems as good a place as any to overnight given the recommendations on this and other forums. If Steve chooses the more direct, shorter route using the E15, there are aires de service and aires de repos along that motorway and - let’s be realistic - overnighting on either of those types of ‘aire’ 70-100 miles from Calais should be safe enough. If Steve is reluctant to overnight on a French motorway, I suggest he use the campingcar-infos website, looks at areas through which the E15/E17 runs and sees what’s available not too far from the autoroute and looks attractive (the aire at Bellincourt perhaps if there’s a convenient motorway exit close to it.) Otherwise look on a map for small towns/villages with roads leading to them from motorway exits and take pot-luck that one of them will have a nice parking spot to stay on. As it seems that Steve intends to get the hell out of Calais and push on towards Chamonix after the first overnight stop, I can’t see much point him entering Reims itself. (I notice that, in his original posting, Steve said that they “...didn't want to over plan it as we want the adventure.”. I recall a polar explorer who when aked about his adventurous lifestyle said “The adventure begins when the plans go wrong.”) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Derek Uzzell - 2015-08-14 3:35 PM . As it seems that Steve intends to get the hell out of Calais and push on towards Chamonix after the first overnight stop, I can’t see much point him entering Reims itself. (I notice that, in his original posting, Steve said that they “...didn't want to over plan it as we want the adventure.”. I recall a polar explorer who when aked about his adventurous lifestyle said “The adventure begins when the plans go wrong.”) It is easy to do this. While the new autoroute goes around Reims in a fairly long loop the old one goes through the centre pretty much and is fact a little faster, the aire is just off this so involves only a very small diversion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveJB Posted August 15, 2015 Author Share Posted August 15, 2015 Thank you all very much for this useful information there is now lots for me to think about and research. I think I'm probably going to look for somewhere with the 50 mile range of Calais just to get the journey started. Regarding my adventure comment, 'With planning comes expectation and with expectation comes disappointment.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 SteveJB - 2015-08-15 11:51 AM.......................'With planning comes expectation and with expectation comes disappointment.' Who on earth said that? Someone who was lousy at planning, I suspect! :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry :D Some folk have never done anything spontaneous in their lives, I suspect their lives are greatly diminished as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombies Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 timabob - 2015-08-14 11:55 AM As a newcomer to this forum, if this post is off topic I apologise in advance. In an earlier post in this thread reference was made to the site https://www.aire-service-camping-car-panoramique.fr/carte . It looks a very useful site, but I notice that the North East of France has no Aires showing. Since various contributors have been talking about Aires in Rheims and Calais, I presume that Aires exist in this part of France, but does anyone know why they are not covered by this, other useful, site? Sorry. Copied and pasted the wrong link http://www.i-campingcar.fr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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