Parking out & About around Calais

[keninpalamos]

I'm presently parked in City de Europe motorhome parking area with about 10 others. It's 0425 & there have been no problems and I havnt seen any illegal or other immigrants at all. I'll do a check to make sure no one is on the roof or underneath or been in bed with me before I leave for the port soon, plus I have kept the alarm on (PIR off) I stayed on the aire up on the hill on the coast road out Of Boulogne the previous night (7€) and a storm hit about 2 in the morning and the vans were bouncing up and down violently though it didn't last long. I think the aire is to get a pay to enter or leave barrier system soon and is now fitted with the French style pay to use service point. Boulogne is in a state of dereliction. The first time I've been here since the port closed

[StuartO]

Migrants in the Calais Camp were dispersed and they don't so far seem to have reconcentrated.  Last I heard there were migrant groups of significant size gathering at nightimes to try to board lorries at rest stops on the approaches to Calais but much further out that hitherto.

 

I haven't heard any recent teports of migrants attacking or trying to board MHs near or in Calais. MH Owners are clearly willing to use Citi Europe again to park overnight but that is not guarded and must surely still carry some risk, given that migrants are still around in the Calais area.

 

The new Calais Aire de Camping Cars, next to the new Calais Municipal Campsite inland from Bleiot Plage is also only lightly fenced but it's not in an area where migrants are currently seen, so maybe that's a better bet  but it costs 10€ per night.

 

There are always going to be some people who think Citi Europe is a reasonable overnight risk but perhaps mainly because it's free.  And some people will always tend to use a free location unless a high risk of migrant attack is staring them personally in the face.

 

[PJay]

We, ve had a couple of LOUD storms last 2/3 days, always at night, here in UK, on the south coast!!

Glad I was in my bed at home!!

 

PJay

[sshortcircuit]

I have used Cite on several occasions and not once have I felt any intimidation or even seen a migrant. Two sides protected by barbed wire fence, cctv,. Police station on third side and isolated shopping centre on other. Very convenient for shopping before ferry.

 

I understand new aires in Calais is ok but ferries coming and going all night is a major down

[Solomongrundy]

The Boulogne Aire has a reputation of activity that most MH owners may find distasteful during night time hours - use your imagination!

We use Le Portel to stay for the last night before returning to the UK - at €3.50 its safe, secure, within easy walking distance of a Boulangerie and only 20 minutes up the Motorway to the Eurotunnel Terminal.

[johnfromnorfolk]

We've stayed at the Boulogne aire a couple of times day and night without any problems.

Depending on which direction we are heading we use the free aire at Bergues or the aire at Le Crotoy.

 

[keninpalamos]

I have used city de Europe camper park before and would use it again because, it has all the shops I need, restaurants and bars that are OK for me, toilets, the police are patrolling regularly all day and night, it's 15mins. From the ferry, it's quiet and for me it "feels right" and that's more important than it being free. As for the Boulogne aire, which isn't free, I don't think the fact that the 'vans were bouncing up and down had anything to do with any "distastfulness", it was defiantly the storm causing the 'vans to bounce.

:$ :D

[StuartO]

shortcircuit - 2017-05-30 8:37 AMI have used Cite on several occasions and not once have I felt any intimidation or even seen a migrant. Two sides protected by barbed wire fence, cctv,. Police station on third side and isolated shopping centre on other. Very convenient for shopping before ferry.I understand new aires in Calais is ok but ferries coming and going all night is a major down

Funny how some people want to justify decisions they have made about buying a gadget or choosing a motorhome layout or somewhere to park overnight, sometimes taking fanciful positions or making ill-considered assumptions to bolster their argument, like in this case suggesting that ferry noise will be a factor at the new Calais Aire/Campsite when they have seemigly never been there, presumably don't even really know where it is and bring up ferry noise because the old aire was close by the harbour entrance and you could sometimes hear the ferries, although when I slept there it never bothered me.  Just like our politicians trying to justify their campaign policies, their selective use of so-called "facts" shows us that they have a partisan view and illustrates their own blinkered nature.

 

I have slept at the new Calais Aire and I can assure you that it is in a quiet location and very quiet indeed.  There is absolutely no chance of hearing any ferries, even with an ear trumpet.

 

Of course Citi Europe may also be a relatively safe place these days but it has been the site of migrant attacks on MHs in the past (eg migrants trying to climb under covers on bike racks) and when i slept there a year or three ago part of it was a scruffy building site.  Even without that you'd have to be wearing raose timted glasses to see it as anything other than a peripheral area of a large number of car parks, provided mainly so that MHs don't clog up the car parks closer to the shops.  Citi Europe is a wide open location, visited by thousands of shoppers every day and sometimes by nere-do-wells such as the thieves who look for opportunities at every big shopping site.  And  even if the MH parking area is at one side of the enormous Citi Europe site, near part of the Eurotunnel fencing and one of the nearby buildings is a police location, the idea that it is in any way fenced in or secure, or that there are "regular police patrols" of the MH parking area strikes me as truly fanciful.  I seem to remember from when I slept there that the local boy racers tore around the MH area from time to time of an evening too. 

 

It certainly didn't "feel right" as a good overnight stop to me but of course everyone is perfectly entitled to make their own assesment and it's no skin off my nose if they choose to stay at Citi Europe.  Just don't bulls**t about it being better than it is.

 

[keninpalamos]

??? Chill out man, take it easy, there's no need to take that attitude towards other people's views. It won't indear you to anybody being rude and abusive just because others have a different view It's supposed to be a like minded and friendly forum about campervans and motorhomes etc. I and others were just stating a view. We didn't expect someone to get so upset about what is basically, parking up for one night. I'll apologise now if I offended you but frankly I can't see it. *-)

[StuartO]

Sorry if my response has seemed aggressive; my intention was to nail the issue rather than the person.  Maybe I'm grumpy because our politicians are all making highly selective and sometimes spurious arguments at the moment.

 

[sshortcircuit]

StuartO - 2017-05-31 8:53 AM

shortcircuit - 2017-05-30 8:37 AMI have used Cite on several occasions and not once have I felt any intimidation or even seen a migrant. Two sides protected by barbed wire fence, cctv,. Police station on third side and isolated shopping centre on other. Very convenient for shopping before ferry.I understand new aires in Calais is ok but ferries coming and going all night is a major down

Funny how some people want to justify decisions they have made about buying a gadget or choosing a motorhome layout or somewhere to park overnight, sometimes taking fanciful positions or making ill-considered assumptions to bolster their argument, like in this case suggesting that ferry noise will be a factor at the new Calais Aire/Campsite when they have seemigly never been there, presumably don't even really know where it is and bring up ferry noise because the old aire was close by the harbour entrance and you could sometimes hear the ferries, although when I slept there it never bothered me.  Just like our politicians trying to justify their campaign policies, their selective use of so-called "facts" shows us that they have a partisan view and illustrates their own blinkered nature.

 

I have slept at the new Calais Aire and I can assure you that it is in a quiet location and very quiet indeed.  There is absolutely no chance of hearing any ferries, even with an ear trumpet.

 

Of course Citi Europe may also be a relatively safe place these days but it has been the site of migrant attacks on MHs in the past (eg migrants trying to climb under covers on bike racks) and when i slept there a year or three ago part of it was a scruffy building site.  Even without that you'd have to be wearing raose timted glasses to see it as anything other than a peripheral area of a large number of car parks, provided mainly so that MHs don't clog up the car parks closer to the shops.  Citi Europe is a wide open location, visited by thousands of shoppers every day and sometimes by nere-do-wells such as the thieves who look for opportunities at every big shopping site.  And  even if the MH parking area is at one side of the enormous Citi Europe site, near part of the Eurotunnel fencing and one of the nearby buildings is a police location, the idea that it is in any way fenced in or secure, or that there are "regular police patrols" of the MH parking area strikes me as truly fanciful.  I seem to remember from when I slept there that the local boy racers tore around the MH area from time to time of an evening too. 

 

It certainly didn't "feel right" as a good overnight stop to me but of course everyone is perfectly entitled to make their own assesment and it's no skin off my nose if they choose to stay at Citi Europe.  Just don't bulls**t about it being better than it is.

This is the type of posting that drove me away from this forum for several months . I have only recently returned and things have not changed and I see no point in posting factually to receive this typical response

[StuartO]

shortcircuit - 2017-06-01 9:22 AM

StuartO - 2017-05-31 8:53 AM

shortcircuit - 2017-05-30 8:37 AMI have used Cite on several occasions and not once have I felt any intimidation or even seen a migrant. Two sides protected by barbed wire fence, cctv,. Police station on third side and isolated shopping centre on other. Very convenient for shopping before ferry.I understand new aires in Calais is ok but ferries coming and going all night is a major down

Funny how some people want to justify decisions they have made about buying a gadget or choosing a motorhome layout or somewhere to park overnight, sometimes taking fanciful positions or making ill-considered assumptions to bolster their argument, like in this case suggesting that ferry noise will be a factor at the new Calais Aire/Campsite when they have seemigly never been there, presumably don't even really know where it is and bring up ferry noise because the old aire was close by the harbour entrance and you could sometimes hear the ferries, although when I slept there it never bothered me.  Just like our politicians trying to justify their campaign policies, their selective use of so-called "facts" shows us that they have a partisan view and illustrates their own blinkered nature.

 

I have slept at the new Calais Aire and I can assure you that it is in a quiet location and very quiet indeed.  There is absolutely no chance of hearing any ferries, even with an ear trumpet.

 

Of course Citi Europe may also be a relatively safe place these days but it has been the site of migrant attacks on MHs in the past (eg migrants trying to climb under covers on bike racks) and when i slept there a year or three ago part of it was a scruffy building site.  Even without that you'd have to be wearing raose timted glasses to see it as anything other than a peripheral area of a large number of car parks, provided mainly so that MHs don't clog up the car parks closer to the shops.  Citi Europe is a wide open location, visited by thousands of shoppers every day and sometimes by nere-do-wells such as the thieves who look for opportunities at every big shopping site.  And  even if the MH parking area is at one side of the enormous Citi Europe site, near part of the Eurotunnel fencing and one of the nearby buildings is a police location, the idea that it is in any way fenced in or secure, or that there are "regular police patrols" of the MH parking area strikes me as truly fanciful.  I seem to remember from when I slept there that the local boy racers tore around the MH area from time to time of an evening too. 

 

It certainly didn't "feel right" as a good overnight stop to me but of course everyone is perfectly entitled to make their own assesment and it's no skin off my nose if they choose to stay at Citi Europe.  Just don't bulls**t about it being better than it is.

This is the type of posting that drove me away from this forum for several months . I have only recently returned and things have not changed and I see no point in posting factually to receive this typical response

What is remotely factual about you saying "I understand new aires in Calais is ok but ferries coming and going all night is a major down"?  You are saying that you gathered an impression from somewhere (unspecified) that noise from ferries is a major problem at the new Aire.  Clearly you haven't experienced this yourself and you probably don't even know where the new Aire is - so why make that silly assertion and then kid yourself that you are somehow presenting us with a "fact"?

 

If you can't tell the difference between fact and fiction then maybe you should stop contributing until you've worked it out!

 

[sshortcircuit]

StuartO - 2017-06-01 9:42 AM

shortcircuit - 2017-06-01 9:22 AM

StuartO - 2017-05-31 8:53 AM

shortcircuit - 2017-05-30 8:37 AMI have used Cite on several occasions and not once have I felt any intimidation or even seen a migrant. Two sides protected by barbed wire fence, cctv,. Police station on third side and isolated shopping centre on other. Very convenient for shopping before ferry.I understand new aires in Calais is ok but ferries coming and going all night is a major down

Funny how some people want to justify decisions they have made about buying a gadget or choosing a motorhome layout or somewhere to park overnight, sometimes taking fanciful positions or making ill-considered assumptions to bolster their argument, like in this case suggesting that ferry noise will be a factor at the new Calais Aire/Campsite when they have seemigly never been there, presumably don't even really know where it is and bring up ferry noise because the old aire was close by the harbour entrance and you could sometimes hear the ferries, although when I slept there it never bothered me.  Just like our politicians trying to justify their campaign policies, their selective use of so-called "facts" shows us that they have a partisan view and illustrates their own blinkered nature.

 

I have slept at the new Calais Aire and I can assure you that it is in a quiet location and very quiet indeed.  There is absolutely no chance of hearing any ferries, even with an ear trumpet.

 

Of course Citi Europe may also be a relatively safe place these days but it has been the site of migrant attacks on MHs in the past (eg migrants trying to climb under covers on bike racks) and when i slept there a year or three ago part of it was a scruffy building site.  Even without that you'd have to be wearing raose timted glasses to see it as anything other than a peripheral area of a large number of car parks, provided mainly so that MHs don't clog up the car parks closer to the shops.  Citi Europe is a wide open location, visited by thousands of shoppers every day and sometimes by nere-do-wells such as the thieves who look for opportunities at every big shopping site.  And  even if the MH parking area is at one side of the enormous Citi Europe site, near part of the Eurotunnel fencing and one of the nearby buildings is a police location, the idea that it is in any way fenced in or secure, or that there are "regular police patrols" of the MH parking area strikes me as truly fanciful.  I seem to remember from when I slept there that the local boy racers tore around the MH area from time to time of an evening too. 

 

It certainly didn't "feel right" as a good overnight stop to me but of course everyone is perfectly entitled to make their own assesment and it's no skin off my nose if they choose to stay at Citi Europe.  Just don't bulls**t about it being better than it is.

This is the type of posting that drove me away from this forum for several months . I have only recently returned and things have not changed and I see no point in posting factually to receive this typical response

What is remotely factual about you saying "I understand new aires in Calais is ok but ferries coming and going all night is a major down"?  You are saying that you gathered an impression from somewhere (unspecified) that noise from ferries is a major problem at the new Aire.  Clearly you haven't experienced this yourself and you probably don't even know where the new Aire is - so why make that silly assertion and then kid yourself that you are somehow presenting us with a "fact"?

 

If you can't tell the difference between fact and fiction then maybe you should stop contributing until you've worked it out!

You can talk absolute drivel based on your assumptions. I have travelled in and out of Calais for years now and am well aware of where the. aires are and of the noises generated by ferries. Going by past experiences you are just a really rude person and cannot accept that others have opinions. Perhaps you should contain your own contributions until such time as you can be polite a problem by your own omission "Sorry if my response has seemed aggressive"

[StuartO]

If you would care to be specific about which bits of my posts are "absolute drivel" I will certainly consider your views but it still seems to me that you were being fanciful and non-factual in your comment about ferry noise at the new Calais Aire and you are now flanneling rather than winding your neck in by claiming to have used the Port of Calais on many occassions, which is a different thing altogether? 

 

Have you stayed at the new Calais Aire or at least been there and experienced the environment or not?  If not why don't you shut up about it instead of pretending you know something that you don't?

 

[StuartO]

And by the way the fact that I am now being challenging to you doesn't necessarily mean that I am a rude person generally, as you wildly assert; it could simply mean that I'm not very good a suffering fools, and I'm actually quite selective about whom I choose to criticise - because they don't wind their necks in!

[sshortcircuit]

Not going to be drawn into this silly conversation with a self opinionated man, other than "I'm not very good a suffering fools" and neither am I.

 

[StuartO]

shortcircuit - 2017-06-01 3:14 PMNot going to be drawn into this silly conversation with a self opinionated man, other than "I'm not very good a suffering fools" and neither am I.

 

You are being pressed for a straight answer to a simple question - which are clearly ducking. 

 

You were providing misleading information about the new Calais Aire, which you appear to have no personal knowledge of.  That's why I challenged you.

 

When challenged you have counter-accused and tried to flannel your way out of it.  And then, stuck for anywhere else to go, you resort to crude name-calling.

 

I think this exchange has been taken as far as it can usefully go.  I hope you realise that if you post in a misleading way in future, bulls**ting about something you know nothing about, someone might just pick you up for it.

 

[sshortcircuit]

Don't talk to me about misleading

 

" MH Owners are clearly willing to use Citi Europe again to park overnight but that is not guarded and must surely still carry some risk, given that migrants are still around in the Calais area."

 

The same can be said about any aires around Calais.

 

This topic was going nowhere any way due to your self opinionated views

 

 

[StuartO]

The latest on migrants around Calais (as reported yesterday in UK press) is that there are a large number of small concentrations within a 30 mile radius and the numbers are expected to grow enormously during this year, especially from Lybia.  The local French authorities have asked the central Government to authorise an "arrest and deportation" approach rather than the containment used previously, which they clearly feel has failed.

 

Whether this will present a gathering thtreat at Citi Europe or the New Camper Aire remains to be seen.  That will presumably depend very much on how the French Authotities play things.

 

For now I reckon the migrant risk for MHs at the New Aire is very low and at Citi Europe a bit higher but still relatively low for now.

 

[emjaiuk]

I don't usually join this type of thread, but I must say that ALL forums suffer from people posting thoughts, opinions, like, dislikes as facts. They do other members, particularly those with less experience a major disservice

 

Regardless of how the posts were worded it was correct to point out that the new Calais aire is not affected by ferry noise. The old, original one was, the new one is not, and anybody who has been to the new location would be aware of this.

 

Having got that off my chest, does anybody know if the yacht harbour car park is still being used by motorhomes?

 

 

Malcolm

[StuartO]

emjaiuk - 2017-06-02 9:19 AM.... does anybody know if the yacht harbour car park is still being used by motorhomes?Malcolm

I hard somewhere, can't remeber where, that the loacl authority (which ran that parking area as well as the old Aire and the new one) have now closed it to MHs, although it is still in use as a car park.

 

That would be consistent with them wanting to encourage the switch to the new Aire, for which they are collecting payment by barrier control, so with much less effort.

 

I didn't actually pay any attention to the former "aire" at the yacht harbour when we came through Calais recently, so there might be ways of still parking there temporarily, especially during daytime.

 

[emjaiuk]

Thanks Stuart

 

We'll be arriving very late, and it's so simple to just pull up at the yacht harbour, plus the bakers only a short walk away. I'll give it a try anyway.

 

Malcolm

[keninpalamos]

I left Calais 4 days ago and at around 06.30am there were 6 'vans parked on the dockside. There may have been more in other areas of the car park. The six were parked close together so easy to spot. I have parked there previously to walk around the town but never stayed overnight.

[Barryd999]

The Migrants at Calais never bothered me. I even visited the Jungle once on the bike and talked to a few. Nice people the ones we met.

 

I dont understand the need to stay right on top of Calais though, especially if your worried. There are a fair few good quiet Aires along the coast and inland if your coming from the south 10-20 miles and a good one about 8 miles from Dunkirk as well inland if your coming from the east.

[Cattwg]

We tend to avoid parking in Calais these days. But we may well use the new aire in future.

There is an aire at Wissant 10ish miles west of Calais and another (parking only) at Bergues (30ish miles) south-east of Calais. Both are free and are well used. The towns are pleasant in different ways. We use one or the other, depending which side of Calais we are when heading north.

Cattwg :-D