Derek Uzzell Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Wasn't Me - 2018-08-18 10:56 PM ...It's the one thing in France that is good value. We went to Annecy and the bars were charging €10 a pint. Ridiculous!... There are lots of things in France that are good value - reasonable quality wine can be extraordinarily inexpensive (try Lidl), midday lunching need not cost the earth and public transport is cheap and reliable. Annecy is very much a tourist city and if you choose to glug pints of beer there at Finn Kelly's Irish Pub (or the like), you should anticate paying through the nose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasnt Me Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 Thanks I appreciate there are some things that are cheap but eating out and using the French supermarkets can be expensive. We were not choosing to glug beer, we wanted to have a beer any the habour/marina before getting the €53 boat back to our campsite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 We've never had a problem with our cards anywhere we have used them in France. We did have a problem with a Mastercard in Croatia in June at a toll booth and subsequently in a fuel station who informed us there was a technical problem with Mastercard at the time and our subsequent use of a Visa card at the same station was fine. On the subject of the now exorbitant prices in France, we have noticed the consistently higher prices in France over the last five years to the extent that we are choosing different motorhoming destinations, hence Croatia in June. In our opinion France has become so expensive as to be a place to avoid you may as well stay in the UK it is now cheaper! Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jak Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 aandy - 2018-08-18 8:36 PM jak - 2018-08-18 5:02 PM aandy - 2018-08-17 11:36 AM jak - 2018-08-17 11:30 AM The idea of paying solely to empty the waste goes against the grain with me. Why? There is a cost involved in providing and maintaining the facility, so it seems reasonable that the user should contribute towards that cost. Basicallybecause I am a tight as**d old git, who happily travels around Europe enjoying life with the rest of the travelling community. Whilst on the move I have a preference for free or near free aires either official or unofficial which I tend to find used by predominantly mainland Europeans which suits me fine. Anyway this is well off the original subject matter Andy so lets conclude this dialogue. You don't tow a German caravan with a transit pick up by any chance? ;-) No but if I met such a person I would n't allow any preconcieved ideas to blind me to treating them with the respect that people in general deserve Andy. Yes many of the European vans on aires are not new, bright and shiney examples which you no doubt dream of but its no reflection on the owners. Your remark reminds me of the signs on B&Bs in the sixties referring to 'No Ir*** or Bla***. My initial post was simply trying to advise that there are an awful lot of free waste disposal sites in municipal locations in France. A point which an amazing number of Brits appear to be ignorant of. Contrary to what you advise such facilities do not involve any significant costs to maintain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 As I’ve said above, the majority of motorhome “aires de services” in France permit waste-water and toilet waste to be disposed of free of charge. But many ‘aires’ charge a fee for obtaining fresh-water and/or 230V electricity. The rationale is that charging for waste-disposal would inevitably result in an environmental risk as motorcaravanners would dump waste-water and toilet-waste into ditches, dunes, rivers, the sea, public toilets, etc. So - if an aire de services is provided - it’s best to accept the cost of processing the disposed-of waste and not charge for that service. But not providing free fresh-water and/or 230V electricity carries no environmental risk, so charging for those services (and obviously there will be a cost to the ‘owner’ of the aire to do this) has become increasingly common. I don’t know if an "an amazing number of Brits” are unaware of the existence and scope of the French aires network, but I suspect that most people who are members of this forum are well familiar with the system as it’s been discussed here often enough. The most comprehensive and up-to-date source of information on French aires is the campingcar-infos website https://www.campingcar-infos.com/Francais/cci.php?pays=FRANCE This permits filtering of the various types of aire in a French département, and it’s then relatively simple to establish whether all the services provided at a particular aire are free or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 "No but if I met such a person I would n't allow any preconcieved ideas to blind me to treating them with the respect that people in general deserve Andy. Yes many of the European vans on aires are not new, bright and shiney examples which you no doubt dream of but its no reflection on the owners. Your remark reminds me of the signs on B&Bs in the sixties referring to 'No Ir*** or Bla***. " Any "preconception" on my part is based solely on my experience and observations. It is certainly true that some of the group in question are decent people, but their image is tainted by the very significant proportion who leave a trail of filth and damage wherever they go. Lemmings don't all jump over cliffs, but that does not alter the fact that it is a characteristic of the species as a whole The irony of your comment seems to be lost on you. You admonish me, on the basis of what I thought was very obviously a flippant remark, yet commit precisely the same sin yourself with your preconceived - and wholly incorrect - ideas about what sort of vehicle I own or want and about my attitude to the owners of older vehicles. If you knew what vehicles I own you'd understand just how wrong you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasnt Me Posted August 19, 2018 Author Share Posted August 19, 2018 Basil - 2018-08-19 12:58 PM On the subject of the now exorbitant prices in France, we have noticed the consistently higher prices in France over the last five years to the extent that we are choosing different motorhoming destinations, hence Croatia in June. In our opinion France has become so expensive as to be a place to avoid you may as well stay in the UK it is now cheaper! Bas I agree, we have just had the most expensive holiday in France we have ever had. We managed to find a campsite that charges €74 a night in Annecy. 8 nights on a Comfort pitch for 2 adults, 2 children and one dog. Next year we are going to stay in the municipal I think. I dread to think what we spent on tolls and diesel, im too scared to work it out. It's just a shame the weather is not reliable enough to stay here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandy Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 Wasn't Me - 2018-08-19 3:44 PM Basil - 2018-08-19 12:58 PM On the subject of the now exorbitant prices in France, we have noticed the consistently higher prices in France over the last five years to the extent that we are choosing different motorhoming destinations, hence Croatia in June. In our opinion France has become so expensive as to be a place to avoid you may as well stay in the UK it is now cheaper! Bas I agree, we have just had the most expensive holiday in France we have ever had. We managed to find a campsite that charges €74 a night in Annecy. 8 nights on a Comfort pitch for 2 adults, 2 children and one dog. Next year we are going to stay in the municipal I think. I dread to think what we spent on tolls and diesel, im too scared to work it out. It's just a shame the weather is not reliable enough to stay here. I invariably use municipals if not on an aire. There are some very nice ones and prices seem to range from very reasonable down to "how is it worth their while opening at that price?" I was on a very nice one in Normandy last month (Domfront) where the charge was 3.50 for the first person and 3 per person thereafter. I rarely use toll roads, but I suppose that depends on what sort of holiday you want. I don't usually have a destination in mind, preferring to pick a region and wander around as the fancy takes me, but even when I do I keep off the motorways and take my time getting there. I can afford to do that as I am retired, but I guess it's not so easy if your time away is limited. I agree that the cost has risen (even before factoring in the exchange rate), and this is the first time I can recall diesel being more expensive in France than at home, but it is a lovely country and it will have to get a lot more expensive before I'll be dissuaded from going there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted August 19, 2018 Share Posted August 19, 2018 To tell the truth I'm not that bothered about the weather, it's easier to put another jumper on if it's a bit chilly than sit in the shade and sweat in 35-40C. Scotland has better, emptier beaches than France, and you can still stay in most places overnight without bother. But I must admit that England is a pain, with height barriers and restrictive signs everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pottypam Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 Have those of you who have had problems with cards in Europe advised your card issuers that you are going abroad? I wasn’t aware that this was required until today. It is years since I used my card abroad, usually use OH’s credit card. He, of course, knew this and has always done it but was a bit frustrated when he did it today - had to enter each country individually. As we are going to Slovenia and Croatia via France, Belgium, etc and returning via Italy, it was a lot of entries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasnt Me Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 No we have never bothered. The thread has talked about card refusal at fuel stations etc. It was only the aires that we have ever had an issue with. Therefore I believe it's is an issue with the aires not my cards, if that makes sense. Someone has suggested that the company that does the transaction refused it as the cost was so low and the fees to exchange from ££s to €€s, makes it not worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pottypam Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 We take a currency card pre-loaded with euros to use for small amounts at Aires, etc. Using a credit card for 2 euros for water doesn’t seem worthwhile. Had no problems for years and hope we don’t when we head off next month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 This 2014 link related to a debit/credit card-holder advising the card-provider that the card-holder would be travelling abroad https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/cards/2014/07/should-you-call-your-bank-before-going-abroad but at least some of the guidance there is now out-of-date as this Nationwide Building Society webpage indicates https://www.nationwide.co.uk/support/travel/useful-travel-information It’s possible that, if the travel is to be outside the EU, advising the card-provider would be advisable or a requirement, but that would need to be checked with the provider involved. In this link https://www.santander.co.uk/uk/help-support/faqs the Santander bank advises as follows: "If you are travelling outside the EU, let us know so we can place a note on your account to say you are travelling. This is not a requirement, but may help if you are concerned about your card use while abroad. Please speak to us on 0800 9 123 123 to do this. You don’t need to tell us when you are travelling in the EU. As the EU has a high coverage of Chip and PIN, we are able to identify you and will monitor for fraud in the same way as if you were using your card in the UK.” In his original posting on this thread Wasn’t Me said Wasn't Me - 2018-08-17 9:38 AM Why do none of the Camping car service points in France accept my cards? We tried 4 cards and couldn't get out of the Aire a Lac du Der... This 2015 forum thread mentioned problems with using cards at French aires. https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Problem-using-credit-debit-cards-on-French-aires-/38407/ If a debit/credit card works OK in France for common-or-garden transactions (buying fuel, meals, shopping, campsite fees etc.) and fails to work only at aires, it’s logical to assume that the problem lies with the aires not the card. Wasn’t Me’s comment suggests that he used his cards at several French aires (How many?) and none of his cards were accepted on any of those occasions. I’m wary of the suggestion that the €2.50 fee at the Lac du Der aire was the culprit, as one might reasonably expect that such a restriction would apply to any card usage, not just to UK-issued cards. The conversion from Euros to sterling happens later and should not affect acceptance/refusal at the transaction stage. We use a Nationwide credit-card for buying stuff in France and (as I’ve said above) once in a while there’s a problem, but generally there is not. Having once had difficulty at a French campsite where the automated exit barrier refused to lift (no warden available and barrier eventually raised using brute force) I’m always apprehensive of systems that have a barrier at their entry and exit. I’m not concerned over not being allowed in, but it's quite another matter not being allowed out. Consequently, I’ve no practical experience of aires with that type of entry/exit set-up. I am a member of the Camping-Car Park (CCP) scheme where the sites have a barrier at their entrance and exit operated by a special contactless ‘debit’ card. We’ve only stayed on two CCP sites so far and, although the system has worked flawlessly, I’ve breathed a sigh of relief once I’ve cleared the exit barrier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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