plop Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 We're hoping to head to France Friday 4th Sep using the chunnel on a flexible ticket. First step is from Calais down to visit my brother between Poitiers and Angouleme. We're going to overnight on the way there and looking at using the Aires or other similar options. Any advice on these or anyone know somewhere nice to stay perhaps between Chartres and Tours? We've used Britstops over here already and proved great. Found this: https://www.vicarious-shop.com/products/all-the-aires-france-north-and-south-3-together any value in this? or this: https://www.france-passion.com/en/motorhomers/how-it-works or just take our chances. From there we are will head off Monday 7th to go down to visit a mate in Morzine taking 3 or 4 days perhaps, stay the weekend there then potter back taking 2 or stops on the way back up. We can't wait, we've just back from long weekend near Great Yarmouth and need to get the next one lined up! If quarantine changes kick in we'll head off to Northumberland instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceM Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 I suggest you download the Park4Night or CamperContact apps on to your mobs and then try different aires as you go. Some will be a marvellous find and some will disappoint – in which case you can just move on to an alternative. That’s part of the fun. The aire feedback on the apps from actual users is invaluable for giving up to date conditions and real life opinions. Personally, when traveling in in Europe we pick a rough overnight destination in the morning, have a look at the surrounding aires and then plan the route accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plop Posted August 10, 2020 Author Share Posted August 10, 2020 Bruce, Forgot to mention we do have those apps. Do people happily rely on them? Any likely problems finding space on them? Although I guess early September is getting out of season, even for this slightly odd year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barryd999 Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 We used to rely on the old Vicarious books All the Aires (well its some of the Aires) books and they are good to have but these days I almost exclusively plan online both before we go and on the move. I dont use an app though, I just the full website on a laptop. https://www.campercontact.com/en And of course the old faithful CC Infos http://www.campingcar-infos.com/Francais/accueil.php My advice on Aires is to do your research if you dont want to end up on some grotty car park in a town on a busy road cheek to jowl. Doesnt matter so much for a one nighter in transit but its a holiday after all and there are some cracking Aires if you put the time in. Generally the ones in smaller less popular locations are better than the ones in popular towns or villages. Rural aires tend to have more space, grass etc. Best time to arrive I find is either just before lunchtime or around 2pm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 We have often stopped at Chateaudun en route South on the N10. There is a small Aire (about 5 MHs) by the river below the Chateau which is free and another free one a couple of miles away by the river at St Dennis les Ponts. We usually stay at the Municipal Campsite, called Moulin a Tan, which is cheap and lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickt Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Nice aire at Marboue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceM Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 plop - 2020-08-10 5:34 PM Bruce, Forgot to mention we do have those apps. Do people happily rely on them? Any likely problems finding space on them? Although I guess early September is getting out of season, even for this slightly odd year? Yes, we rely totally on Park4Night (we use just that app) and have always found it reliable . I suspect both apps are much the same. I particulary like the fact that we can specify the type of stop we want eg “Aires pay and non pay” and focus in a location on the map to see aires in that area. Coupled with the numerous up to date reviews for each aire (which we also always contribute to) and the fact that non English reviews are translated on the fly we find it suits us perfectly. Having motorhomed in France in September I doubt you’ll have trouble getting in to most aires. It’s off season and in my view one of the best times to be in that part of Europe in a motorhome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattwg Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 It’s worth knowing when using campingcar-infos.com/Francais that if you search on a name the site can be very fickle. E.g. It will accept and show results for Saint Denis les Ponts but will reject Saint-Denis-les-Ponts. It even does not recognise St. Denis les Ponts. So if you are sure that an aire exists but cannot bring it up on the website then it is worth experimenting with different formations of the name. I’ve just put the above three formats into the website and it only recognised Saint Denis les Ponts. Having said that I use it very often. Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattwg Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Mickt - 2020-08-10 6:04 PM Nice aire at Marboue Yes, Marboué is our usual first stop heading south and west of Paris. It's in a parkland setting with clean toilets open till about 1700hrs. Water and electricity are via a borne. Further to my last post the website recognises Marboue but not Marboué. Have a good trip. Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 https://ibb.co/Q88qL1L good free aire at Bonneville, plenty of room, nice town Park 4 Night , Camperstops and vicarious books will get you where you want to be lots of stop overs listed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Cattwg - 2020-08-10 7:53 PM Mickt - 2020-08-10 6:04 PM Nice aire at Marboue Yes, Marboué is our usual first stop heading south and west of Paris. It's in a parkland setting with clean toilets open till about 1700hrs. Water and electricity are via a borne. Further to my last post the website recognises Marboue but not Marboué. Have a good trip. Cattwg :-D “Marboue” works for me and selects “Marboué”. A ‘partial’ (eg. “Marb”) will pick up “Marboué” too. Similarly, “Denis” will select names with “Denis” somewhere in them. Ticking the "Recherche stricte du mot” box will concentrate the search and the results will depend on how names have been recorded on the campingcar-infos database. It’s not GOOGLE but the name-search works reasonably well for French-written software. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cattwg Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Derek Uzzell - 2020-08-11 9:26 AM Marboue” works for me and selects “Marboué”. Agreed, Marboue without the accent works and when the aire comes up it’s shown as Marboué, even though you can’t search on that. Not that I’m complaining you understand – it’s a very useful website. It’s just that anyone new to the site may not find what they are looking for due to its idiosyncrasies. I learnt through experimentation with names. Cattwg :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plop Posted August 11, 2020 Author Share Posted August 11, 2020 Thanks everyone - we'll get looking this weekend and then just waiting to find out about any quarantining problems! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jands Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 I am planning to go across next monday, not sure if it will happen though. Its not the quarantine when you get back thats the problem but the foreign office putting a do not go advice on those effected countries. This will invalidate travel insurances which could be a problem. So fingers crossed that Frances measures will keep the FO advice ok. We use Camper Contact app, £15 a year well spent, back it up using "All the Aires" books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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