mrs p hancox Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 hi we are hoping to go to france next week we have never been abroad in the van before what do we need to take (other than passport) and any hints Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Welcome to the ranks of "les Camping-caristes francophiles!" It may be a bit late now, but have you got European Health Ins cards? If not, it isn't the end of the world but they're useful. You MUST have your driving licence(s) & vehicle docs with you (Reg Doc., Ins. Cert., MoT if applicable). Buy your Euros from the Post Office rather than the bank, as they don't charge commission and (around here anyway) keep them in stock whereas the bank have to order them in! A campsite book or "Aires de Service" book (according to preference) is useful, but not essential as you'll find plenty of both well-signposted as you wander around. Where do you plan to go? There are bound to be people on here with experience of the particular areas you've got in mind. Enjoy yourselves! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs p hancox Posted March 27, 2007 Author Share Posted March 27, 2007 hi have got the e111 or what ever the goverment calls them now, and will take all docs as you suggest hubby thinks we need floresent jackets and triangle, I thought we needed special headlights but not sure. think we will take ferry dover to dunkirk then we are lost! So am going to borrow every libary book tommorrow with sites in it. We have sat nav so Lady G (as we call her) will be our guide, but any advice re sites etc will be printed and used as a bible. so fire ahead please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Hi Seeing as time is short I've sent you by email a copy of my France Diary from last year which might give you some ideas of what to do. Regards Mel B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 Hi Pam, You must carry a triangle, if going to Spain you need 2. Flourescent jackets are not essential but sensible, France you must carry a complete set of spare bulbs. Stop at the first Hypermarket you get to in France and buy them there as they will be cheaper than in UK, also fuel will be cheaper. It is sensible and courtious to use beam benders on your lights, also when driving in rain speed limits lower in France also drive with dipped lights. Stick to speed limits ridgidly, on the spot fines and possibility of losing licence, then you are stuck. Now for the good bits the People are great, food is excellent, wine is cheap, the weather can be fantastic and the scenery changes by the hour. Enjoy David :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 See if you can get a copy of the Caravan Club Caravan Europe 1 guide to campsites. It's probably the best going.You are early, and many sites won't open till 'Easter, so watch opening dates. The weather in Northern France will be similar to UK, so if you're looking for warmth you'll need to go South. Down the Rhone valley, the warm weather starts around Valence. The Alps and the Massif Centrale, being high, stay quite cold until around May, so you may need to go right down to the Med to get away from the cold. Remember, France is a big country and it takes a long time to cross!Make sure you have adequate gas before you leave, you won't get Calor in France, you UK bottles can't be filled or exchanged in France, and French gas bottles have different fittings from UK bottles. If you run out, you'll have to buy a French gas bottle and a pigtail to suit.You will be able to use a credit/debit card for most purchases, but not reliably in automated fuel pumps. The filling station offices will take them, provided they are open. Fuel can be tricky to find on Sundays. Many filling stations stay open at night but unstaffed and with fuel from the automated pumps only. Supermarkets are cheapest for fuel, but watch their canopy heights!If I may suggest, next time plan a bit further ahead, and give us all more of a chance!Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Brian Kirby - 2007-03-27 10:10 PM Make sure you have adequate gas before you leave, you won't get Calor in France, you UK bottles can't be filled or exchanged in France, and French gas bottles have different fittings from UK bottles. If you run out, you'll have to buy a French gas bottle and a pigtail to suit .... .... If I may suggest, next time plan a bit further ahead, and give us all more of a chance! The alternative is to fit a Camping Gaz regulator. CG is more expensive(therefore doesn't make sense for longer trips) but readily available all over Europe, so it's handy for 2-3 week holiday. Reading everyone else's posts here, I'm struck by how much I (and probably all of us) take for granted. I rattled off everything that occurred to me last night when I saw your request, but everything the others have written is quite right too. It's a good job there are a lot of us on here!! And as for next time, by then you'll be the ones giving advice to the next lot of first-timers: it's amazing how quickly you'll become experts! Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Way2Go Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 David Dwight - 2007-03-27 8:31 PM . . . . Fluorescent jackets are not essential . . . I think you'll now find that they are compulsory for EACH person if you are stood on the highway with a breakdown or puncture etc.mrs p hancox - 2007-03-27 7:46 PM . . . we have sat nav so Lady G (as we call her) will be our guide, but any advice re sites etc will be printed and used as a bible. Pam you may be interested in downloading a couple of guides wot I wrote about entering POIs (Points of Interest) into your satnav system to find camp sites etc. There's also a guide on how to create an itinerary.The links to the documents are:- http://www.nodarkroom.co.uk/downloads/itinerary_for_tomtom.pdf http://www.nodarkroom.co.uk/downloads/downloading_poi_guide.pdf Brian Kirby - 2007-03-27 10:10 PM If I may suggest, next time plan a bit further ahead, and give us all more of a chance! That's some good advice from Brian, after all, planning is all part of the experience and helps things run more smoothly.Have a good trip and tell us how you got on.W2G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs p hancox Posted March 28, 2007 Author Share Posted March 28, 2007 thank you everyone, have printed list and off to shops, will up date you on return (or later tonight ) if hubby has any more questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Dwight Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Thanks way to go, my brain was not in gear. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 Planning? We cannot admit to planning much at all for a jaunt to France. We book the Ferry, that,s all. We use a Michelin Map (normally up to 3 years old) and keep off the autoroutes. I have a Nav sat in the passenger seat. We follow our noses and take our time, typically no more than 150 miles in a day and sometimes a lot less. Municipal camp sites are fine but providing you keep away from towns and stay in villages there are many places to safely stop for an overnight. Often alongside a Cafe or a church. We know that should we need to get back home quickly we are never more than a days driving if we hack it up an autoroute. But France is a big and lovely country and camping is a national past time. Try and speak a few words of French and they will love you for it. It ain,t any where near as complicated as you might think. Just do it! Good luck C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Although it is still not a legal requirement in France for drivers to carry/use reflective clothing, it is definitely good practice to do so. The Caravan Club's "Caravan Europe 1" handbook (as mentioned by Brian Kirby) says that "reports have been received recently of over-zealous police officers fining motorists for not having a reflectorised waistcoat or jacket in their vehicle". The CC book states that, in France, carrying a warning triangle is compulsory for cars towing a caravan or trailer, and for vehicles over 3500kg. In principle, if your (non-towing, sub-3500kg) motorhome has hazard warning lights, then having a triangle is not compulsory. In practice, as a breakdown/accident may result in hazard warning lights not working, carrying a triangle is common sense. Apparently the French Tourist Board recommends carrying two triangles. I'm not sure what the French legal requirement for a driver to carry a spare set of light-bulbs specifically entails in terms of which of the vehicle lights are considered critical and which not. All the bulb-sets I've seen in French supermarkets have related to popular cars and may or may not be applicable to the commercial chassis on which most motorhomes are built. I suppose one might be able to buy a 'boxed set' of bulbs that was completely relevant to a panel-van conversion motorhome, but the chances of obtaining a suitable set for a coachbuilt model will be much smaller as the motorhome manufacturer may have chosen to use a completely different set of lights to those of the base chassis. My own feeling is that, if you want to do the job properly, you first need to confirm which light bulbs your motorhome actually uses. You may well discover that the result of this exercise is a quite small selection of different bulbs, but some of these may be uncommon. The home-assembled set for my Transit-based Hobby contains bulbs suitable for the headlamps, front-and-rear 'parking lights', front-and-rear turn indicators, rear brake lights (but not the high-level one) and rear fog lights. None of the pre-packaged French bulb-sets I've come across would have included all the requisite bulbs. Besides providing information on 4500 campsites in France, Spain, Portugal and Andorra the CC's Caravan Europe 1 publication has a lengthy (near 100 pages) introductory section offering general advice for first timers touring abroad, plus additional sections for each of the 4 countries covered (20 pages for France). For a newcomer to motorcaravanning in France this is the book to get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I can perhaps add to the info on the need to carry spare bulbs. My undestanding (subject always to correction) is that there is no legal requirement to carry the spare bulbs. However, there is a legal requirement for all external lighting on a vehicle to function correctly. Failure to comply with this requirement can result in an on the spot fine. However, if you are stopped for defective lights, and you have the bulb set, the fine should be waived.Be warned, however! It has been known for the plod concerned to insist you change the defective lamp in his presence, and demonstrate the lights then all work correctly, before letting you continue on your way. The roadside speed cops, always in pairs, used to be very hot on defective lights and the need to carry spares is burned deep into the French soul. (This fervour seemed to subside somewhat after France adopted white headlamps.) Almost all new cars are sold complete with a manufacturer's bulb set, and so, incidentally, are many motorhomes. If your van is French made, you should be able to get the requisite item from a dealership for that make. Vans produced elsewhere seem not to have taken up the French lead on this, and you seem generally to have to make up your own!Thus, posession of the bulb set may well be the first requisite, but ensuring they are the correct bulbs, and that you know how to change them, are hard on its heels! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrs p hancox Posted April 10, 2007 Author Share Posted April 10, 2007 hi everyone had a great time, ferry fantastic both there and back easy peasy, I could not find an aires book for first few days in france so stopped on caravan and camping sites, then hit lucky found book, found our first aire and was away, Mind it wasn't til we got book we realised the sign we had wondered about being like a tipper truck actually was signing camper vans! Had been looking for sign with aires de camping!!!!! France is brill wea re going back soon, One complaint had brought the AA France map and it was rubbish the lines that usually indicate end of one page start of another have no relation to where they appear, so that is going and Mitchelen is in. and also thanks to you all for info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted April 10, 2007 Share Posted April 10, 2007 Going ourselves for the first time in May. Booked the ferry, £24.70 Dover to Calais, one way. Bought spare bulb pack from Halfords, £10.00, two high viz jackets £3.99, local market. Other than that the Alan Rodgers camp site book for France and a Tom Tom, Europe will be our our guides. Oh I nearly forgot also bought a book called "Camperstop" which lists all the aires in Europe. £19.99 off t'internet! Happy travelling! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 StephenI'd be a bit wary of the Alan Rogers guide. I've never found them to be either particularly accurate, nor very comprehensive. In some cases, I doubt the AR inspector did much more than just look into the gate as he drove past! If you're just going to France, get the Michelin "Camping France 2007" for a much more comprehensive list of quality assessed sites or, but especially if you contemplate travelling towards Spain, get the Caravan Club's "Caravan Europe 1" available direct from the club to members and non-members alike. The latter is compiled from reports submitted by CC members and others who fill in the brief report forms in the book. It is thus the user's take on the site and tends to "tell it like it is". If you want a totally comprehensive list of all campsites in France you'll need the FFCC (Federation Francaise de camping and de caravaning) guide to all 8,500 sites. This can be obtained in UK from the Camping and Caravanning Club, and possibly the Caravan Club. However, be warned if you go this route, some of the sites are very rudimantary, some in poor condition, some not regularly cleaned, and some full of itinerant workers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted April 11, 2007 Share Posted April 11, 2007 Thanks Brian, I will get the CC Europe book this week. We are hoping to stay mostly away from commercial and " the usual" places anyway and explore on our own when we can, taking safety precautions of course. There are only 2 of us and we don't "do" kids anyway, so the less crowded the site the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g4oip Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 Bit late getting back for this but will be on the Vendee mid-May for 2/3 weeks on camping a la ferme at st Hilaire de Riez run by Mr Gaston Naud and then all of June at camping Le Tuc [CC latest book under Soustons] so if anyone would like to see Hilary and me bring it on. Alec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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