When to travel, in France

[kevandali]

Having purchased a PDA and added tomtom the heated discussions between the wife and I on how to get somewhere have almost disappeared only to be replaced by the "when to travel" discussion.

 

Last year for our first motorhome outing ever, we headed off to Brittany and drove too much, slowly cooked the kids in the day as we travelled from place to place and did not plan as quite as much as we should have.

 

This August we are going to mainly use Aires with a couple of campsites thrown in at some stage. Book two campsites and then use tomtom to take us to Aires in between.

 

Having hopefuly learnt from last year, we now plan not to travel when its hot but are unsure of the best times to travel, we only plan to travel approx 2 to 3 hours at any one time, my/our problem being.

 

[red]If we travel late at night, we may not get a place in the Aires we intend to visit and also I can't have a beer/wine.[/red]

 

[green]If we travel at about 5pm, will 7 to 8 pm be too late to get into the Aires? if not too late, I will be able to have a beer/wine.[/green]

 

[violet]If I travel early in the morning I will wake up wife and kids and life will be hell, and I can't have a lot of beer/wine the night before. [/violet](I think I have answered my own question there *-) )

 

So, after all the playing with colours and setting the scene, my only question really, is:-

 

What do you people find to be the best time to travel from Aire to Aire, do the frenchies and other european neighbours have a vunerable time where spaces in aires seem to appear as they all up sticks and move?

 

And if their is such a time, are you all keeping it a secret? :-)

 

one more quick question while I'm here, our fridge is too small when all 4 of us go away, is there such a thing as a spare freestanding fridge that can be taken with you as and when required?

 

thanks for any help, sorry that this post is a bit rambling.

 

kevandali

 

[Clive]

We tend to take off early in the mornings and drive to the next village where we purchase fresh croisants, then stop in the next lay by and put on the coffee and have breakfast. Then travel until lunchtime for a light bite and a half hour siesta. After lunch we (if required) pull into a small supermarket to stock up with meats and salads aiming to find somewhere nice for the evening stopping by 4.00 pm. But we do not use aires prefering village squares, church squares and lorry parks adjacent to Restaurants where one may just go for an evening meal.

Big towns are a positive NO NO for us. But park where there are some people from time to time.

 

Thats our regime when travelling south.

 

Enjoy.

C.

 

 

Forgot the most important thing, never use a sat nav and don,t have one. I use a nav sat (in the passenger seat) equipped with a Michelin map and a magnifying glass.

 

 

[A W]

There's probably no such thing as a best time to travel.

If you want quiet roads from noon until 2pm will be best and will also give you the advantage of arriving at the more popular aires with a sporting chance of getting in.

Anytime on Sunday is also good as the only hgv's on the road will be the refrigerated ones.

[Brian Kirby]

You won't find this all that helpful, I'm afraid, but July and August are not a good time to travel in France!  Avoid weekends if possible, especially around the month ends, Fridays as far as you can, and those from mid-August on.  Above all, avoid that celebrated weekend at the end of July/beginning of August, when the returning July holidaymakers traditionally meet the outbound August holidaymakers somewhere in the middle of France for a prolonged traffic fest and several spectacular accidents!

Otherwise, Mondays can be quite good because the shops tend to be closed, and if you leave around 10:00 and drive till 12:00, and then do a bit more early afternoon to arrive no later than 16:00, you should be sufficiently ahead of the game to find spaces, and should have avoided the hottest part of the day which, generally, is mid to late afternoon.

To be reasonably sure of finding vacant aires, avoid the main tourist routes, avoid autoroutes, and avoid "N" roads (though many have now been downgraded to "D" status, which makes them a bit more difficult to spot).  Stay away from popular tourist destinations and avoid the West (Atlantic) and South (Mediterranean) coasts.  After all, it isn't just the French you have to compete with for available spaces, it's the Germans, Swedes, Brits, Dutch, Danes, Austrians, Swiss, the odd Pole or two..............need I go on?

You'll have to plan ahead to be reasonably sure of a relaxed stay.  Use the D roads wherever you can, and aim to travel after the morning rush but before the heat gets going.  Stop early to be sure of finding a place, and try to avoid parking next to Italians and Spaniards.  Nothing nationalistic about this, you understand, but coming from the hotter bits of Europe they do tend to leave around midnight (just when you've dropped off) to drive through the night (when it's cooler)!

[tonyishuk]

One thing I noticed when reading the French Campsite booklet that came with MMM, was that after July, the minimum number of nights sites will accept is from three to seven. So its a little hard to just travel through using different campsites on a nightly basis.

 

 

[kevandali]

Brian Kirby - 2007-04-09 11:13 AM

if you leave around 10:00 and drive till 12:00, and then do a bit more early afternoon to arrive no later than 16:00, you should be sufficiently ahead of the game to find spaces

 

Sounds good to me, Brian, unfortunately we are stuck with the first two weeks of August but went last year and managed to hop from Aire to Aire with no probs, fingers crossed that it will be a similar story this year?

 

I have planned to drive from Calais to a place called Houlgate where we can park with the back end a couple of metres from the harbour wall, chill out for a day or two and then head towards southern Brittany as we only managed the north/west area last year travelling across from le Mont St Michel, St Malo and a lovely Aire at St Cast le Guildo.

We eventually ended up near Plouquerneau on the Northern coast directly north of Brest.

 

If anyone was going to travel into southern Brittany from Houlgate, which route would you recommend? or would you travel elsewhere other than Houlgate en route further south and west???

 

I realise that Calais is not the ideal choice of port for Brittany but its a little better than leaving from Dunkirk like last year.

Maybe eventually will have to dig a little deeper into the pockets and sail to roscoff ??

 

Any help much appreciated.

 

[Brian Kirby]

Kevin

Re routes, can't really advise.  I just tend to look for the nearest straight line on the map, then look for handy sites etc, amd then join them together using the (visibly) best roads Working from the Michelin 1:300,000 scale atlas.

Re ferry, don't forget Newhaven-Dieppe, which has just gained a Newhaven-Le Havre spur, though the timing for that is a bit odd.  Either is cheaper than the Roscoff crossing, and both take around 4 hours.  Much closer to Brittany, though.  Look at www.transmancheferries.com and www.ldlines.co.uk

[Clive]

Unlike Brian we look at the map and follow the visibaly worst roads. Often just a dotted line through fields and forests. No traffic problems any time of the year and you will see views and discover such gems that others only dream about.

 

We only changed from August / September to June a couple of years back and this was to enjoy a chunk of the Mediteranean warmth first and then as much of the UK warmth as our summer offers. It helps the creaking bones!

 

Camping Municipals (that we have come across) don,t often have any minimum limits on stay times, but having said that we don,t normally aim for a site (or an aire) if its just for an overnight sleeping stop. The small village or church parking square is normally quite inviting enough with shops handy for breakfast in the morning and frequently basic facilities provided as well.

 

I agree, that if you go to the "touristy" camp sites near big towns at peak time then they are both expensive and choosey, so we don,t.

 

France is a country where it is 100% legal to camp for an overnight in sensible places and the French encourage this by the facilities they provide, especially in small vilages. More than one night in the same place is taboo.

 

Go and enjoy it and try and speak a little of their language.

 

C.

 

 

 

[Basil]

Clive - 2007-04-09 3:55 PM

 

Camping Municipals (that we have come across) don,t often have any minimum limits on stay times, but having said that we don,t normally aim for a site (or an aire) if its just for an overnight sleeping stop. The small village or church parking square is normally quite inviting enough with shops handy for breakfast in the morning and frequently basic facilities provided as well.

 

C.

Sorry for being a little off topic!

 

Is there any publication that lists all the Camping Municipals, prefferably with no others, do you know? Got one for Aires and use the Caravan Club books 1&2 usually which lists a few, but don't recall seeing one that lists only CM's.

 

Bas

 

Bas

[Guest starspirit]

Clive - 2007-04-08 11:13 PM

 

We tend to take off early in the mornings and drive to the next village where we purchase fresh croisants, then stop in the next lay by and put on the coffee and have breakfast. Then travel until lunchtime for a light bite and a half hour siesta. After lunch we (if required) pull into a small supermarket to stock up with meats and salads aiming to find somewhere nice for the evening stopping by 4.00 pm. But we do not use aires prefering village squares, church squares and lorry parks adjacent to Restaurants where one may just go for an evening meal.

Big towns are a positive NO NO for us. But park where there are some people from time to time. Forgot the most important thing, never use a sat nav and don,t have one. I use a nav sat (in the passenger seat) equipped with a Michelin map and a magnifying glass.

 

 

Absolutely spot on right Clive - that's pretty well what we do too and it works very well with the added interest that you never know where you will end up and what you will discover along the way.

Motor caravanning at it's very best and true to the nomadic ideal of no sites, no mains hook ups, no noise and very little cost.

Magic!

[Brian Kirby]

Basil - 2007-04-09 4:22 PM

Clive - 2007-04-09 3:55 PM Camping Municipals (that we have come across) don,t often have any minimum limits on stay times, but having said that we don,t normally aim for a site (or an aire) if its just for an overnight sleeping stop. The small village or church parking square is normally quite inviting enough with shops handy for breakfast in the morning and frequently basic facilities provided as well. C.

Sorry for being a little off topic! Is there any publication that lists all the Camping Municipals, prefferably with no others, do you know? Got one for Aires and use the Caravan Club books 1&2 usually which lists a few, but don't recall seeing one that lists only CM's. Bas Bas

I've never come across one Basil, but I'm not sure of the advantage you foresee.  Many municipals are reasonably priced, but others much more expensive; many have excellent, and well maintained facilities, others - you wouldn't hose down your dog in!  Thus, merely being a Camping Municipal is no guarantee of either quality or value. 

For France, I still think the best commercial guide overall is the Michelin "Camping France", for the year in question.  This year's should be out about now, but the best overall guide is surely the Caravan Club's "Caravan Europe 1". 

The former is quite reliable in its assessment of the quality and facilities on offer, and includes municipals as well as commercial sites, but only includes those sites that meet "the standard".  However, as with the hotels and restaurants in the red guide, the standard is quite good, and those sites whose standards fail do get knocked out.  Co-ordinates (quite) well with the Michelin maps, where a symbol identifies towns/villages with a "Michelin" campsite.  Usually available from larger bookshops (Waterstones etc) or larger branches of W H Smith.

Caravan Europe is a compilation of reports and reactions submitted by members and non-members alike, via brief assessment forms included in the guide.  Thus, they are genuine user reactions, albeit somewhat geared to the touring caravanner rather than the motorhomer.  However, that bias would be tempered somewhat if more of us used the guide and returned the reports, wouldn't it?  Guide now available direct from the Caravan Club, non-members just pay a bit more.

[kevandali]

Thanks for all the help, looked at portable fridges, bit pricey, but at least sorted out what time the wife wants to travel *-)

[A W]

Kevandali,

For Houlgate should we read Huelgoat?

If so its a very sensible place to stop.Within 2-300yds of the town centre is a beautiful lake where you can park overnight.With the town behind you keep to the left and park somewhere near the firestation.

On your way South if you want a campsite Gourin is good.Its beside a swimming pool and 200 yds from a supermarket so is very motorhome friendly.

Its 100% personal but I prefer the North coast/central region to the South.

If you tend to look for aires or parking places away from the coast you should be ok even at that time of year.

Should you go South the Quiberon penninsula is worth a look.There's a big aire on the end which at times can be smelly because of a treatment works or as you come onto the penninsula take the first right after the level crossing and park in the sand dunes around the Pill boxes.

Bonne vacance

[tonyishuk]

Dont forget, it is probable that you an load POIs into your sat nav for camp sites. A couple of threads recently gave links to that information.

 

Rgds