First timer in france needing some advice from the pro's!

[Ziggy123]

Not sure if this is right place to ask this question...but we are currently 2 weeks in to our first trip to France and I'm really struggling. The advice was to go with the flow and don't plan.. but how do you do that when the majority of sites are closed or closing?

What apps/sites do you find most useful..I use ACSI
.. mainly stayed mainly at their sites as seem good value at around 20 euro all in...park4night, camper contact and camper car park (been pretty useless where we have been!) None give you filters to only show open sites so that takes a while to filter! I did pick up a link to French aires during last night's research so that might help fingers crossed.

We've had a few issues that haven't helped. First in calais when we stopped for wine supplies and two men tried to break in to the van...hubby chased them down the road with the dog!..so that's made us nervous of leaving van without being on a site.
Rwg sim been a pain and trying to find a supermarket that sells a French one..no luck yet but in a town today so going to have a walk in and see...but its started to work again yesterday & I have enough data to work for now and no time to watch TV anyway! Gas leak..but anyway its all just things but the main stress is places to stay.

Currently in Chambery near grenoble, we detoured here via Annecy to see if could get part for gas but couldn't. Had intended to do the drive through the alps but the driving is stressing the dog (especially as we've been avoiding tolls!) so we need to make some decisions. Find another spot in Alps good for hiking...head south coast and hopefully more sites open?..any tips on this and good places for walking?..,or just head home instead. I don't really want to as feel I've failed and want to turn it round.

Is this just a bad time of year for France or am I doing it all wrong? We just love being in nature and walking. We have our large Golden retriever with us, he is happy being in van now, just hates the driving days!

So far the highlight of trip was when we detoured in to Switzerland for 5 nights, loved walking in the Mountains! Should have gone to chamonix yesterday as originally planned rather than try to get gas part but you learn. We have 1 working cylinder so that's sufficient!

Love being in the van though and was so excited for this trip. I am usually a planner so I knew it would be an adjustment for me its been harder than I thought, probably just because so much is shut...well hopefully anyway!

Sorry long post any help would be appreciated but be kind I'm feeling very emotional lol!

Thanks Lisa

 

[bellabee]

It sounds as though you've probably booked a site at Saint Rémy de Provence. If so, I think you've chosen well.

We've stayed at the acsi site 'Parc de la Bastide,' twice. We really like it there - very big pitches for your dog, a lovely town with a good market, and plenty of walking in the area.

 

[Lenny HB]

So for newbies who are also probably still learning how to use their MH systems, and especially if they've had issues they need to sort out, planning a few stops/days ahead is an easy way to reduce the mental overload.....leaving space to process everything else going on.

May work in the summer but this time of year with most sites closed a lot of their stress appears to be coming from trying to find sites.
A few nights on Aires and they will soon learn how easy France is.

 

[Lenny HB]

It sounds as though you've probably booked a site at Saint Rémy de Provence. If so, I think you've chosen well.

We spent one night their then decamped to a nice wild spot.
Didnt help I had an argument with reception when they lost my Camping Card and swore blind they never hold onto cards. Guess what was in the post when we got home.

 

[Jenben]

That looks beautiful, exactly the sort of thing. I can't find it on my app for some reason but I will definitely check it out later. Thank you so much

I am puzzled .Have you got the right app ? I just looked up chasers suggestion and it came up ?





It’s the bottom right app I used.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ava the Adria]

Is this just a bad time of year for France or am I doing it all wrong? We just love being in nature and walking. We have our large Golden retriever with us, he is happy being in van now, just hates the driving days!

We travel with our black lab with no issues by putting him in his crate on the floor behind the front seats, with the table slid across so it is over the crate. (Adria Matrix so I guess you have a similar layout to us)? This way he is restrained in his crate should we have an “incident” and also he feels safe in his “den”. The downside is we lose the ability to just walk through into the hab area from the front and spin the seats without folding it away. Its also a bit of a faff to set up and put away. But he just curls and and sleeps through the journeys, only venturing out when we stop as if to say, “are we there yet”?
(It’s a Trixie Vario mobile kennel, made from fabric on an aluminum frame and just fits exactly behind the driver/passenger seats at the side of the battery box seat. Its useful for him to use outside too).

 

[chaser]

I am puzzled .Have you got the right app ? I just looked up chasers suggestion and it came up ?

View attachment 821927

View attachment 821928

It’s the bottom right app I used.

In my opinion they are trying to hard to find places without the right apps.
Acsi is ok for campsites but you just don't need it, and planning ahead ruins the trip , if you are just heading for one place because you have booked , the spontaneity of drawing into a village and thinking we will stop here is lost because you have to go to the place you have booked.
What we do is get to somewhere we like the look of then open up park4night to see where the nearest aire or parkup is and go to it , if it's ok, stop there or go back to p4n for the next nearest.
You can near enough guarantee there will be something within a couple of miles.

 

[chaser]

Just as an example , just because this is the last place they said they were at , here is the park4night map of stops around them.

 

[bellabee]

We spent one night their then decamped to a nice wild spot.
Didnt help I had an argument with reception when they lost my Camping Card and swore blind they never hold onto cards. Guess what was in the post when we got home.

Yes. They're a bit disorganised - especially the old man, in the afternoon, after he's had a good lunch.

 

[Jenben]

Turning off filters on your search ( maybe you are just looking for campsites ?),will increase your options significantly .

We do the same as chaser, look at where we are heading and see what options there are around .

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[vzac]

I am puzzled .Have you got the right app ? I just looked up chasers suggestion and it came up ?

View attachment 821927

View attachment 821928

It’s the bottom right app I used.

That's the app we use and went to this site about a month ago.

 

[Ziggy123]

Just as an example , just because this is the last place they said they were at , here is the park4night map of stops around them.
View attachment 821947

Close we started looking around annecy, one showed open buy was shut..Comes up with loads but click on the majority of campsites are shut or not proper aires just parking spots and we don't feel comfortable enough to do that yet. It drives me mad seeing that many and then in reality most are no good. I'm sure it gets easier with practice and I should probably not worry about reviews but after the calais incident we are still wary

 

[Ziggy123]

I am puzzled .Have you got the right app ? I just looked up chasers suggestion and it came up ?

View attachment 821927

View attachment 821928

It’s the bottom right app I used.

Yes sorry I found it after I posted, but we've been on road since..I wasn't logged in..but when I logged in it came up fine fine...its further east than us but I'm going to check it out. Looks like far more options as we head south but if you look at our route so far it's been in their gaps! We have 30 euro on our card so I want to use it lol!

 

[cyberyacht]

I can recommend

at the bottom of Lac de Bourget. €15 pn last summer

 

[Ziggy123]

Thank you everyone for your replies. We do ultimately want to get to the point of feeling confidence of finding a village aire and choosing to stay but I think I need to take smaller steps and gain confidence. Driving along with a hot stressed dog and finding everything shut around Annecy and trying all the apps to find something was very stressful day & took a couple of days to recover and take stock.

We have arrived at a lovely campsite between grenoble and gap, called camping belvedere Obiou..I've had a lovely hot shower in a clean block and it was bliss after last two nights! 3 nights here until they close Sunday!

We did try toll road today but our fulli tag didn't work...no surprise I'm usually so good with all these things too!! But no stress today will sort that later. We found a gorgeous lake outside grenoble, nice walk with dog and a paddle! Glorious sunshine so today was a happy day

I am using most of the apps suggested but it really helped using the open filter on camper contact and its how I found here so thank you. And today I also found when I was looking for hikes around us that the local council/tourist websites show aires too!

Thanks for the reassurance...any tips for sites or things to see as we head south will be appreciated!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Ziggy123]

It sounds as though you've probably booked a site at Saint Rémy de Provence. If so, I think you've chosen well.

We've stayed at the acsi site 'Parc de la Bastide,' twice. We really like it there - very big pitches for your dog, a lovely town with a good market, and plenty of walking in the area.

No but thanks for the recommendation I will look it up! We are at a site south of grenoble, not as far as Gap called camping belvedere de Obiou

Edit..
I've just checked it's a good 3.5 hours from here but in direction we will probably head so I've added it to list of potentials!

 

[bellabee]

No but thanks for the recommendation I will look it up! We are at a site south of grenoble, not as far as Gap called camping belvedere de Obiou

Edit..
I've just checked it's a good 3.5 hours from here but in direction we will probably head so I've added it to list of potentials!

In your post #57. I understood you to have said that you had booked a campsite near the Apilles National Park and the Van Gogh Trail. This is at Saint Rémy de Provence.

 

[Thornebt]

We're just a few days into our first France trip. After arriving in Dieppe we put the Hautot-sur-Mer aire into the satnav but couldn't find the place. On your first day in France you don't want to be driving round towns on unfamiliar roads! So we found another free stop but it was a real rough car park so we decided to move on and just happened to spot a large free car park on Cany Barville.

A problem is actually locating the sites. I put the map co-ordinates into the satnav thinking it would take me to the exact location. However, it can be 500 metres away. We found the best way to find sites is by using the What3Words app. You can switch to satellite view, click on the entrance to the site and it gives you three words. I then send it to my Garmin satnav but you could Google Map it on your phone.

 

[ChrisL]

A problem is actually locating the sites

If you uses search for sites app the navigate to function will offer you a choice of whatever navigation software you have on your device choose your preferred one and it will take you to the entrance, I have been using this method for the last 2 and a half years throughout the UK, France and Spain and it's only let me down once when it sent me to the back of a site.

 

[Ziggy123]

In your post #57. I understood you to have said that you had booked a campsite near the Apilles National Park and the Van Gogh Trail. This is at Saint Rémy de Provence.

No sorry for confusion..I said that's where I'd like to go & where we were hoping to head next...it was too far in one hit for the dog so this pit stop breaks it up. Is it nice in that area?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Thornebt]

If you uses search for sites app the navigate to function will offer you a choice of whatever navigation software you have on your device choose your preferred one and it will take you to the entrance, I have been using this method for the last 2 and a half years throughout the UK, France and Spain and it's only let me down once when it sent me to the back of a site.

I use Search for Sites but I think I must have written down the co-ordinates and used those!

 

[Ziggy123]

We're just a few days into our first France trip. After arriving in Dieppe we put the Hautot-sur-Mer aire into the satnav but couldn't find the place. On your first day in France you don't want to be driving round towns on unfamiliar roads! So we found another free stop but it was a real rough car park so we decided to move on and just happened to spot a large free car park on Cany Barville.

A problem is actually locating the sites. I put the map co-ordinates into the satnav thinking it would take me to the exact location. However, it can be 500 metres away. We found the best way to find sites is by using the What3Words app. You can switch to satellite view, click on the entrance to the site and it gives you three words. I then send it to my Garmin satnav but you could Google Map it on your phone.

We have the Garmin sat nav too, its great isn't it. We were using both to start with but it kills the data! Sounds like you have been much braver than us! I look at the park4night photos and think it looks rough and that's enough but the aires all look good so I'm going to try find more of them!

 

[Grianan]

No sorry for confusion..I said that's where I'd like to go & where we were hoping to head next...it was too far in one hit for the dog so this pit stop breaks it up. Is it nice in that area?

St Remy is beautiful but busy even in October. We went on a Monday when everything was closed. There are good bike tracks and Glanum (cyclable) is really interesting Roman archaeological site. A lot of people like Les Baux nearby which has son et lumières art shows - Google it.

We have left our travel-stressed big dog at home. He pants and drools and is in misery when we travel. Nala on the other hand loves it!

 

[Manic]

We have the Garmin sat nav too, its great isn't it. We were using both to start with but it kills the data! Sounds like you have been much braver than us! I look at the park4night photos and think it looks rough and that's enough but the aires all look good so I'm going to try find more of them!

What garmin have you got , I’ve got an Avtex tourer one (garmin 770) and that has campercontacts built in and use that to guide me to aires

 

[NR]

Thank you everyone for your replies. We do ultimately want to get to the point of feeling confidence of finding a village aire and choosing to stay but I think I need to take smaller steps and gain confidence. Driving along with a hot stressed dog and finding everything shut around Annecy and trying all the apps to find something was very stressful day & took a couple of days to recover and take stock.

We have arrived at a lovely campsite between grenoble and gap, called camping belvedere Obiou..I've had a lovely hot shower in a clean block and it was bliss after last two nights! 3 nights here until they close Sunday!

We did try toll road today but our fulli tag didn't work...no surprise I'm usually so good with all these things too!! But no stress today will sort that later. We found a gorgeous lake outside grenoble, nice walk with dog and a paddle! Glorious sunshine so today was a happy day

I am using most of the apps suggested but it really helped using the open filter on camper contact and its how I found here so thank you. And today I also found when I was looking for hikes around us that the local council/tourist websites show aires too!

Thanks for the reassurance...any tips for sites or things to see as we head south will be appreciated!

Gorges du Verdon is spectacular and in your direction of travel. Image attached with potential stopover.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DBK]

We have the Garmin sat nav too, its great isn't it. We were using both to start with but it kills the data! Sounds like you have been much braver than us! I look at the park4night photos and think it looks rough and that's enough but the aires all look good so I'm going to try find more of them!

At the risk of upsetting a few folk I suggest you don't use Park4Night or Search4Sites. They have a lot of locations but therein is the problem. Most of them are not places you would consider suitable - just bare carparks.

I suggest you just concentrate on CamperContact and the Camping-Car Parks apps. Branch out later when you are feeling adventurous.

 

[suavecarve]

large free car park on Cany Barville.

If you found the car park next to the leisure lake, it is a bit of a nice one (in the summer)

 

[ChrisL]

At the risk of upsetting a few folk I suggest you don't use Park4Night or Search4Sites. They have a lot of locations but therein is the problem. Most of them are not places you would consider suitable - just bare carparks.

Search for sites allows you to filter for types of place and suitability for different types of vehicle just use advanced search, I have found it much superior to Camper Contact and have recently ended my camper contact subscription.

 

[Thornebt]

If you found the car park next to the leisure lake, it is a bit of a nice one (in the summer)

We stayed on the large car park in the town centre but when we went for a walk we found the Lac de Caniel aire that you've mentioned. Very nice free location. We plan to stay there on our way back to the ferry.

 

[Lenny HB]

At the risk of upsetting a few folk I suggest you don't use Park4Night or Search4Sites. They have a lot of locations but therein is the problem. Most of them are not places you would consider suitable - just bare carparks.

I suggest you just concentrate on CamperContact and the Camping-Car Parks apps. Branch out later when you are feeling adventurous.

Totally agree Camper Contact is the most reliable app for finding stops.

Park4night we only use in an emergency most of the places are only suitible for small vans and often undesirable.

Search4sites is OK generally but often only lists a few of the Aires in an area. Also the reviews need to be taken with a pinch of salt most reviewers seem to expect 5 star facilities on an Aire.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[suavecarve]

We stayed on the large car park in the town centre but when we went for a walk we found the Lac de Caniel aire that you've mentioned. Very nice free location. We plan to stay there on our way back to the ferry.

If you have bikes you can cycle on a voie verte to the coast one way and come back another

Lac de Caniel @ Cany- Barville (cracker)

For those following the journal (s) will realise we feel we made a huge error in judgement going to St Valery en Caux last night. Well the place got worst if that is possible. We had made arrangements with our french close neighbours that they...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk