First visit to France and Gaslo

[CUJIMI]

Hi,

we just bought our motorhome last November and are planning our first trip to France in it. We want to get to Provence as my wife was there and loved the area. We have the Carefree book from the camping and caravan club and were thinking of booking all through them. We live near Newcastle and are considering whether it is best to go over to Holland and drive down or drive down to Dover and go from Calais. We know it will be more expensive going from Newcastle, but we love driving in Holland. We have 2 dogs also.

Can anyone give us any advice on where to stay, best routes things to watch out for. Any advice would be appreciated.

We are also going to get converted to Gaslo as we heard that it is better if we are travelling in Europe a lot. We intend this to be the first trip of many. Has anyone any thoughts on Gaslo Vs normal propane bottles.

Again any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[DrRogerRam]

Some aires are simply a corner of a town's car park, some have individual 'pitches' surrounded by hedges campsite style with your own electricity supply. Most aires have a service point where you can get water, empty waste etc. For a couple of euros you can plug in here and get a couple of hours electricity to charge up the old ipad / laptop / phone.

This video gives you a bit of an intro to aires:

AIRE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW - Aires Camping-Car in France - airetoday.co.uk - YouTube

Paul

Thanks Paul, that was very helpful. We've been motor homing for some years & never used an aire (always used ACSI, Camping Cheque or other sites) due to Mrs Roger being concerned about security and & wanting site facilities. We've never used the shower in our motorhomes yet!

 

[Easyliving]

Thanks Paul, that was very helpful. We've been motor homing for some years & never used an aire (always used ACSI, Camping Cheque or other sites) due to Mrs Roger being concerned about security and & wanting site facilities. We've never used the shower in our motorhomes yet!

I wouldn't want you to get the wrong idea, if you start using aires you will have to get used to using your van's facilities. We have stayed on some aires that do have showers and toilets but not many and they are not maintained as well as campsite ones.

Paul

 

[DrRogerRam]

Many years ago we used a tent, then when my daughter transformed into a 'terrible two' it had to be, for us (!) a caravan where we rarely used the shower. Such a palaver filling the Aquaroll then emptying the black waste doofers!

When the kids left home, 'cos we love France, we started giting & that was good. However, we had a week in a chateau, half-price, near Libourne followed by the gite from hell! SWMBO then surprised me by suggesting a camper. We started off with an Autosleeper Trooper on a VW T5 chassis that went like a train-no shower & just a port-a-loo. Next was an almost new AS Devon on a Merc chassis-the Merc bit was great, but the AS bit was merde, everything that could fall off, break or pack up did! So perhaps we didn't dare risk being away from facilities in case something else went wrong!

However, we now have a new Hymer Exsis i that's great & in the process of retiring to France. Hence my interest in new adventures in France that will be very different for us & doubtless using aires.

Apologies to OP for taking the thread a bit off track. We will go for Alugas with adapters since we need to watch the weight.

Roger

 

[snowdrops]

Thanks, but the advice I'm seeing is don't stay overnight at Aires, because of thieves etc. Honestly we haven't a clue.

We've just bought the above book for our trip to Brittany etc in Sept. There's a difference between motorway aires and other aires, the former are the ones to avoid. In the book all aires are inspected and if any feel isolated etc it's mentioned there. Most range from basic for a night sleep to gorgeous with sea-views. We're gonna use mostly aires during our 3 weeks with the odd stop at a campsite inbetween.

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[Easyliving]

We've just bought the above book for our trip to Brittany etc in Sept. There's a difference between motorway aires and other aires, the former are the ones to avoid. In the book all aires are inspected and if any feel isolated etc it's mentioned there. Most range from basic for a night sleep to gorgeous with sea-views. We're gonna use mostly aires during our 3 weeks with the odd stop at a campsite inbetween.

En route to Brittany you could try La Mailleraye Sur Seine aire in Normandy, one of our favourites with parking just a few feet from the Seine. Supermarket and plenty of shops 5 minutes away and a gendarmerie at the end of the road for the nervous!

 

[Clive and Kerri]

En route to Brittany you could try La Mailleraye Sur Seine aire in Normandy, one of our favourites with parking just a few feet from the Seine. Supermarket and plenty of shops 5 minutes away and a gendarmerie at the end of the road for the nervous!

Yes I've stayed on that one, it's lovely :Cool:

 

[Easyliving]

Yes I've stayed on that one, it's lovely :Cool:

Only slight downside is the service point is a bit scruffy if I remember rightly. Great fun watching the ships on the river if though. Also I can recommend the pizza place just up the road.

Paul

 

[Goldilocks40]

Thanks Paul, video was great we are off to France for first time in van in 4 weeks have booked first couple of nights at a site but after that it's wherever the road takes us or wherever sun is lol.
Dawn