No Customs problem

[deleted79651]

Reading this thread has made me really anxious to get away after over two years stuck at home. (Family reasons plus Covid). After finishing my GCEs in 1959 I was lucky enough to have two years at boarding school in Pont du Cens, a suburb of Nantes. I had the long term loan of a Velo Solex and whizzed all over the place on it. Such happy memories and my French is still fairly fluent, due to frequent trips across the Channel. Can't wait to get back !

My French is more effluent than fluent, but I do try ...

Steve

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

For us at passport control there were no Covid checks or questions. Passports got stamped and waved on the way. Used the Touscovid app in Epernay all ok. Not been asked for anything in Spain though. We’ll only money

 

[G-RMPS]

For us at passport control there were no Covid checks or questions. Passports got stamped and waved on the way. Used the Touscovid app in Epernay all ok. Not been asked for anything in Spain though. We’ll only money

Ditto. We had a beer outside a bar in the centre of Epernay and they still wanted to scan the Touscovid QR code.

 

[MisterB]

No we didn’t take the land train. We didn’t see it so it may not be operating out of season, but we did walk all the distance of the “green line” tourist route. We found Nantes to be an interesting city if you are prepared to “walk the walk”.

Today we moved on and had a difficult time finding sites open at this time of year. We are currently settled on a Municipal Site, “La Garenne”, at Port de Barque. 275 pitches and only 35 Pitches occupied it is next. To the beach and only a short walk to bars and shops. It closes at the end of this month where most sites on the Atlantic coast close at the end of September.

We previously drove onto the Ile de Re but the only site we could find open was crowded with tiny pitches all under trees so, in October, not too warm. It was a bit run down so we didn’t stay.

At 1800hrs this evening, on this site, the temperature here was a balmy 22° C. We hope to totally chill for a couple of days before planning(?) our next move.

It’s great to be free again.

if youre heading South, then this place at Blaye is fantastic, even get free EHU !! nice 15 minute walk to the citadel !

Accueil - Vignobles Le Cône de Vauban

A travers nos vins et nos différentes prestations, goûtez aux plaisirs du terroir Girondin et découvrez son patrimoine chargé d’histoire !

www.vignobles-le-cone-de-vauban.fr

 

[maison]

We are currently in Port des Barques at the mouth of the Charente River. The area is heavily invested in growing and selling Oysters. The little landing stages are dotted around the area.

We are on one of the few campsites open in the region in October, Camping La Garenne. It is a large Municipal site with sports facilities, pool etc adjacent, although the open air pool closed in September. We have one of the largest pitches we have seen, easily enough space for eight motorhomes. (Some are smaller but we had a free choice). Although there are 265 pitches here there are only 11 motorhomes on the site. Temperature today is expected to reach 25°C, but will take a downward turn tomorrow for a couple of days.

We will be starting to make our way slowly back towards Calais over the next ten days while trying to find out what exactly we will need to do re COVID tests for our return.

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[Sapper520]

We came back via Caen / Portsmouth on Sunday.

French side checked Passports, Locator forms ( downloaded 48 hours before onto our iPads ), vaccine certificates as we couldn’t get it to scan on the Government site.

At the moment all you need is the locator form and your two day test booked. You’ll need the details of that for the locator form. We’d already set up our Government Accounts to make it easier.

Just done the two day test and posting it off today.

 

[maison]

We came back via Caen / Portsmouth on Sunday.

French side checked Passports, Locator forms ( downloaded 48 hours before onto our iPads ), vaccine certificates as we couldn’t get it to scan on the Government site.

At the moment all you need is the locator form and your two day test booked. You’ll need the details of that for the locator form. We’d already set up our Government Accounts to make it easier.

Just done the two day test and posting it off today.

Thanks, but I understand that the required test will change to LFT on 22nd of October. The Government have yet to publish the list of approved laboratories to give the OK, as well as the specifics of how to present the test results. (Unless they have done all that and I have just missed it, being away).

 

[maison]

Yesterday we visited Arcachon but didn’t stay as the only available camping site was pretty poor. Tired and run downs (The Campsite, not us).

We spent the night on a free Aire, with no services, in a small village called Generac. It was very windy with the motorhome being rocked about and we had to close the roof vents as they were being lifted by the wind.

We are now on a lovely, small Municipal Site in Brioux-sur- Bouttonne. One of those lucky finds as we saw the sign in the town centre and decided to take a look. The toilet block is old but clean and we have EHU for tonight. We don’t know the cost as the only notice says to pick your pitch and a Council Officer will visit you.

A quick sandwich and then some exploration of the town to see if there are any pics worth posting. We are still loving our return to France despite the problem of finding sites open. However, that’s the beauty of motorhoming, you carry your bed etc with you.

 

[Sapper520]

We stayed in a couple of Municipal sites recently, great value. The last one cost us €16 a night with all services included, right on the banks of the river Sarthe.

 

[maison]

We stayed in a couple of Municipal sites recently, great value. The last one cost us €16 a night with all services included, right on the banks of the river Sarthe.

Yes, our site last night cost us €9.40 including 10amp EHU. I don’t know how they do it. When the Guardienne came to collect the money I gave him €10 and told him to keep the change. You would have thought I had given him a Euromillions winning ticket. I can only suppose they don’t get many tips.

To us, Municipal Sites are the ideal bridge between free Aires and “all singing, all dancing” sites. We love them.

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[maison]

We are now on the Camping-Car Aire at Saumur. €12 per night inc EHU and it is good. Plenty of space between m/hs, and a 15 minute walk into the town centre. A nice coffee for Mrs Maison and a Grimbergen beer for me, in a lovely square, has set us up for tomorrow. Market day, lunch in the sun, and a good explore of the town awaits.

 

[Grianan]

We are now on the Camping-Car Aire at Saumur. €12 per night inc EHU and it is good. Plenty of space between m/hs, and a 15 minute walk into the town centre. A nice coffee for Mrs Maison and a Grimbergen beer for me, in a lovely square, has set us up for tomorrow. Market day, lunch in the sun, and a good explore of the town awaits.

That was on our list of possibilities … carried forward to next time. Glad to know it’s good

 

[Phill D]

Thanks, but I understand that the required test will change to LFT on 22nd of October. The Government have yet to publish the list of approved laboratories to give the OK, as well as the specifics of how to present the test results. (Unless they have done all that and I have just missed it, being away).

Lateral flow test accepted by Wales a week later from 29th.

 

[maison]

Lateral flow test accepted by Wales a week later from 29th.

Thanks.

That was on our list of possibilities … carried forward to next time. Glad to know it’s good

it is worth having a walk around the Aire first. Some pitch markings mean you will be close to your neighbour. If you choose carefully you can be “antisocial” if you choose.

 

[Marty Gilly and Pup]

We are now on the Camping-Car Aire at Saumur. €12 per night inc EHU and it is good. Plenty of space between m/hs, and a 15 minute walk into the town centre. A nice coffee for Mrs Maison and a Grimbergen beer for me, in a lovely square, has set us up for tomorrow. Market day, lunch in the sun, and a good explore of the town awaits.

Used that one two years ago. Barrier was broken down when we drove in. Tried to log in with the machine but couldn’t. Was repaired next day but wouldn’t then let us out as “we hadn’t been in”). Two phone calls later we escaped. Nice stopover though and would use again.

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[Grianan]

Thanks.

it is worth having a walk around the Aire first. Some pitch markings mean you will be close to your neighbour. If you choose carefully you can be “antisocial” if you choose.

How did you guess …

 

[Spriddler]

We are now on the Camping-Car Aire at Saumur. €12 per night inc EHU and it is good. Plenty of space between m/hs, and a 15 minute walk into the town centre. A nice coffee for Mrs Maison and a Grimbergen beer for me, in a lovely square, has set us up for tomorrow. Market day, lunch in the sun, and a good explore of the town awaits.

I stopped at the camp site (below) for one night in November 3 years ago. I believe the Gov't pay them to keep it open off season for travellers with which it was packed. It was dreadful with rubbish and scrap metal strewed all over and hoards of feral kids. The facilities were disgusting.
https://www.campingisleverte.com/

 

[Sapper520]

Yes, our site last night cost us €9.40 including 10amp EHU. I don’t know how they do it. When the Guardienne came to collect the money I gave him €10 and told him to keep the change. You would have thought I had given him a Euromillions winning ticket. I can only suppose they don’t get many tips.

To us, Municipal Sites are the ideal bridge between free Aires and “all singing, all dancing” sites. We love them.

We tried the local wine the guy was selling in the office. Liked it so much we got another two reds and two whites, €26, he was made up.

 

[maison]

I stopped at the camp site (below) for one night in November 3 years ago. I believe the Gov't pay them to keep it open off season for travellers with which it was packed. It was dreadful with rubbish and scrap metal strewed all over and hoards of feral kids. The facilities were disgusting.
https://www.campingisleverte.com/

We had a quick look into the camp site before choosing the Aire in preference. No sign of travellers but all the facilities were closed so the Aire was the obvious choice, value for money wise.

 

[orridge]

We had a quick look into the camp site before choosing the Aire in preference. No sign of travellers but all the facilities were closed so the Aire was the obvious choice, value for money wise.

It is not the same campsite as the one Spriddler referenced which is about 12 km's from Saumur on the banks of the loire.

The campsite by the Aire is Flower Campings Ile'Offard https://en.saumur-camping.com/ a lovely site in Summer but closes end of October for the season.

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[maison]

It is not the same campsite as the one Spriddler referenced which is about 12 km's from Saumur on the banks of the loire.

The campsite by the Aire is Flower Campings Ile'Offard https://en.saumur-camping.com/ a lovely site in Summer but closes end of October for the season.

The Flowers site does look good . When we walked around it we counted 14 motorhomes/caravans on site and seven mobile homes appeared to be occupied. Masses of space everywhere but no facilities open.

 

[maison]

After two lovely days in Saumur it is time to move on today, as soon as the mist has cleared. It is the weather we remember from before we sold up over here. Cold, Misty mornings followed by lovely sunny days, typical October.

Yesterday we visited the Saturday market in Saumur and then looked for lunch. It was difficult to find any seats as the outside tables were reduced due to the space being taken up by the market stalls. Eventually we found a table in a Creperie and enjoyed it. An afternoon sitting in the sun with a drink in hand made up an enjoyable day. We have a couple of pics to post but no WiFi here so perhaps tomorrow depending on where we end up. One more week of travel left, unless the Fishermen block the Chunnel then, who knows.

 

[maison]

We moved on from Saumur but still love the iconic view of the Chateau.

Heading North we visited a site listed on. “search for Sites” only to find it had closed down completely, so we are now on another Camping-Car.com Aire in the village of Bonnetable, just north of Le Mans. It is a lovely location, with hard standing, EHU, a very new motorhome service area and WiFi included for the sum of €10.44 per night.

We are heading on to Honfleur tomorrow for a couple of nights. One of our favourite places in northern France.

 

[rod_vw]

maison did you notify Search for Sites admin that the site that you mentioned was closed completely?

 

[maison]

maison did you notify Search for Sites admin that the site that you mentioned was closed completely?

Not as yet, but have a few updates to give them on our return to a decent, secure, WiFi signal next week.

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[maison]

We have just spent the day watching boats on the Seine at La Mallairaye. From 1300 to 1650hrs we were the only ones here. Now there are four units in total.

We were due to return home next Monday but, having heard about the threat to blockade the ports from next Monday we decided to go home earlier. Our first thought, Saturday, was scotched when we remembered Wales still requires PCR tests until Sunday, when LFT takes over. So Sunday it is.

Tonight by the Seine, Saturday night at Gravelines and, in between, who knows where.

 

[Phill D]

Nothing on the UK news that I have seen re potential blockades.

But, have a safe trouble free trip home

 

[maison]

Nothing on the UK news that I have seen re potential blockades.

But, have a safe trouble free trip home

It is on the French news Phil.

If the fishing issue is not resolved, during this weeks talks, by Friday then the fishermen are threatening to blockade ports and the Tunnel from next Monday. They have said that they are prepared to keep it up indefinitely, disrupting goods travelling into the UK for Christmas.

 

[maison]

Well, here we are back at home. We ended our holiday with an attempted stay at Gravelines but couldn’t get onto the Aire as it was full of cars!

However we found Camping Municipal de Plage at Grand Fort Phillipe. A nice little site with a very helpful Guardien. He drew a map for us detailing local restaurants. Unfortunately, many of them had closed for either one or two weeks for their annual break.

The site is well maintained with pitches on grass on firm ground and includes EHU at 10 amps for the princely sum of €11 per night. A genuine bargain.

We spent our last night at the Aire at Calais. It is much improved since our last visit, with delineated spaces and has a good quality security fence. Entry is via a barrier and substantial sliding gate. Payment by credit card, and also at €11 per night, but with no EHU. A Borne area just outside the gates allows four units at a time to receive service. WC emptying is free but 100 litres of water requires a token from the office priced at, I think €2.50. We felt perfectly safe and there was no sign of people trying to stowaway.

We had a walk out along the promenade. Also much improved, and were surprised to come across a relative of the mechanical Elephant at Nantes, the “Calais Dragon”.

Not as good, in our opinion as, although the legs move as it walks, the actual motive power is supplied by the vehicle it is mounted on. The Nantes Elephant actually walks.

However, where the Nantes Elephant blows water out of its trunk the Dragon breathes out fire. A flame from its mouth projects about two meters. Quite impressive!

Altogether we covered 2978 miles during our three week trip enjoying much better weather than the U.K.

Returning to the U.K. was seamless, at Calais Tunnel Terminal, although we found that the “paperwork” that we had to complete on-line was confusing. That may simply be due to our (ever) advancing years.

PS

A special thank you to chaser for advice on Gravelines

We will now concentrate on U.K. trips over the winter period, returning to mainland Europe in the Spring.

 

[maison]

A final word regarding this trip.

If you are travelling to mainland Europe and are booking your return 2nd day LFT we would suggest you avoid using Randox Health, unless you have a couple of hours to waste.

The test itself is straightforward enough but the on-line form for submitting the test result is a nightmare.



The same information has to be entered several times in different areas.

When filling in the form the form skips down on the screen, behind the keyboard, so you cannot see what you have typed until you scroll the page, leading to typo errors being missed.

Any error that the website doesn’t like requires you to restart the process. It doesn’t allow for saved content to that point.

There are unclear/ambiguous questions where it is not obvious exactly what is being asked for.

I fully accept that we may not be the best at completing on-line forms but I wish I had read the reviews of their App before purchasing the test. It took us just over an hour to successfully enter the results for both of us.

Fortunately we were given the “all clear” which made the process more bearable.

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