One week into our trip to France

[bellabee]

Can I ask what apps do you use to find these lovely aires? We are also currently in France with our dog...albeit the other side!..& struggling to find sites open. We are newbies but I'm finding it very stressful!

We use ACSI the most, camping cars, park for night & camper connect.

We are now in chambéry & contemplating whether to go deeper in to Alps, south or home!

I use mainly Search for Sites, but also Camper Contact and Park4Night - the latter with some caution, as some of the places on there are not places we would like to stay.

At this time of year, you'll probably find acsi to be of limited use because many campsites are closed.

Camping Car Parks are a network of aires across France, and they have fairly standard facilities.

We tend to decide where we would like to go and then look at the apps.

I hope you don't give up. There are literally hundreds of aires in France.

 

[Grianan]

Can I ask what apps do you use to find these lovely aires? We are also currently in France with our dog...albeit the other side!..& struggling to find sites open. We are newbies but I'm finding it very stressful!

We use ACSI the most, camping cars, park for night & camper connect.

We are now in chambéry & contemplating whether to go deeper in to Alps, south or home!

There are lots of places in Bourgogne just NW of you, though busier than they were in July! Are you part of France Passion - they may suit if you are self contained.

 

[adej]

We're taking it easy . It's another 3 weeks until we take the Dieppe ferry.

Yesterday we drove 10 miles along the Lot to the beautiful, free aire at Boisse-Penchot. View attachment 820341

The river is very wide and slow flowing, punctuated with a series of weirs and navigable locks.

The village is now just a small, rural community, but was once a centre for coal and glass-making industries. The deserted, old glass works still stands, next to a street of glass-workers' houses.

The river, with its steeply sloping, wooded embankments is now the village's main attraction - particularly at this time of year, when the cold nights are turning the leaves to autumn.

It's lovely and peaceful, and I can't take my eyes away from the reflections on the wide, slow river.View attachment 820350View attachment 820352View attachment 820353View attachment 820354View attachment 820360

Loving you thread - great notes and photos. Feeling very jealous as I stare out of my window at the pouring rain !

 

[Ziggy123]

I use mainly Search for Sites, but also Camper Contact and Park4Night - the latter with some caution, as some of the places on there are not places we would like to stay.

At this time of year, you'll probably find acsi to be of limited use because many campsites are closed.

Camping Car Parks are a network of aires across France, and they have fairly standard facilities.

We tend to decide where we would like to go and then look at the apps.

I hope you don't give up. There are literally hundreds of aires in France.

Thank you for that. I used search for sites when we did our Wales trip in May and found them good, I did not think of using them here, I will give that a try.

I really dont want to give up as we had so many hopes and plans and if we go home now I know it will put us off doing it again. We knew it would be harder with our dog but it was the whole point of having a bigger van so he could come with us. He loves van life when we are stationary...as do we!! (We were in a nasty car accident a couple of years back so he is nervous still when moving..listening for bangs...wont lay down so sits the whole time but has come on a huge amount from when we started and even went up cable cars in Switzerland without fuss!)

I have had a day off research today and got hubby on to it while I caught up with some work after two weeks off. Will see what we come up with this afternoon now!

Thank you! Your photos look so lovely and just the sorts of places I was thinking of!

 

[bellabee]

I haven't posted for a few days - so here's what we've been doing.

On Sunday we went to Belcastel. This was somewhere which had not been on my radar until relatively recently when I'd seen reviews of how lovely it was.

The castle and village date from the 11th century, but they were later deserted and fell into disrepair, only to be faithfully restored in the 1970's, with the aim of boosting tourism. This means that, however picturesque, it is not really a lived-in village.

Besides the castle, there are hotels and gîtes and a municipal campsite (closed at the end of September).

There is no aire and we parked in the car park next to the river and followed the path marked 'Sentier Medieval ' which is a pleasant and easy walk into the village.

It was an enjoyable way of spending a couple of hours on a Sunday. We spent the night at the aire in nearby Rignac.

Monday was another hot day and we planned on visiting Rodez. The free aire there was very clean and tidy - individual pitches planted with trees - but it was about a 2- mile uphill walk into town, and we didn't relish the thought of doing it, in the heat.

We then had a complete rejig of any plan which we may have had, and decided to head for the coast.

So, here we are at the CCP aire at Portiragnes. We've been here before and, although it's a fairly tight aire, we like it. It's right next to a dog-friendly beach and a good place to just chill for a couple of days.

It's also a bit of a relief to find some breeze and slightly cooler weather.

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[Ziggy123]

There are lots of places in Bourgogne just NW of you, though busier than they were in July! Are you part of France Passion - they may suit if you are self contained.

Thank you for that, will take a look. We came down through the Alsace and that was really busy too..we got the last spot on one campsite so that made me think I need to book ahead! Apparently it was a bank holiday in Germany and some schools were off for the week, so it made it busier as so close to the border. Busy in Switzerland too, think that was because of the weather! Very quiet here though and we have not seen/met any English people (apart from a couple who were in transit home last night!) since we left Ypres at the start! I was hoping for tips!

I signed up with French Passion but did not pay the fee for the book as was not sure would arrive in time, so I am guessing to late now? We are self contained but we tend to use showers at least if sites have them...its easier!

 

[Grianan]

Thank you for that, will take a look. We came down through the Alsace and that was really busy too..we got the last spot on one campsite so that made me think I need to book ahead! Apparently it was a bank holiday in Germany and some schools were off for the week, so it made it busier as so close to the border. Busy in Switzerland too, think that was because of the weather! Very quiet here though and we have not seen/met any English people (apart from a couple who were in transit home last night!) since we left Ypres at the start! I was hoping for tips!

I signed up with French Passion but did not pay the fee for the book as was not sure would arrive in time, so I am guessing to late now? We are self contained but we tend to use showers at least if sites have them...its easier!

I didn’t bring the book - there’s an app you can download but you may need your membership number. We wondered about Alsace but only have 2 weeks do thing we’ll stay in this area as still so much to see!
Campsites are my last resort - we may use the one in Beaune again as there are reports of nighttime robberies on the aire.

 

[Grianan]

Beautiful photos and great write up bellabee … I’m really enjoying your thread. I’ve not come across Portiragnes before - stunning!

 

[Ziggy123]

I didn’t bring the book - there’s an app you can download but you may need your membership number. We wondered about Alsace but only have 2 weeks do thing we’ll stay in this area as still so much to see!
Campsites are my last resort - we may use the one in Beaune again as there are reports of nighttime robberies on the aire.

Is it good for walking where you are? We ideally like to park up and then walk out from site so no stress of finding parking places!! I will get used to it..hopefully! We have 5 weeks left if we last!

 

[bellabee]

Beautiful photos and great write up bellabee … I’m really enjoying your thread. I’ve not come across Portiragnes before -

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[bellabee]

Beautiful photos and great write up bellabee … I’m really enjoying your thread. I’ve not come across Portiragnes before - stunning!

Thank for that Grianan - mutual administration society -I'm enjoying your tra els, too .

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Can I add myself as an admirer, I am enjoying your travelogue especially the off the beaten track places.

 

[Grianan]

Can I add myself as an admirer, I am enjoying your travelogue especially the off the beaten track places.

Wandering in Germany has been a great thread too!

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Wandering in Germany has been a great thread too!

Thanks.

 

[David BW]

Thank you for that, will take a look. We came down through the Alsace and that was really busy too..we got the last spot on one campsite so that made me think I need to book ahead! Apparently it was a bank holiday in Germany and some schools were off for the week, so it made it busier as so close to the border. Busy in Switzerland too, think that was because of the weather! Very quiet here though and we have not seen/met any English people (apart from a couple who were in transit home last night!) since we left Ypres at the start! I was hoping for tips!

I signed up with French Passion but did not pay the fee for the book as was not sure would arrive in time, so I am guessing to late now? We are self contained but we tend to use showers at least if sites have them...its easier!

We're not long back from a 22 day trip to France with our dog - we used France passion for 18 of those nights and all were very good. You don't need the book, we left ours at home, but you do need to sign up to use the excellent app. and we needed our membership number to sign up (which did arrive with the book).

Don't be put off by your first experience, just sign up with France Passion in good time for your next one.

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[bellabee]

I've got a bit of catching up to do.

We stayed for four nights at Portiragnes- unusual for us to stay in one place for so long, but the weather was perfect for walking along the beautiful beach and around the wetlands. I think we'd had enough of the constant heat inland, and the gentle breeze by the sea was welcome.

I swam in the sea, and Graham did plenty of reading.

The aire was very busy. It's popular with Germans, on their way to Spain for the winter and there's a constant 'coming and going.' It can't be beaten for proximity to the beach, though.

We left Portiragnes yesterday and headed for Homps, a Minervois port town on the Canal du Midi. The hire offices for leisure craft were still fairly busy, and there are a number of wine houses and restaurants along the canal.

We took a walk to the nearby lac de Jouarres, a man-made lake which looked very dry after the hot summer, and returned along the bank of the canal.

We stayed at the new CCP aire, next to the pleasure port, but there's also free aire without services at the lac.

We have now started to move northwards. Our return ferry is on 2nd November, from Dieppe. We want to linger in the south for as long as possible because of the weather, but we don't like to drive for long stretches.

Today we headed for Mazamet. Graham wanted to walk the Passerelle. The drive here was far more exciting than we had expected. Somehow, we ended up on a narrow road, high in the hills, heading towards Minerve. Luckily, being Sunday, the only other vehicles we saw belonged to local hunters. It definitely wasn't a route which we intended to take, but it was spectacular.

Once back on the D907 the views were equally stunning, and we were able to relax and enjoy them.

This afternoon we walked up to the Passerelle, which leading to the mediaeval village of Hautpoul. There are two routes leading up there. We took the easier of the two.

Graham crossed the Passerelle but I have a terror of heights, so Gus and I sat in the sunshine and waited for him to return.

 

[Grianan]

The Passerelle looks amazing and terrifying in equal measure. Interesting to see a CCP at Homps - we will add that to our list for La voie verte.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

The Passerelle is fun isn't it.

 

[Ingwe]

Lovely thread. Given us lots of ideas for next late Summer! Good photos as well. Very much appreciated that you take the time to post your travel experiences.
We head home to Blighty on Tuesday after nearly three months in France. Our desire to come back has been kindled!

 

[Blisteringblue]

Have enjoyed your photos thanks, we are heading to France next weekend just for a couple of weeks. We are aiming for a few days in Portiragnes too. I've pre booked as like you said it seems to be full most nights. It's our first trip over since moving over from the dark side with our caravan. Although thinks do look a lot different with the selling off of many of the old municipal sites.

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[bellabee]

The Passerelle is fun isn't it.

To be honest, it's my idea of Hell. I can't climb a ladder without getting vertigo .

I sat with a French lady who felt the same, while we both watched our intrepid husbands walk over the abbys.

There was a teenaged boy who, embarrassingly for him, was also too afraid.

Some people, including children, were descending down the rock face on wires, on the other side.

How can they do it ???

 

[bellabee]

Thanks for the comments Ingwe .
Have a good journey home, and keep yourselves warm through the winter, with thoughts of France.

 

[bellabee]

Blisteringblue Portoragnes aire was thinning out towards the end of the week. If you arrive by 2pm you should have no problem finding a place.
Enjoy!

 

[Blisteringblue]

Blisteringblue Portoragnes aire was thinning out towards the end of the week. If you arrive by 2pm you should have no problem finding a place.
Enjoy!

Thanks, we needed to prebook our first night as its only 6 bays, so paid the extra for the ability with ccp, so I've prebooked anyway just to be safe. I know it means I'm tied to my itinerary but as we only have 2 weeks it's quite planned anyway.

 

[varaizian]

Thank you for that, will take a look. We came down through the Alsace and that was really busy too..we got the last spot on one campsite so that made me think I need to book ahead! Apparently it was a bank holiday in Germany and some schools were off for the week, so it made it busier as so close to the border. Busy in Switzerland too, think that was because of the weather! Very quiet here though and we have not seen/met any English people (apart from a couple who were in transit home last night!) since we left Ypres at the start! I was hoping for tips!

I signed up with French Passion but did not pay the fee for the book as was not sure would arrive in time, so I am guessing to late now? We are self contained but we tend to use showers at least if sites have them...its easier!

The principle French “Camping-Car” magazines often have ready-made “itinéraires” for trips included; especially at this time of year. Try flicking through a couple in a supermarket magazine section where you are not being watched by a shopkeeper. We are in the Var now having travelled slowly across from the Charente Maritime and only seen 1 British van in 2weeks;and that was from NI!

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[varaizian]

Blisteringblue Portoragnes aire was thinning out towards the end of the week. If you arrive by 2pm you should have no problem finding a place.
Enjoy!

Thanks principally to you but also the other contributors for a really enjoyable thread. We’ve used Vicarious almost exclusively for years, together with French publications and a couple of years with France Passion, but are beginning to move over to apps. now. Not sure there is a market for physical books now sadly.
Your Gus looks quite the star.

 

[Lenny HB]

Not fair we originally were going to head for the Lot and it would have been lovely to meet up with you again.
But at the last minute we decided to head for Germany to get the gas bottles changed.
9° yesterday, 14° today.

That bridge looks a bit lightweight compared to the Blackforestline we went over yesterday.

 

[bellabee]

Thanks for your comments varaizian . I'm glad you're finding it useful.

I agree entirely about apps and books. There's something very nice about having a book, physically in your hand, but for quantity and currency of information, the apps win every time (in our view).

Gus is absolutely a star. We're so lucky to have him.

 

[bellabee]

Lenny HB We'd have loved to have met up with you again. You could have encouraged Graham to buy some more 'tasteful' shirts .

I've been following your travels and it looks as though you've had a lovely time. It was a toss up between France and Germany/Austria for us, too, but looking at the weather apps, there was no contest.

Graham says 'Where's the actual photographic proof that you went on the Black Forest Line?'

 

[varaizian]

Thanks for your comments varaizian . I'm glad you're finding it useful.

I agree entirely about apps and books. There's something very nice about having a book, physically in your hand, but for quantity and currency of information, the apps win every time (in our view).

Gus is absolutely a star. We're so lucky to have him.

I looked at Portiragnes last night as an option for after St Maries de la Mer and found it is actually full at the moment, but ok for a few days time. That will mark our turning for home. Our Maggie is owed a good run on a beach; she has been heavily restricted for a few days now!

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