Are French Campsites open in February? (1 Viewer)

redhotrods

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I'm travelling to the South of France, Cote d'azur region next week and can't find much info on campsite opening periods. From what I can gather....most sites dont open until March. Am I destined to be at an 'Aire de Service' every night?

As you can probably tell, I'm a Motorhome Virgin
 

ian jenner

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jig

I'm travelling to the South of France, Cote d'azur region next week and can't find much info on campsite opening periods. From what I can gather....most sites dont open until March. Am I destined to be at an 'Aire de Service' every night?

As you can probably tell, I'm a Motorhome Virgin
in our experience its pot luck,if near tourist features open all year you are ok.
we prefer to use aires,so good in france. safe journey
 

pappajohn

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very unlikely you will find any......use the aire's, but not the toll roads/motorway ones.

they CAN be dangerous.

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scotjimland

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Am I destined to be at an 'Aire de Service' every night?

As said by pappajohn.. don't use aires on Autoroutes ..

Don't confuse Aire de service with Aire de camping car

The former are Aires on Autoroutes and open to all .. trucks, cars etc and have a bad reputation for crime.

The later are only for motorhomes.. clearly signed with the graphic of a motorhome.. pick one off the Autoroute in or near a small village :thumb:
 
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Hi Redhotrod!

It is a bit difficult to help you as you don't give an idea of your way to the south .The best to do would be to write down the main towns through you want to go then enter in google search "syndicat d'initiative de Montpellier" for example . pick up the address and write a letter to them saying

Madame, monsieur,


Pourriez-vous me faire parvenir le listing complet des campings de votre région. Si toutefois cela vous est possible , pourriez-vous surligner ceux qui sont ouverts à partir du mois de Février.

En vous remerciant d'avance de votre aide,
Je vous prie d'agréer, madame , monsieur, l'expression de ma reconnaissance;


M. Redhotrod:winky:



You have time enough to have an answer and receive the list of all the campsites


Hope it helps

Amicalement

Frankie:Smile::Smile:

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pappajohn

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Hi Redhotrod!

It is a bit difficult to help you as you don't give an idea of your way to the south .The best to do would be to write down the main towns through you want to go then enter in google search "syndicat d'initiative de Montpellier" for example . pick up the address and write a letter to them saying

Madame, monsieur,


Pourriez-vous me faire parvenir le listing complet des campings de votre région. Si toutefois cela vous est possible , pourriez-vous surligner ceux qui sont ouverts à partir du mois de Mars.

En vous remerciant d'avance de votre aide,
Je vous prie d'agréer, madame , monsieur, l'expression de ma reconnaissance;


M. Redhotrod:winky:



You have time enough to have an answer and receive the list of all the campsites


Hope it helps

Amicalement

Frankie:Smile::Smile:
just one point Frankie....does redhotrod speak/read/understand french ?

its one thing writing the letter as you have written it but if you dont understand the reply letter :Doh:.....:roflmto:

perhaps.....si possible, répondez svp en anglais.
 
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Sure Papa, i'll answer in english ::bigsmile:

I just ask for the leaflet so most of the writting , if only in french , gives the phone number , prices sometimes, number of stars, and opening time. So quite easy to understand. But if any prob , of course , i'll translate. If there is any typed answer it will just be some kind of polite reply such as "as you asked in your letter, here is the list of the campsites of the area. Wishing you happy holidays on our territory .... blablabla; So nothing really important, main thing is all the campsites , even the newest will be there.


Does it answer your question?:winky::Smile:


Amicalement


Frankie::bigsmile:::bigsmile:
 

pappajohn

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certainly Frankie.

i suppose it's not too difficult to work out dates and times in any language.

the last time i emailed a french site, in english of course because my french stopped when i left school :Blush:, i got a long email back...in french.

i couldnt make any sense of it as it was littered with dates, but not in any kind of order.

i must say though, many french sites did reply in english which is a great help but , once again, lazy english cant be bothered to learn a foriegn language....or maybe just too old :ROFLMAO:

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JJ

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For what it is worth (and I never recommend anyone to do what I do) I have stopped in a variety of service areas in France both on the peages and on the free roads (parking with the trucks) in a variety of different vans for twenty years or more and I have never ever, ever had any trouble of any kind.

I wonder... Do bad experiences get more than their fair share of publicity and therefore paint a biased, negative picture?

JJ
:thumb:
 

pappajohn

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Oh Oh !!!! you,ve dont it now JJ.

you'll be stood in the aire in your shreddies while some scroats away with your van next time. :RollEyes:
 

scotjimland

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I wonder... Do bad experiences get more than their fair share of publicity and therefore paint a biased, negative picture?

Does it matter JJ ?

statistically you are at a higher risk of crime on an Autoroute aire than on a Camping car aire in a village, so why increase the risk. ?

ask Geo about being being burgled on an Autoroute service aire ..

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Parcverger

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Our thanks to bobandjane, and yes, Parc Verger (www.parcverger.com) is open all year (and there's a discount for Funsters:thumb:). There are other sites open, of course, so if for example you want to travel south in relatively easy stages, there is a site between Dreux and Chartres, then on to us, then on to one near Perpignan, and then into Spain. This avoids the higher roads through the Central Massif, which can be affected by snow and ice, and also the coast road, where most sites are indeed closed at this time of year. The A20 is free for much of the way, and there are good alternative roads if you want to avoid tolls.

Wherever you go, enjoy your travel - France is a beautiful country. Weather today - sunny and warm! We were out installing a new wifi aerial yesterday and it was t-shirt weather::bigsmile:.

Cheers

Bob
 

haganap

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I can reccomend a trip down to Parc Vergrer and its probably on your way, Bob will give you al the help you need and its a very friendly little commune to spend a few days.:thumb:
 

Heyupluv

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Aires in the winter months some of them have the water turned off,

Bob and Jane.


Just to pick up on what what Bob and Jane said about the water....yes they are correct most have the water turned off.....but don't let that worry you, all the supermarkets sell water and it is very cheap in some supermarkets.......Lidl & Aldi it is about from 0.10 to 0.20 centimes for a 1.5 ltr bottle of standard drinking water::bigsmile:......they sell them in large packs of 6 or 10 the bigger the plastic bottle you buy the cheaper the water...some may be on special offer......The bigger super markets and the designer water ****** well they are a lot more euros:Doh:
if you wanted you could walk out with two trolleys full......no you won't need that many just joking if you are only travelling through best keep some in the boot.....or just fill up at Calais port - aire....no need to stop over night..its free....we was up there a week ago and I saw a motorhome filling up....so I hope it is still on ....it will be close to you and your route it is where the ferries come in....unless you land at Dunkerque....:thumb::France::reel::sin:

Mel:thumb:

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Welsh girl

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I wonder... Do bad experiences get more than their fair share of publicity and therefore paint a biased, negative picture?

JJ :thumb:[/QUOTE]

Yes I believe they do, we are certainly worried about things like that and have put off going over there for years but hope to take the plunge end of march and hopefully put our worries to rest???:winky:
 

Heyupluv

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Yes I believe they do, we are certainly worried about things like that and have put off going over there for years but hope to take the plunge end of march and hopefully put our worries to rest???:winky:[/QUOTE]
trish-n-tez




If you are talking about France........I think it the most Motorhome friendly in Europe and the most geared up European country for Motorhomes......
its lovely..you will love it:thumb:::bigsmile:

Mel
 

david price

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I wonder... Do bad experiences get more than their fair share of publicity and therefore paint a biased, negative picture?

JJ :thumb:

Yes I believe they do, we are certainly worried about things like that and have put off going over there for years but hope to take the plunge end of march and hopefully put our worries to rest???:winky:[/QUOTE]

I have done the same as jj but only for five years,never had a problem.Crime can happen anywhere.I generally go on a gut feeling about where i stop for the night.
My daughter was 12 when we first started touring in a motorhome abroad and i would never knowingly put my family in danger.Yes the risk may be slightly higher but in my opinion this is because the amount of vehicles useing autoroutes etc is a lot higher therefore crimerate would appear higher.
Crime happens on nice small village aires as well.Just keep your wits about you and i am sure all will be well.Travelling in europe in a motorhome is alot different to flying out there and it would be a shame to miss out for fear of something that could happen here just as well as there.
Explore and enjoy.
Dave

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JJ

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Does it matter JJ ?

statistically you are at a higher risk of crime on an Autoroute aire than on a Camping car aire in a village, so why increase the risk. ?

ask Geo about being being burgled on an Autoroute service aire ..

Interesting Jim but we all know that statistics can be made to "prove" anything... where did your figures come from?

...and if my decades of incident free, overnight parking on motorway and major road service stations in France don't prove anything (and they don't) then neither should any other Funster's isolated experience(s).

Of course everyone must run their lives (and motorhomes) as he or she chooses but I feel urged to report that I have grown tired and fed up with the rumours, gossip, unfounded fears and exaggerations that circulate amongst the motorhome community...

While I am in the middle of this rant may I give an example (which of course doesn't prove anything)

Last year motorhomers "off site" camping on the dockside at Vila Real in the Eastern Algarve were asked to move by the GNR (National Police).

The news went around like wild fire...

"Vila Real is finished as a place to park..."

"Police are fining you €60 if you park there..."

"don't park at Vila Real you get arrested" and so on...

What actually happened is the GNR asked a few motorhomes to move for the afternoon to allow the council to mow the piece of grass they were on as next weekend there was to be a one day event taking place there.

When others saw this they all jumped in their vans and pulled out and went off and spread the mis-information...

Proves nothing of course except you can "off site" park at Vila Real as before although I find it a bit over populated for me...

Sorry for this missive... I can't stop myself from getting carried away...

... I try ever so hard not to... honest guv...

JJ:Blush:

of course the lack of language skills amongst many of us doesn't help...

"does it matter?" Jim asks... well to me it does... "Why increase the risk?" Jim asks... What risk I ask...

Life with no risk? What life is that? (thats me asking that one...)

(stop JJ, just stop...)

 
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gozomike

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Hi
By looking at the ACSI web site Link Removed you can find some sites which are open all year but when I just tried it I had to look at each site in turn. It’s much easier to get their Disc and then you can enter the dates & area you are interested in and the open sites will appear. A search on my 2010 disc shows quite a few open when applying a filter for Feb. Trouble may be getting the new 2011 disc in time. http://www.vicariousbooks.co.uk/ is where to try.
 

chatter

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there are a couple on the outskirts of Paris, a couple near Chartres, 1 at Poitiers, 1 at Rouen, 1 at Rennes, 1 near Lyon, 1 at Toulose and a few in the Nimes area. These are in the camping cheques guide which is available online and you dont have to be a camping cheques member to use them.

http://www.campingcheque.co.uk/

also there is the ACSI camping card and guide, available online and you dont have to be a member

Link Removed

If you do have time to get the camping cheques or the camping card they entitle you to discounted stops on the campsites in their guides.

There are also independants that are open all year the caravan europe book gives quite a few small sites in france, also you have

Parc Verger who is a member on here

http://www.parcverger.com/
and
http://twinlakesfrance.com/

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OMG .... nearly forgotten to tell you : you can have a stop over at my place , water is not off:roflmto: and electricity is available ! And , if you are being a good boy/girl , you might even have a cuppa served with a smile.... and as it is in my garden or in front of my house (depending on the weather, mud or not mud) it is free.


Now you have many informations, it would be nice to come back to collect them.... don't you think ?:winky::Smile:



Amicalement


Frankie::bigsmile:
 

scotjimland

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Interesting Jim but we all know that statistics can be made to "prove" anything... where did your figures come from?

snip>>>


"does it matter?" Jim asks... well to me it does... "Why increase the risk?" Jim asks... What risk I ask...

Life with no risk? What life is that? (thats me asking that one...)

(stop JJ, just stop...)


OK.. hands up JJ, I have no raw data to hand and I was wrong, there are only fairy stories made up by insurance scammers, there is no greater risk on an Autoroute aire than a Campingcar aire in a village.

If you believe that, that's fine, but I'll take the precaution of not using Autoroute Aire de Service and Aire de Repost to overnight when there are, IMO ... safer alternatives.
Out of necessity I have used them in both Spain and France and wasn't robbed either but there are plenty of first hand accounts on most MH forums from those who have been.

Of course there is no risk free life.. but that doesn't mean we don't listen to advice, heed what others say, take precautions and plan accordingly ..
 

chatter

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Enough you two,:Blush: the OP was asking about sites that are open but seeing as you want to talk aires :

Could one of you possibly tell the OP the difference in the aires in France and the reason that some are favourable to others plus the ones you really shouldnt use wth out hyjacking the thread between yourselves:thumb:

maggie

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scotjimland

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Don't confuse Aire de service with Aire de camping car

The former are Aires on Autoroutes and open to all .. trucks, cars etc and have a bad reputation for crime.

The later are only for motorhomes.. clearly signed with the graphic of a motorhome.. pick one off the Autoroute in or near a small village :thumb:

Enough you two,:Blush: the OP was asking about sites that are open but seeing as you want to talk aires :

Could one of you possibly tell the OP the difference in the aires in France and the reason that some are favourable to others plus the ones you really shouldnt use wth out hyjacking the thread between yourselves:thumb:

maggie

Excuse me.. I was replying to a post .. NOT high jacking anything ..

If you read my first post you will see I made it clear the difference between Autoroute and Campingcar Aires , but JJ disagrees on the relative safety, which is his right .. that's why I responded to his post..

I know nothing of camping sites in France, open or otherwise as I don't use, so have nothing more to add so will shut up.
 
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JJ

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OK.. hands up JJ, I have no raw data to hand and I was wrong, there are only fairy stories made up by insurance scammers, there is no greater risk on an Autoroute aire than a Campingcar aire in a village.

If you believe that, that's fine, but I'll take the precaution of not using Autoroute Aire de Service and Aire de Repost to overnight when there are, IMO ... safer alternatives.
Out of necessity I have used them in both Spain and France and wasn't robbed either but there are plenty of first hand accounts on most MH forums from those who have been.

Of course there is no risk free life.. but that doesn't mean we don't listen to advice, heed what others say, take precautions and plan accordingly ..

I do hope (having just read Chatter's post) that you know Jim I am in no way upset by anything you have posted... I really am not... everything you say makes perfect sense to many.

I just wanted to say that I am ok doing the things the way I do. There is more than one way to skin a cat (or chat)... (sorry cat lovers... just an expression) I expect the OP will be wise and choose your, safer, way of touring France...

JJ :Smile:
 

JJ

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Might be of use...

...when I choose a park up for the night I avoid out of the way laybys/aires (call them what you will) that have toilets on them as these locations often have a "night life" of their own... and when parking amongst the trucks avoid at all cost any refrigerator trucks whose compressors (noisier than Honda gennys) run all night...:winky:

JJ

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SilverF1

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Our thanks to bobandjane, and yes, Parc Verger (www.parcverger.com) is open all year (and there's a discount for Funsters:thumb:). There are other sites open, of course, so if for example you want to travel south in relatively easy stages, there is a site between Dreux and Chartres, then on to us, then on to one near Perpignan, and then into Spain. This avoids the higher roads through the Central Massif, which can be affected by snow and ice, and also the coast road, where most sites are indeed closed at this time of year. The A20 is free for much of the way, and there are good alternative roads if you want to avoid tolls.

Wherever you go, enjoy your travel - France is a beautiful country. Weather today - sunny and warm! We were out installing a new wifi aerial yesterday and it was t-shirt weather::bigsmile:.

Cheers

Bob

On our way back north from Spain, we'd like to drop in for one or two nights. We intend to visit the Rochechouart Crater which is 10-12 miles from your place. It will be around 3rd/4th week of April. Depends how our travels go in Spain.

Hope to share a drink with you.
 

Parcverger

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We'll look forward to your visit, SilverF1 - we always enjoy a chat and a glass! If you are here on a Sunday then weather permitting we invite all of our guests to join us for an aperitif at lunchtime. It is a great time for meeting others and sharing experiences.

Bob and Di
 

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