Aire Etiquette (1 Viewer)

Emmit

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Greetings,

As a virgin motorhomer in matters Continental can I ask;

I have just had a look at Techno 100 photo's of the Aire at Grand Fort Phillipe. I read the notice he photoed where it said that no deckchairs umbrellas and the like should be used on the Aire.

I take it that there would be no objections if we were to get the chairs out and sit, admiring the view from a position close to but not actually on the Aire.
Wouldn't want a finger wagging on our first trip.
 

magicsurfbus

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Airetiquette eh? Can't honestly say I've ever had a finger wagged in my direction for getting a couple of chairs out of an evening, and we've stayed on quite a few now. I wouldn't worry too much about chairs.

They have a board full of DON'Ts at Biscarrosse-Plage's forest aire to try and keep the crusties out, but no-one pays a blind bit of notice and the crusties are there all summer.

Where it gets silly is where someone spreads across two marked bays with awnings, kid's bikes, tables, washing lines and other junk. That's taking the pee.
 
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I can understand your concern we were exactly the same a few years ago, however you have nothing to worry about, it is our experience that most aires are very relaxed about the "Rules", if in doubt watch what the local French are doing and follow suit and enjoy. :Smile:

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TheBig1

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Rules? French? A couple of chairs? you're having a giraffe surely?:ROFLMAO:

the French love to write down rules, but they never follow them. once you've seen how they avail themselves of aires, you will stop worrying:winky:
 

lorger

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There will be some aires where you won't have much room between vans so might not be possible to sit beside it, what we would tend to do if this happened is sit at the back or front of van.

We stayed on an Aire at Malbussion and there wasn't much room between vans but loads of grassy areas to sit. One guy did arrive and wind his awning out straight away to prevent anyone parking close, some other guy came along and wond it in and parked :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: as it was the last space.
 

JockandRita

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clipped.........if in doubt watch what the local French are doing and follow suit and enjoy. :Smile:
Including arriving on the Aire late, and driving off early, before matey comes along to collect the parking fees. :roflmto:
Personally, I'd rather just pay up and relax. :winky:

Cheers,

Jock.

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Emmit

Emmit

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Airetiquette eh? Can't honestly say I've ever had a finger wagged in my direction for getting a couple of chairs out of an evening, and we've stayed on quite a few now. I wouldn't worry too much about chairs.

They have a board full of DON'Ts at Biscarrosse-Plage's forest aire to try and keep the crusties out, but no-one pays a blind bit of notice and the crusties are there all summer.

Where it gets silly is where someone spreads across two marked bays with awnings, kid's bikes, tables, washing lines and other junk. That's taking the pee.

Hi Again,

Supplementary question;

What is a 'Crustie'?
 

Soozywoozy

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had the same concerns, as a newbie myself, but have discovered in our limited experience that they are also pretty self regulating
on a recent trip in germany a gentleman wizzed in in at great speed his enormous motorhome, (which could have fitted a car in the garage and had self levelling stands) and immediately alienated himself to the surrounding vans with general arrogant attitude and trying to squeeze into the tiny gap at the ehu We were on solar so not using hook up, however the gentleman wanted to take the last EHU. With this 2 germans approached us and asked if we needed EHU as this ***** should not take it. Hubby speaks german and pleasantries exchanged, extolling the idiocy and arrogance of the new arrival. We didn't need EHu but he was still given a suitably hard time for his behaviour!

Have also learnt from a previous thread that wind awnings ok (if room) but lean to's not!
 

magicsurfbus

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Hi Again,

Supplementary question;

What is a 'Crustie'?

Baggy unwashed jumper, dreadlocks halfway down the back, trousers in holes, large boots, at least two unleashed dogs and mobile accommodation that is either a panel van covered in graffiti or a barely converted truck.

And that's just the women.

aka 'New Age Travellers' - mostly harmless and tend to keep themselves to themselves, but can be noisy late at night if you end up parked among them, as we did once. In SW France the Police Municipale tend to impose the rules more strictly on them than on most other aire users to keep them moving along.

I would add that a few SW French coastal aires in summer are the only places we've seen them.

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Emmit

Emmit

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Baggy unwashed jumper, dreadlocks halfway down the back, trousers in holes, large boots, at least two unleashed dogs and mobile accommodation that is either a panel van covered in graffiti or a barely converted truck.

And that's just the women.

aka 'New Age Travellers' - mostly harmless and tend to keep themselves to themselves, but can be noisy late at night if you end up parked among them, as we did once. In SW France the Police Municipale tend to impose the rules more strictly on them than on most other aire users to keep them moving along.

I would add that a few SW French coastal aires in summer are the only places we've seen them.


Thank you for that erudite explanation. I must inform SWMBO that she needs to improve her appearance for our next voyage, 'a travers' La Manche:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
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There will be some aires where you won't have much room between vans so might not be possible to sit beside it, what we would tend to do if this happened is sit at the back or front of van.

We stayed on an Aire at Malbussion and there wasn't much room between vans but loads of grassy areas to sit. One guy did arrive and wind his awning out straight away to prevent anyone parking close, some other guy came along [HI]and wond it in and parked [/HI]:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: as it was the last space.


Love it, the English would tut but do nothing.

In my limited experience on Aires when busy, you'll do well to open the hab door and fold it back.
Unless you get lucky and get on the end of the row:thumb:
 

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JeanLuc

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As everyone has said, the general attitude on aires (and stellplatz) is pretty relaxed. No-one minds if you sit out or perhaps run a barbecue (gas may be a bit more acceptable than smoking charcoal on a crowded aire). The basic rule is don't take the p*ss, but at the same time, don't expect loads of room. Sometimes you may have oodles of space with fine views, other times, les camping caristes will pull in two feet away on each side.

Having said all that, I remember pulling into the aire at Cognac for one night - it's not a large aire - to find two Germans had taken over most of the space and parked so they could join awnings in the middle to make a huge safari room. Then they had hung out the washing all around. My neighbour, Monsieur Camping Cariste was not amused and full of gallic observations about their EU neighbours! We and he ended up on the river bank.

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sedge

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The aire at Cognac is MINUTE - and most annoyingly nobody ever comes out of Hennessy's gate with a bottle and glasses on a tray, do they? :Sad:

But if you take a walk along the bank to the right, once you are eventually past the Cognac establishment you come to something that is either allotments or land upon which they still practice strip farming ( :ROFLMAO:)

We thought it should be possible if you visited at the right time of year, to scrump sufficient veg for a good feed from what spills onto the verge ! Not a soul to be seen. Sadly, not much worth scrumping at the time anyway!
 

scotjimland

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It's all very relaxed on an aire.. and it can get 'cozy'

This French camper at Mimizan Plage asked if we could pull our awning out so they could have a shady place for lunch..:roflmto:

We later shared a BBQ and had a great time.. though neither of us could speak the others' language..

BROKEN LINK


and before it got busy

BROKEN LINK
 
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Landy lover

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It's all very relaxed on an aire.. and it can get 'cozy'

This French camper at Mimizan Plage asked if we could pull our awning out so they could have a shady place for lunch..:roflmto:

We later shared a BBQ and had a great time.. though neither of us could speak the others' language..

That is half the fun of being abroad - we have had some fantastic times with people where we cannot speak the language but still manage to communicate with pigeon English hand signals and if all else fails a phrase book - in truth most of us have some words of French /German / Spanish / Italian etc which can help to get us by. The more you try the easier it becomes and the more fun you have.

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scotjimland

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That is half the fun of being abroad - we have had some fantastic times with people where we cannot speak the language but still manage to communicate with pigeon English hand signals and if all else fails a phrase book - in truth most of us have some words of French /German / Spanish / Italian etc which can help to get us by. The more you try the easier it becomes and the more fun you have.

yes indeed.. there are many ways of communicating..
when they left he handed in a bottle of red wine as a parting gift..

we don't drink, but it would have been rude to refuse.. we gave it to the next visitor who graced our awning..

staying on aires is so much more sociable than hiding behind a hedge on a site .. we did it for over a year.. it's an eye opener.. :thumb:
 

scotjimland

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Another neighbour..

at first sight the look a bit like 'travellers'.. the big dog, couple of tattery looking kids .. sign written van..

They were a German family and we soon got talking.. they were very interested in seeing inside our RV.. I am always a bit cautious about letting strangers look inside.. .. they could be casing it .. but I invited them in, we offered tea and coffee and sat chatting for a while.. they spoke reasonable English.

My fears were unfounded.. they were a lovely couple.. they invited me to look inside their van.. it was like someones living room.. complete with a three piece suite.. :roflmto:

When they left they gave us their address in Germany and insisted we visit.. they had a big garden.. sadly we never got round to going.. maybe one day.


BROKEN LINK
 

vwalan

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It's all very relaxed on an aire.. and it can get 'cozy'

This French camper at Mimizan Plage asked if we could pull our awning out so they could have a shady place for lunch..:roflmto:

We later shared a BBQ and had a great time.. though neither of us could speak the others' language..

BROKEN LINK


and before it got busy

BROKEN LINK

am i right in thinking mimizan can take something like 200 vans on its airre .
i cant be bothered to look in the book but seem to remember it does .
imagine that in uk , ha ha . they would have a fit.

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Roryboys Dad

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Just do as the French do ......

Mind you, he did get chucked off the Aire by the Municipal Police!
 

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scotjimland

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am i right in thinking mimizan can take something like 200 vans on its airre .
i cant be bothered to look in the book but seem to remember it does .
imagine that in uk , ha ha . they would have a fit.

yeay.. I think it's about 150 Alan..

they resurfaced it in 2008 and made some long bays for large outfits..

these pics show it just after resurfacing and before the lines were made..


EDIT

just checked in campingcar infos, they say 70 emplacements..
 
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vwalan

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we used to stay awhile on the west coast . there are some big ones down there .
it was near biarritz i first saw the ones with free leccy . some french had stayed there all winter .
back in the 90,s it was better not so many knew about the airres .
almost all were free and not so crowded . i knew french folk that lived on airres and the postman delivered the mail. happened to me once ,i was staying at roscoff airre and my wife sent a post restante to roscoff post office . the post man knew it was for me so brought it round . great service . i couldnt come home as it was just before the dogs passport time so had a few weeks while my wife came back to sort things . as it was i had to come home and bring the dog . we left again before the quarantine was finished . with the papers to allow the dog back into uk . three months before the scheme started .

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