Finally...off to France! (1 Viewer)

[Fifiwi]

Well, after pootling about a bit, mainly to a couple of New Forest sites, we are finally off on our fortnight holiday to France, next weekend! We are soo excited about the trip- the wine fridge at home is almost empty.

My query is- is it normal to be charged, say, €10p.n as a "reservation fee" even on a one night campsite booking costing €18? Seems a bit steep to us. Could we avoid the fee, by turning up on spec?? Yes, I know there are lots of Aires- we have the books- but we just fancy staying on site initially, till we get used to this new way of holidaying in France. The sites we're looking at are mainly in the ACSI book- we have a card, but realise it won't be valid this time of year.

After that first night, we plan to stay in Chinon / Saumur area for a few days, then move on....the plan is to visit some new areas, maybe do a bit of house- hunting, but definitely do some cycling, weather permitting!
Elsie, the Moho, is kitted out now, we've been buying a few extras...Just need to pack some clothes, then we'll be off on Sunday...woohoo!
We'd be very grateful for any hints, tips about campsites in the area- Pays de la Loire and beyond.
Are we being unrealistic about price? Well, not the price, but the added "fee"?

Any responses gratefully received. Thanks.

 

[Stacetop]

Hi Don't worry France is easy!! Lots of sites have an admin or reservation fee sometimes more than €10.

We booked a site for only 2 nights that had a €20 fee luckily they didn't charge us it. But it was more like €35 euros a night than €18. Unless you really want to be in a certain place and are only going for a few nights I wouldn't worry about booking you should find space. Smaller municipal sites costs less and there are some lovely Aires too!

Have fun!

 

[Allanm]

When we used sites, we always turned up on spec, generally, municipal sites away from the main holiday areas should have spaces. I would try and make a list of sites that are suitable and just drive to those.

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[Ockerron]

There is a nice (and large) municipal site at Chinon, on the river bank opposite the castle. We didn't book, just turned up, and that was in peak season.
If you visit the castle, there is a lift, which I found out after climbing about a thousand rough hewn steps!!!!

 

[Fifiwi]

Many thanks for the replies. As I suspected, maybe we're being a bit tight about site fees. @Ockerron , we love Chinon , having stayed in a hotel there a few times, also in a gite near the town, ah yes, the lift is very useful! It looks like municipal sites may be our choice, other than aires, the Chinon one looks good. Hopefully, we'll have a few nights in Chinon, and visit the Thursday market, also we'd like to have a meal in our favourite Chinon restaurant. Creatures of habit, trying to expand our horizons in a Motorhome!

 

[roadster55]

Bon Voyage ! You'll go back again and again.

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[Fifiwi]

Merci, @roadster55 ...we'd be off on our travels tomorrow, if I didn't have a few days of work to get through first!

 

[Bill_OR]

@Fifiwi - we had a similar strategy on our first trip over the Channel (several years ago) - we stayed on a 'proper' site for a couple of nights and then took courage and stayed on an 'aire' - and never looked back! I think we've only stayed on a proper site on a couple of occasions since. You'll love it!

 

[namwaldog]

Never been to this Aire but it is a former campsite and looks like it still has EHU & Showers at Euro 7.60 p/n
This is a link to the French listing...
http://www.laval-tourisme.com/votre...3-aire-de-camping-cars-de-st-jean-sur-mayenne

It is No 6 in the Pays de Loire section on page 220 in All the Aires

Looks quite nice on Google Earth...

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[Fifiwi]

Ah, @Bill_OR , that sounds promising...hopefully, we will find the same. Thank You!

@namwaldog , that looks lovely, and it seems to be near the Mayenne towpath along which we cycled a lot last year, when we holidayed in the Mayenne area. Hopefully, we can drive that far on the first day, as it really does look perfect for us. I have the All The Aires book in front of me, and have made a note of it. Many thanks for the suggestion! Ooh, this could be a fun holiday!

 

[Fifiwi]

We're here!!! In fact, on the Google Earth photo, we're in the middle row, first pitch. @namwaldog what a brilliant suggestion! We got here just after 4pm, and although the EHU pitches were all full, we pitched up anyway, sans EHU..but after a few minutes, one became available. So, here we are, with EHU, water, showers, loos, a picnic area...just absolutely perfect! We wandered into the village last night, there's a boulangerie, but it's closed Mondays. We will be cycling along the towpath later today. €9 per night for all this!

 

[Rob Turner]

Thanks for that, its now in my favourites list on the campercontact.
Looks lovely

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[2spritelyislanders]

Thanks @namwaldog for the tip about this Aire. Just arrived and it's lovely. Can't believe showers, loos and hookup for 9euros. Excellent