France next year...

[Grasmere9]

So, provided that we find the right motorhome for us, next year we want to go to France. I have friends who live in Chenas near Macon and will want to visit them. My question is....do we book a ferry or tunnel well in advance? Also is using Aires as straight forward as it might seem? When we get to Chenas we can stay on the vineyard. Any words of wisdom much appreciated.

 

[Sunlovers]

Aires are as straightforward as it gets to be fair. If it's a small one and known to be popular, don't bank on it having free space, as many others will have eye-spied it as well. Channel or Ferry, pretty much users choice, and as to whether to book ahead, probably safest if you want to secure the best costing.

 

[Grasmere9]

Aires are as straightforward as it gets to be fair. If it's a small one and known to be popular, don't bank on it having free space, as many others will have eye-spied it as well. Channel or Ferry, pretty much users choice, and as to whether to book ahead, probably safest if you want to secure the best costing.

Thank you! We would probably do Dover to Calais and then slowly make our way down to Chenas. Any suggestions from seasoned motorhomers will be fab!

 

[suavecarve]

Thank you! We would probably do Dover to Calais and then slowly make our way down to Chenas. Any suggestions from seasoned motorhomers will be fab!

Some more details like how many days you will take to get to Chenas
Do you like stopping at Vineyards, lakes, rivers waterfalls
Do you cycle and enjoy canal type cycling.
Will you be staying near Chenas on an aire

You ll get plenty of suggestions

 

[Sunlovers]

How many days are you wanting to take to get from Calais to Chenas? Are you looking to dawdle down or blast it? Aires provide a great way of hopping through the countryside, without the need to be booking anything in advance, providing you are prepared to have to change tack at the last minute when you find your favoured aire is either crammed full, been repurposed for a market stall site for the next day, or is simply too small to fit into with your size of rig.

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[Imala615]

I would say book early as prices will go up, if your tied to dates don't bother with flexi if not flexi may be an option. Plenty of aires on that route , champagne region is a good place to visit, ACSI book if going off season .

CampingCard ACSI | Inexpensive camping in the low season

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2 internet based sites worth checking.

park4night - Home

Share the nice spots where you like to relax with your camper, your equipped van or regular van

www.park4night.com

searchforsites.co.uk

Vicarious books ,all the aires France,
http://www.vicariousbooks.co.uk/
Have a look at my blogs plenty of info on aires there.
Dont forget July August is their holiday season so will be busy then.

 

[Two on Tour]

We like to travel the quieter "D" roads in France, enjoying the countryside on our journeys, and stopping off in small towns and villages for breaks.
Use Park4Night or Campercontact to pick a local Aire or stopover.

 

[Sunlovers]

We arrived at Josselin late one Saturday afternoon, to find that the aire we had carefully researched and selected based on its location and size etc, was being used the following morning to set up a stage for a religious ceremony (and there was an actual Cardinal visiting the town that weekend too). We thought it strange when we drove in and had the ENTIRE aire to ourselves, until a kindly old lady pointed out that there was a notice on the lampost stating that there were to be no overnight stops that weekend. We moved on to the next aire in the town, down near the canal, only to find something like 40 vans there already, jammed in side by side. We ended up parked on the scruffiest grass verge going, completely uneven and totally unlevel, but still safe (and it was still free). Lesson learnt, but there was no way we were ever going to have picked up the information that there was a big knob from Italy visiting and that the aire was going to be used as a staging area .... so, moral of the tale is, be prepared to have to think again at the last moment.

 

[Grasmere9]

We will probably have 15 days from start to finish due to other half's holidays. We will probably do 4 days down to Chenas and then stay at my friends place...big enough for a big motorhome! We will have our ten year old with us so will hope to find a couple of sites with kayaking etc.

 

[Grasmere9]

We arrived at Josselin late one Saturday afternoon, to find that the aire we had carefully researched and selected based on its location and size etc, was being used the following morning to set up a stage for a religious ceremony (and there was an actual Cardinal visiting the town that weekend too). We thought it strange when we drove in and had the ENTIRE aire to ourselves, until a kindly old lady pointed out that there was a notice on the lampost stating that there were to be no overnight stops that weekend. We moved on to the next aire in the town, down near the canal, only to find something like 40 vans there already, jammed in side by side. We ended up parked on the scruffiest grass verge going, completely uneven and totally unlevel, but still safe (and it was still free). Lesson learnt, but there was no way we were ever going to have picked up the information that there was a big knob from Italy visiting and that the aire was going to be used as a staging area .... so, moral of the tale is, be prepared to have to think again at the last moment.

I love your description of the visiting Italian

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[tkk]

We arrived at Josselin late one Saturday afternoon, to find that the aire we had carefully researched and selected based on its location and size etc, was being used the following morning to set up a stage for a religious ceremony (and there was an actual Cardinal visiting the town that weekend too). We thought it strange when we drove in and had the ENTIRE aire to ourselves, until a kindly old lady pointed out that there was a notice on the lampost stating that there were to be no overnight stops that weekend. We moved on to the next aire in the town, down near the canal, only to find something like 40 vans there already, jammed in side by side. We ended up parked on the scruffiest grass verge going, completely uneven and totally unlevel, but still safe (and it was still free). Lesson learnt, but there was no way we were ever going to have picked up the information that there was a big knob from Italy visiting and that the aire was going to be used as a staging area .... so, moral of the tale is, be prepared to have to think again at the last moment.

Did you mean "knob" or "nob" Either might apply, Just curious

 

[Grasmere9]

Some more details like how many days you will take to get to Chenas
Do you like stopping at Vineyards, lakes, rivers waterfalls
Do you cycle and enjoy canal type cycling.
Will you be staying near Chenas on an aire

You ll get plenty o

Lakes, rivers, patisserie, boulangerie....

 

[MichaelT]

Warning Northern France is not the prettiest and best to get out of ASAP IMHO.

Aires are easy just find one en-route and head for it, if you don't like it or its full move on there are plenty around. search For Sites is the best web/app to use, the web is free but if you want the app so you can use it offline its £5.99 a year but well worth it and far easier to use and better than camper contact and its all in English.

 

[Sunlovers]

Your route options are mixed to be fair. Easiest is just take the A26/A31 straight there, but deviating off to find places of interest to stop overnight. However, that's not what you're asking, and anyone can give you a Google route to follow. If you're wanting to mix it up a little, then you'll definitely end up doing more miles as it will be a bit of a round the houses route. If mileage isn't too much of an option, then suggest head down towards Rouen before turning east, take in Giverny perhaps, before continuing across the country, taking in Briare before arriving at Chenas. There's a load of options, you'll need to do a bit of homework to see what is going to work best for you, then maybe share it on here, and let others have a go at refining it down to make the best of it?

 

[suavecarve]

Lakes, rivers, patisserie, boulangerie....

A corker stop en route is Lac de Der near Troyes at Mesnil St Pere.

An aire that never used to have any water or dump and was just a car park, HOWEVER, next a huge water sports lake and about 4 hours from Calais on your most direct route.
Using another route a stop at Langres with its lake just outside of town would be another good swimming lake
Another route will take you past Lac de Vouglans and the cascades du herrison, which is a simply wonderful set of 11 rather high waterfalls and there is wild camping stop next to the smaller of the lakes of Lac D'Ilay

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[suavecarve]

Your route options are mixed to be fair. Easiest is just take the A26/A31 straight there, but deviating off to find places of interest to stop overnight. However, that's not what you're asking, and anyone can give you a Google route to follow. If you're wanting to mix it up a little, then you'll definitely end up doing more miles as it will be a bit of a round the houses route. If mileage isn't too much of an option, then suggest head down towards Rouen before turning east, take in Giverny perhaps, before continuing across the country, taking in Briare before arriving at Chenas. There's a load of options, you'll need to do a bit of homework to see what is going to work best for you, then maybe share it on here, and let others have a go at refining it down to make the best of it?

View attachment 528450

Interesting as i got these routes !

 

[138go]

When travelling through France, we always use the aires. We've learned much about using aires, especially about which ones to avoid. Not all aires are the same. We avoid motorway aires and aires in built up areas. We like the quiet village aires and those off the beaten track. When we arrive, if either of us feels at all uneasy, we drive on. Don't let these pearls of wisdom put you off, we actually love the French aires.

When we're travelling, we get going fairly early and stop around 3.30pm. We do this to make sure we get somewhere to stop. The nice aires do get full and you don't want to be wandering around into the evening, trying to find somewhere.

 

[MichaelT]

Interesting as i got these routes !

View attachment 528454

Much better, aim for Reims area straight away for first stop, test the champers and loads of vineyards to stay in.

 

[deleted79651]

So, provided that we find the right motorhome for us, next year we want to go to France. I have friends who live in Chenas near Macon and will want to visit them. My question is....do we book a ferry or tunnel well in advance? Also is using Aires as straight forward as it might seem? When we get to Chenas we can stay on the vineyard. Any words of wisdom much appreciated.

What age group are you? If one member of the party is aged 60 or over, the entire group gets 20% discount on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry, and it is a much shorter drive to clear Rouen [before morning rush hour if you take the overnight crossing], and after that, it is a pretty relaxed drive towards the sun.

Steve

 

[Grasmere9]

Your route options are mixed to be fair. Easiest is just take the A26/A31 straight there, but deviating off to find places of interest to stop overnight. However, that's not what you're asking, and anyone can give you a Google route to follow. If you're wanting to mix it up a little, then you'll definitely end up doing more miles as it will be a bit of a round the houses route. If mileage isn't too much of an option, then suggest head down towards Rouen before turning east, take in Giverny perhaps, before continuing across the country, taking in Briare before arriving at Chenas. There's a load of options, you'll need to do a bit of homework to see what is going to work best for you, then maybe share it on here, and let others have a go at refining it down to make the best of it?

View attachment 528450

Wow!! Thanks for that! I have just downloaded Search for Sites and discovered that my friends village has a lovely free Aire as does her parents village. What an awesome app!!

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[Grasmere9]

What age group are you? If one member of the party is aged 60 or over, the entire group gets 20% discount on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry, and it is a much shorter drive to clear Rouen [before morning rush hour if you take the overnight crossing], and after that, it is a pretty relaxed drive towards the sun.

Steve

We are both recently 50! We have a 10 year old son and may take our Spaniel as my parents are not comfortable having him as well as our Golden Retriever.

 

[Sunlovers]

Interesting as i got these routes !

View attachment 528454

I bent my route by adding in Rouen/Giverny and Briare just to pull the curve away from the obvious straight line down. Giverny is lovely, and the free overnight parking there is nice and quiet, being the coach park part of the tourist attraction. Just so many options, it's impossible to say what is best for anybody.

 

[Grasmere9]

A corker stop en route is Lac de Der near Troyes at Mesnil St Pere.

An aire that never used to have any water or dump and was just a car park, HOWEVER, next a huge water sports lake and about 4 hours from Calais on your most direct route.
Using another route a stop at Langres with its lake just outside of town would be another good swimming lake
Another route will take you past Lac de Vouglans and the cascades du herrison, which is a simply wonderful set of 11 rather high waterfalls and there is wild camping stop next to the smaller of the lakes of Lac D'Ilay

This is fantastic! Thank you

 

[Littlewheels]

What age group are you? If one member of the party is aged 60 or over, the entire group gets 20% discount on the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry, and it is a much shorter drive to clear Rouen [before morning rush hour if you take the overnight crossing], and after that, it is a pretty relaxed drive towards the sun.

Steve

And cheap, we came back on it not long ago £118 including lunch for 2 adults,dog,9m MH.

 

[busby]

Warning Northern France is not the prettiest and best to get out of ASAP IMHO.

Aires are easy just find one en-route and head for it, if you don't like it or its full move on there are plenty around. search For Sites is the best web/app to use, the web is free but if you want the app so you can use it offline its £5.99 a year but well worth it and far easier to use and better than camper contact and its all in English.

Normandy is beautiful both on the coast and inland.Its just the weather that's a bit iffy.BUSBY.

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[MichaelT]

Normandy is beautiful both on the coast and inland.Its just the weather that's a bit iffy.BUSBY.

I was meaning the part around Calais etc. Normandy/Brittany are great but I would not hang about in the pas de calais but get to them ASAP.

 

[Clarky]

I know a lot of people like to book channel crossings months in advance but I can never see the logic in that.
What if you have to change your plans……work, health, Armageddon???
Unless you need to get on a particular crossing on a very busy weekend you can usually leave it until a few days beforehand.

I have always booked just a few days before we go and never found any problems or change in price. We now have a Frequent Traveler package with Eurotunnel but when we used the ferries I could never find a price difference between booking a couple of months ahead and a couple of days. The only time it was much more expensive was to book last minute ie within 48 hours of crossing.

 

[busby]

I know a lot of people like to book channel crossings months in advance but I can never see the logic in that.
What if you have to change your plans……work, health, Armageddon???
Unless you need to get on a particular crossing on a very busy weekend you can usually leave it until a few days beforehand.

I have always booked just a few days before we go and never found any problems or change in price. We now have a Frequent Traveler package with Eurotunnel but when we used the ferries I could never find a price difference between booking a couple of months ahead and a couple of days. The only time it was much more expensive was to book last minute ie within 48 hours of crossing.

Never noticed them being much cheaper months before going.BUSBY.

 

[Phileas Fogg]

A tip keep your eyes open in Rouen for unmarked low flyovers and bridges

 

[suavecarve]

I bent my route by adding in Rouen/Giverny and Briare just to pull the curve away from the obvious straight line down. Giverny is lovely, and the free overnight parking there is nice and quiet, being the coach park part of the tourist attraction. Just so many options, it's impossible to say what is best for anybody.

Giverny is well worthy of a stop and turning up late in order to get to Monets garden the next morning incredibly early

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