French Aire night fright

Jenmelmar

Jenmelmar

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I am a newbie
I am a newbie. We have bought an RV and traveled from UK to France. 5 days at a nice campsite then I night parked at a fuel station and last night we parked at Aire Phillipe Rossi off the A19. I awoke at 2am to see a man in the van, who luckily ran when I shouted and woke my husband. Needless to say, we got no more sleep! Does anyone have advice on how to choose the right Aires and how else to prevent more break ins? RV was double locked with a bike across the door inside. Now feeling sad and a bit ?
 
You are going to get numerous replies that tell you that there is a MAJOR difference between the aires you find on motorways and the aires you find in stunningly beautiful villages and towns. The main part is safety which you have, unfortunately found out.
You need to go on to www.searchforsites.co.uk or download campercontact or park4night as a first instance and choose your aires from there based upon previous peoples ratings.
In the meantime, let us know whereabouts you intend to stay and we can advise you of nice ones near there.

Bon voyage and at least nobody hurt and presume nothing taken
 
As above (y)

Security though is another matter apart from the "Double Lock" do you have any other form of security alarm etc?

There are plenty of experienced funsters and RV owners on here who will be able to help.
 
Firstly welcome to the forum w2f
How did he gain access and exit the vehicle .Was it through the door.
On ours we can alarm the doors whilst we are in it.
Hope you can put this behind you and enjoy the rest of your trip.
 
Best not to use main road Aires, instead head for towns or villages. There's lots of information on the web as suggested, some are free some are not. Look out for perhaps broken glass lying around or black circles where young drivers are pulling donuts and avoid these. Always leave enough daylight for a Plan B. France has a large traveller community and these can from a distance sometimes look like Aires so be carefull in open countryside. However, France is a very safe place to be so don't be put off by your experience - it's a great country and more motorhome friendly than the UK.

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Jenmelmar said:
I am a newbie. We have bought an RV and traveled from UK to France. 5 days at a nice campsite then I night parked at a fuel station and last night we parked at Aire Phillipe Rossi off the A19. I awoke at 2am to see a man in the van, who luckily ran when I shouted and woke my husband. Needless to say, we got no more sleep! Does anyone have advice on how to choose the right Aires and how else to prevent more break ins? RV was double locked with a bike across the door inside. Now feeling sad and a bit ?
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If as you say the vehicle was locked then in theory no one should have got in but clearly they did. Did you have a window open and how did they get out easily if there was a bike across the door?

You could check the locks actually work. Lock it as you did on the fateful night but with one of you outside who then tries to get in. Check no locks have been forced.

You can stay on motorway aires, several on here do, but they have good alarm systems fitted.

Not far from where you were is a municipal aire at Paucort which would have been much nicer. This is shown on the CamperContact app, search on the play store for All Motorhome Parking. Other apps are available, try them, but this one is probably the easiest to use.

Screenshot_20190923-080053.png


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Sorry to hear you had a bad experience so early. Many on here will tell you never to stay on a motorway aire, though it can be done but extra care is needed.
What you should be looking for is an aire de camping car. The motorway ones are just for a brief stopover, like our motorway service areas but without the rules and the crap.
 
As the others have said, there is a huge difference between Aires de service ie. motorway service areas and Aires de Camping-Cars.
Always get off the motorway and into villages and towns by using apps such as Campercontact.
Get a decent alarm fitted, preferably one suited to a motorhome rather than a car, and one that you can switch off the internal sensors while keeping the doors and lockers secure.

Don’t let this experience frighten you off using Aires in France, just make sure you are on the right Aires.
We spend something like three months a year touring in Europe, almost all on Aires, and, touch wood, never had a problem.

Richard
 
Don’t let it put you off, thousands of nights a year are spent on different types of Aires across France with no problems at all. As long as you and your husband are ok, that’s the main thing.
You can tie the cab doors together so they cannot be opened from the outside. Never sleep with windows open, use roof light for ventilation. I could jam the habitation door shut with a piece of wood, and I also had a Fiamma lock on the outside. But the best deterrents of all were my two dogs.
Add a bit more security and you’ll put this behind you.
1569222038528.jpeg
 
Hollyberry said:
Don’t let it out you off, thousands of nights a year are spent on different types of Aires across France with no problems at all. As long as you and your husband are ok, that’s the main thing.
You can tie the cab doors together so they cannot be opened from the outside. Never sleep with windows open, use roof light for ventilation. I could jam the habitation door shut with a piece of wood, and I also had a Fiamma lock on the outside. But the best deterrents of all were my two dogs.
Add a bit more security and you’ll put this behind you.
View attachment 333817
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All very well but don't make it that secure you can't get out in a hurry.

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Aire in France means an "area". As others have said there are all sorts of Aires. Avoid the Aires de Service on the main roads and look for the Aires de camping-car, which translates as a motorhome area.

We use the Campercontact app mainly to find these Aires and we read the reviews and look at the photos before deciding. And the beauty of the system is that if you do not like the look of the place when you arrive or it is full, just move on to another one. We have spent many happy times wandering around and spending some money in lovely French villages, towns and cities after we found their local Aire. But that is why those places have the Aires, to attract tourists.
 
As Eddie said, how did he actually get in ?

Also how do you lock a handle across the door, when you are inside ? Not that they are any use, had one, just get hold of handle and pull, the metalwork at the fixing will crumple. :gum:
 
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thieves only work in areas with a high proportion of potential victims so anywhere near major cities or place where people congregate will be higher risk look for aires of the motorways
 
If the door was locked and a bike across the door inside. How did he get in and escape when you shouted.

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I've never suffered any motorhome crime abroad, touch wood, but after an incident to another van in Spain the policeman said that in his experience thieves may enter through a window but prefer a quick egress through the door. So if it looks less straightforward getting out they think twice about going in.
 
If you have interior dead bolts fitted how does anyone get into a van without making a noise??.No way could anyone enter my van without waking me up..BUSBY.
 
If there locks on the Monaco are anything like mine then they are near on useless, I chain ours from the inside plus an alarm on the door.
 
If someone entered our van and I jumped up naked, the intruder would scream and run out. SWMBO would sleep through it.
Joking aside, lots of great advice here and importantly, don’t let this unhappy, scary event colour your view of motorhoming or France.
 
keithchesterfield2 said:
I wait with baited breath for #1 Poster to reply to any of your questions.

I hope I don't have to wait too long.

:france: :france: :france: :france:
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Always the sceptic I know but who would thinking about joining a forum just to tell us someone got in and out, without any more details.

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The ONLY time we have ever had anything stolen is on an aires..
We always use garages and park in with the lorries
If we are gonna stop for more than one night it is camp sites
 
peterc10 said:
Give them a chance. They did not sleep last night and they have probably been on the road most of the day.
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Mate , I hope I'm wrong, really I do but the times we have had similar stories must be in the tens now, and never to be seen again.
If I am wrong I will apologize, no problems
 
Hello to all the people who kindly answered my question. We have been traveling all day and I have read all the answers but did not see how to reply.
There was no damage and nothing stolen, although stuff piled by the front seat. We are checking the alarm system but it did not go off. We are amazed we did not hear the door opening and the steps going out- but we were tired from a troubled sleep in the garage Aire and driving in the rain all day. We are going to buy some motion sensors and fit a chain to the door and have a couple of other ideas. We will use some of the excellent advice on using the sites suggested here. By the way, all windows and roof vents were shut and the man jumped over the bike and ran off into the trees. We will make sure we are more careful and thanks for all the help ?

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