French passion (1 Viewer)

[chrisandcarole]

Hello all,
I was reading about French passion book of over night's stays on farms vineyards etc, and it sounds great even too good to be true for a one off annual fee for a book and a sticker on your windscreen.
My question who uses it and how do you find it?
Chris

 

[Jenben]

We have used it over the years. You do get to stop in some lovely spots and often get the opportunity to try some produce, it was mainly wine in our case Never felt that we had to buy, often the France Passion farmer was simply proud of their area or what they produced.

Often it is simply a parking spot or a car park with no facilities at all so you do need to be aware of that, some spots may not suit you (we went to one where they had a number of dogs for security which just barked a lot so we didn’t bother staying). You might need a back up plan if that is the case , for us aires are great too.

Sometimes they are a bit off the beaten track which might be perfect for you but it might mean they are tricky to find although the gps info in recent books has improved this a lot.

Would we buy it again ? Yes depending on what our travel plans were, why not try it yourself and see.

 

[EuroTrotters]

Its okay and for the money worth a try.

To be fair, there are plenty of other stops that are easier.

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[suavecarve]

We had France Passion for a couple of years. Only once were we asked for proof that we had purchased the book, in Provence near to Lac de St Croix.
I should think we have stayed at 20+ including ostrich, deer, pigeon farms as well as many vineyards.
Being british we felt obliged to buy something, even though it isn't necessary. Sometimes we were worst off.
That is tempered with, there is nothing like sitting in a vineyard drinking the wine that was produced from the vines that you are watching the sunset from.
Havent bought it this year, shant be using any of them.
Would probably purchase again though I am quite sure many use the facilities without purchasing the book and they are easy enough to locate.

 

[Camdoon]

I found they tended to be out the way so suitable for bumbling about the place rather than being under any time constraint.

 

[Lot lover]

We use FP.

The downside? Just somewhere to park with no other facilities, can be excessively remote so maybe not much use if you are en-route, the owners rarely speak English (disgraceful I know), dairy farms tend to smell very rural etc., you are only supposed to stay just 1night, with a max of 5 pitches you will probably be alone.

The upside? My wife is paranoid about aires and refuses to stay on them, FP sites tend to be open during the winter when most French campsites are closed, peace and quiet except at milking time which is horrendously early in the morning, we have never been pressured to buy and in one case had to almost beg Mme to open her shop and sell us some ice cream (this one was just 20 mins from the Chunnel), an annual cost of EUR 25 - 30 equals just 2 nights on ACSI sites.

On balance, well worth the money for us but plainly not for everybody. We intend to spend our next MH holiday as an FP one, using that book to decide where to stay and an Aires book to choose where to empty tanks and refill where needed.

If you are looking for the "real France", whatever that is, you might find it as a member of FP.

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[Pia]

We've used it a couple of times, places in the most beautiful parts of France...so yes, we do buy the book

 

[chaser]

Hello all,
I was reading about French passion book of over night's stays on farms vineyards etc, and it sounds great even too good to be true for a one off annual fee for a book and a sticker on your windscreen.
My question who uses it and how do you find it?
Chris

This is a hard thing to pin down, we have used it since five years ago, then missed the year before last then had it again last year but I think that will be it with it.
If you are new to France I would say go for it, we found some wonderful places with it, but the downside is they are very hard to find where you actually want to be, but as I say if you are newto france motorhoming it gets you to meet some proper French people and most of them are just not bothered whether you buy anything or not and on lots you never even see anyone.
But with the abundance or Aires that are where you want to be it gets to be a bit of a faff going miles out of your way to find somewhere you don't like.
As I said before if you are new just try it for a year but if you are ok with Aires and campsites , I wouldn't bother.

 

[two]

FP sites are many and varied.
How do you find them? - often with pluck and difficulty. Some are down narrow tracks that you only continue along because you've committed and there's no turning opportunity. Few are en route to anywhere but many provide a warm welcome. Usually feel obliged to purchase something.
You'll need to find an aire occasionally, as FP sites usually have no facilities. Good for seeing the 'other side' of France.

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[FIDGET]

Personally never tried FP, nearly always use aire's ,as we like to stay near water ,i.e, canals lakes rivers , we avoid major towns & cities . What area are you thinking of heading , funster's will come up with some reliable aire's worth visiting. Just ask

 

[chrisandcarole]

Thanks @FIDGET we haven't got any real plans other than ferry to France and book the first night and make it up from there across Brittany towards the Atlantic coast.

 

[DangerMousy]

We tend to use a mixture of aires and campsites: campsites for longer stays and aires for stopovers. This year as we're heading to France for 2 weeks (and possibly a week later in the year too) we've decided to try FP. I've already bookmarked a few potential places which either sound nicer than the nearby aire or are in places with no aires convenient to where we want to go.

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[Old Barrian]

Just a word of warning! It's actually 'France Passion'. If you google French Passion, you get something completely different.

 

[two]

but it might be better?

 

[p-c]

Hi
I thoroughly recommend FP. But it is only part of the "places to stay". I avoid ones on main roads like restaurants and some wine cellars.
Our favourite is miles off the main road, a lovely view, water, waste and free EHU.
Enjoy
Regards
p-c

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[two]

We know a few we'd go back to but we never seem to be in their region again. So many to choose from, but rarely en route and it's fun to discover new ones anyway.

 

[Cleve]

I bought France Passion last year and used a number of locations very happily. I always did a drive by and only decided against two.

I have continued my subscription this year and look forward to staying on more. Some of the wines and ciders I experienced were simply wonderful. I visited a few with a couple of friends (also funsters) and we are of one accord. They had been the one's who recommended FP to me.

Clive