Heading down east side of France need advice (1 Viewer)

Cossieg

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Jan 25, 2013
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Hi all
We're heading over to France early in September planning on visiting lots of the world war tourist places etc. then plan to head south to the Mediterranean coast before turning west to end up in the Algarve for Christmas. The only places in France we have on our list at the moment are; Ardennes Forest, Ardeche Gorge, Narbonne. Really unsure if going down the east side is a good idea and would value the thoughts/suggestions of any funsters. Many thanks
 
Apr 13, 2012
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Follow the rivers Soane and Rhone south, not on the toll roads.

Not done it in a MH but many yeas ago in a boat Macon (wine region) to Avignon (Roman)
 
Apr 27, 2008
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We often go down the East side as you can get well down quite quickly on the free Belgian motorways. These are famous for their bad surfaces though. There are quite a few ongoing road works to improve them and the traffic usually flows OK.
Ardeche gorge, if you stay at sites try Camping Du Lion at Bourg-St Andeol (ACSI in Sept), wonderfully spacious and uncrowded if you go the end away from the new toilet block. Edmond will pitch you so you have to tell him where you want to go. We may be there about this time too.

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Allanm

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An idea for a first stop could be around Vimy Ridge ( Canadian Cemetery and visitor centre) Very impressive and you can park at the visitor centre.
Allan
 

Hollyberry

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Apr 24, 2011
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I wanted to come back to England up through Ardeche, eastern border of France. Plans cut short as cat needed op. I looked at lots of Aires and also campsites in the ACSI book. Well worth seeing those areas I think.
 
Oct 20, 2010
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We have traveled down and back on the eastern route earlier this year, it is a good way to go with free motorways for most 250 miles, we managed to get from the aire at Thaon Les Vosges (ATE pg 213/39) to Dunkirk in a day (7hrs).
Look at the route and make sure you end up passing through Luxembourg on nearly empty, the fuel is relatively cheap there, there are 2 service areas on the motorway.(y)

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Steveboy

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Take your time and meander down the R Meuse. Delightful. Also Verdun area. Deeply affective. France is a motorhome wanderers paradise. Enjoy.
 

Steveboy

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Take your time and meander down the R Meuse. Delightful. Also Verdun area. Deeply affective. France is a motorhome wanderers paradise. Enjoy.
 
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If you get chance have a look at http://www.plan-incline.com near Saint-Louis. A massive canal lift. There's a site nearby, nothing great but does the trick. It does have a restaurant attached. There is a great Municipal in Thionville right next to the river for great cycling. It's old but very clean and then you're close to Luxembourg for some cheap supplies.

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Cossieg

Cossieg

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Thanks very much for all the comments, food for thought. Has anyone a route that they use avoiding the peage as these are v expensive for our tag axle Comanche. Going down through Belgium sounds fun and Luxembourg is definitely on the list. Has anyone stopped near Lake Geneva at all?
 

magicsurfbus

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For British-related WW1 sites you're best starting at Ypres, but there are other places of course. The municipal site at Camping Jeugstadion in Ypres is an excellent stopover, but may need booking online in advance as it's popular.

Our preferred route down the East side of France uses toll roads and aires but there might be alternatives. Typically we'll go from Calais to the Seurre aire in a day, but short of that there's Dijon aire/muncipal, or the free overnight parking by the reservoir at Mesnil-Saint-Pere. We made it down to Vallon Pont d'Arch (Ardeche Gorge) in two days from Calais by heading west over the ridge overlooking the Rhone valley after we'd reached Montelimar. There's two aires at Vallon - the better of the two is on the East side of the town. If you want campsites round the Ardeche they're everywhere.
 

Rob and Val

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We bought the 'Road Trip Europe - The Great War and More' from Vicarious Books and that suggests tour routes and gives information on where to stay. It's only a small book - about 50 pages - but is a mine of very useful information.

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Mar 21, 2009
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we did this trip on our first outing abroad. started off at Ypres and then over to the WW2 sites at Normandy. I did blog it but can't seem to find it.
We've also done the centre & eastside and had no trouble finding aires etc to stay. If you get that far the Verdon Gorge is definitely worth a visit.
 

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