# First M/H trip to France..off Sept 13 for 2 weeks



## b2tus (Sep 7, 2009)

As newbies in the M/H world, we have booked the Eurotunnel to depart UK on Sept 13th and back in 2 weeks or so.

The initial plan is to travel down the west side to the Dordogne region (after calling in on friends near Honfleur en-route,) spend 3/4 days there and then head east through the Auvernge spending 2/3 days there, onto the Beaune area spending 2/3 days there and then home.

We plan to use France Passion stopovers where we can and hopefully catch a bit of the grape harvest.

We have been trawling through various blogs on here, travel books etc etc and are more confused than when we started as to what towns/villages to look for :? :? :? 

Could any of you MHF experienced French travellers help us out and give us some recommendations? We would be most grateful as our newbie M/Home heads are spinning!!!

Thanks all.

Brent & Sue


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

As first timers to France my advice would be not to work out your itinerary in much detail at all. Pick one or two places you'd like to see and then just wander around (bimble) and see where you end up.

By the end of your 2 weeks you will know exactly what you want to see or avoid on your next trip, and the one after that, and the one...... France is big with lots to see.

You WILL enjoy

Have a browse of the campsite database and stick some details in your pocket just in case.


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

As Tony.


Dave p


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## Skar (Jul 13, 2010)

Having just got back from our first trip to France, I have to echo the above replies!

Prior to going I spent a lot of time on research and planning and knew where I wanted to go, never got there though! 

It all started changing when we got to Eurotunnel early and got an earlier crossing which gave us a much longer first days run.. then I guess the complete freedom of an MH took over, we were meant to be in Normandy and were wandering down the Loire! TBH we couldn't even plan a day in advance as the previous one never finished where we expected! We did manage a couple of nights in Normandy on the way back so all the planning wasn't in vain. We intend to go to Normandy in October now but who knows where we will end up!

We only used Aires on our trip and can highly recommend them.

Have fun!


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Yep, agreed.

Have a rough plan and then just take it as it comes and don't be surprised if you end up not sticking to it, its far more enjoyable that way.

Pete


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## KeithChesterfield (Mar 12, 2010)

As newbies to Motorhomes we've recently returned from a two week trip around Northern France.
After months of gathering as much info as possible about where to go and stay the trip took an immediate whammy when, due to accidents and roadworks, we arrived at Folkestone 5 hours behind schedule.
Our first night intended stop was not possible and from that point we realised our itinerary had been a waste of effort and time.
We just went with the 'flow' and had a great time.
We went to some places that we'd briefly visited before and not had time to explore and some places we'd never even heard of before.
We stayed in Honfleur longer than expected, our dog injured himself and a vet visit and treatment were required, and discovered that the town is much more than a tourist trap.
Ten Aires, campsites and fields later we returned home very happy with what we'd seen and done and determined to do a similar trip again as soon as possible.
Just take your time and enjoy the experience.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*time*

Hello,

It will fly by.

I like le Bugue. Nice old town.

TM


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi Brent & Sue

Peejay and others have it spot on.

We usually have a loose plan in mind, and often know where we intend to stay the first night . . . but I did say "_intend_"! :wink:

Just go. One of the great things about France is the unpredicatability. You never know what's going to be around the next corner.

We spent one fortnight travelling about 20 miles (on average) every other day in Normandy. Each time we set out, within half an hour we came across one of those fascinating little places and stopped for a good look around. Then found a nearby campsite (or aire) to carry on mooching the next morning.

You can't beat a good mooch in France! 8O :lol:

I'll push the MMGs again in case you need any general advice. Have a browse. There's some damn good stuff in there.

Dave


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## efjayar (Jul 30, 2007)

My wife and I are also relative newbies having been motorhoming for only 3 years. Last year we spent 3 weeks in France during the summer. It was with some trepidation that we set off for foreign shores but we were pleasantly surprised to find how easy it all was. Wherever we went we found the French people friendly and helpful. At New Year, my wife and I retired and we spent 4 months in Spain, Portugal and France. Brilliant! 

We only used a couple of aires the first time in France but on our second trip we used them solely. If you don't already have one, my advice would be to get a copy of "All the Aires France". It's an excellent publication which I found invaluable. Enjoy your trip.


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## mgacoupe (May 5, 2010)

We use France Passion and aires
We used to set off to get where we wanted to go as fast as we could
That lasted for only the one trip. Now we decide roughly where we want to eg The Alsace Wine route and meander along staying at aires (get the Vicarious book or look out for the MH signs in towns/villages)
Also we stay on selected France Passion sites that serve food (auberge)
Or we find an Auchan Hypermarche and eat at Flunch (very confusing at first but now we are experts-I think)
Supermarkets are great for toilet stops
We never pay to use roads in France unless we have an emergency and have discovered fantastic people and places and above all hospitality on the Passion sites. In fact we now find that the destination is always of less interest and certainly more expensive than the journey
A satnav helps
Bonne journee
MGA


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi
Echo all the above points. I dont know how long you have had your van but France is totally different to the UK. Hardly any traffic long open roads 
you will love it.

Dont try to drive too far in a day as france is bigger than you think.

Just go with the flow. We used aires (not motorway service station type aires but the ones in towns and villages) and have never used or needed a camp site in 4 visits.

There are a few driving points that come in handy though

1. in towns and villages they put pedestrian crossings every 25m so look ot for them. not usually a problem but they dont bother about [email protected] or compensation claims over there and will just cross without really looking.

2. They park wherever they like and theres no zig zag lines around pedestrian crossings. Cars can park right up to them and on them too so just take your time..everyone else does. you wont find anyone driving 2 feet from your bumper trying to intimidate to to get out of the way or drive faster...it aint england

3. They drive on the right side of the road in more ways then one... In UK on a dual carraigeway people all drive in the fast lane. In france they overtake and pull in again. They use that round thing in front of the driver...

4. Road works. They dont mess about putting cones up for 2 weeks before the works starts and reduce everywhere to one lane. They put some nit in a lorry witha big arrow telling you to get over. When you pass the bloke with the pick axe the road will be clear again


The funniest thing ever saw was down a country lane..they had painted half the black and white lines and just put cones half way across the road to sop you driving over the wet paint so you had to swerve across the road onto the other side..every 25m. Like i said the roads are like a sunday ever day so its not as big an issue as it sounds

Oh and sunday is no lorries day (apart from foodstuffs) so its even quieter...

Enjoy it...

Phill


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Ah yes . . . and when it says stop, it means STOP!!!

You can be "done" if you do not come to a complete halt - even if your wheels are barely turning.

If you see a warning sign for a speed camera, slow down if necessary :roll: 'cos there will be one, and although they don't exactly hide them they are not very obvious. Most of them are painted grey for a start, and mounted about four feet from the ground.

Cross a solid white line at your peril. For some reason the plod are vicious if you do, even if you can see for miles and the road is deserted. You will come up behind streams of traffic led by a tractor, and will wonder why the silly sods don't pass.

The plod hide in villages with their radar guns. Some of them have laser guns now, and they have a range of well over half a mile. Sneaky or what! 8O 

That'll do for me. Next please! :wink: :lol: 

Dave


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## jd_boss_hogg (Aug 26, 2009)

ALL the speedcamera's have a warning before them - if there are 2 on that stretch, they will have 2 warnings, so pretty easy to spot. They are always 100-400meteres away, depending on the speed of the road. Also, if you get flashed, they can't (won't) bother following it up if you are UK reg'd (although you'd be doing well to break the speed limit in the camper!)

You can overtake on a white line, as long as the thing is doing less than a certain speed (30km/h i think)

beware of 'priorite a droite' - giveway to the RIGHT. Basically, if you are at a junction that doesn;t have any stop or giveway road markings, then the person to the RIGHT has priority. In theory, this means you can be hurtling along a bigish road doing 90, and at a T-junction the person joining the fast road can have priority. Most French are sensible to work out which vehicle actually should have the priority by using common sense (fastest one doesn;t stop), but some old duffers like to stick to the rules. On country roads, a junction is marked with a white pole with a red top - watch out for these. Basically, you don;t know who has priority until you are close enough to see if there is a give way sign on his side or not , and by that time you've generally sped past them.

Don't let the above worry you - it's more practised in small towns and villages (and most housing estates) than it is on fast counrty roads, but it's the one thing that catches most Brits out.

If you want to stop for lunch, make sure it's between 12-1.30, because virtually all cafe's/restaurants/bistros close after 2pm (for food) until the evening. Also, there are still lots of shops that close 12-2, even some big supermarkets. Most eateries will do a very reasonable 'meal of the day' at lunchtime with 2-5 courses for a tenner, often including wine, but they can be 2-3 times more expensive in the evening (but better nosh)

And, contrary to what you read in the Sun, the French are VERY welcoming people - very freindly.


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## b2tus (Sep 7, 2009)

Thanks all for the advice. Much appreciated.

Whilst we have been driving all over Europe for years (mostly in male menopause high powered sports cars), this is a first in a M/H so obviously things will happen a lot more slowly.  

We have had the Starspirit since earlier this year and have had a few trips out to the Lake District, New Forest and Suffolk so pretty well got the hang of everything. The M/H has a Kyocera 1300 solar panel on top feeding 2 x 135amp leisure batteries with a 1800W inverter so we should be OK for leccy. We also have a SOG fitted so fewer problems with the blue stuff and therefore disposal. Hopefully the Camos crank-up satellite dish will pull in the odd bit of UK news, any F1 races and maybe the odd rugby match. Bikes will be on the rack so looking forward to exploring at a leisurely pace

We have our Tom Tom sat nav, France Passion book/card, ACSI book/card, and the Camping Bar USB dongle with all the aires on it.

All ready to rock n roll and can't wait for the 13th September. Any more advice/recommendations still greatly appreciated.

Are there any M/Homers currently travelling in France that could update us on the grape harvest dates?

Thanks all

Brent & Sue


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Im going to disagree a little bit with the others. We set off last summer for three months and did very little planning, we hadnt really properly sussed out the internet then for abroad and we missed all sorts of great places.

This year I spent ages planning and researching likely places to visit and whilst we just went with the flow we had a good idea of what was available to see and do in the areas we were visiting. We also had the internet so could roll up somewhere and find out what there was to see.

If your going to the Dordogne its all lovely but Sarlat area, La Roque-Gageac, Domme and Rocamadour (which is actually in the Lot) are fabulouse places to visit.

Depends what you like but the Dordogne is full of oldy worldy French villages and towns. Canoeing on the river seems popular.

Cheers
BD


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

We've just spent 3 hours planning, threw the maps and guide books into the air and then returned to Plan A.

Hit Calais turn right drive South-ish.

All we have planned is to put a waypoint town about 300 miles in the general direction we want to go and then take breaks as and when we feel its right to do so. When we get to that town, we repeat the exercise.


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