# Touring France



## lummers (May 1, 2005)

Hi, We are touring France in June for the first time for about 12 days, hopefully will make our way down to the S.France. We have purchased 10 camping cheques, the system which is new to us. Any body that has any advice on any interesting stopovers or places to visit on the way down, or nice sites in the south to stay when we get there would be welcome.Or any pitfalls or advice that we can be made aware of which is not neccesarily obvious to the novice. many thanks in anticipation.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Goodness lummers...where to start !

Have you got all the compulsary or recommended safety items -warning triangle, spare bulb kit, reflective jacket and so on ? 

What are your interests and will you be taking any bikes or other form of transport with you ? 

Are you happy with the fairly basic Camping Municipal sites ( owned and run by the local community) or do you prefer commercial sites ? Have you checked that your Camping cheques are valid for June ? I thought they were a low season only deal.

Which route will you be using to cross the channel ? A lot of us use Norfolkline from Dover to Dunkirk. They give a good deal and are MH friendly but if you live some distance from Dover then you have to factor in fuel and so on to work out whether another crossing will be cheaper or more convenient. Where you arrive in France will to some extent decide your route through France.

How long are you intending to be in France ? Are you a potterer on back roads or Route Nationale or do you drive umpteen kilometres per day and prefer motorways ?

France is wonderful and very MH friendly and most people on here visit often so you will get lots of advice. Don't think I'm not giving any but the above "grilling" will help to give you the best advice !

G


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

lummers - you'll just love it.

As Grizzly says, make sure you have all that boring insurance/safety/etc stuff organised and then just go. Don't spend too much time planning your itinerary in detail, if it's your first trip then half the fun is learning as you go - there's a whole new world out there as soon as your front wheels hit that quay.
Have no doubts - there will be lots of advice coming your way before you get to June.
Enjoy


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## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

lummers said:


> Hi, We are touring France in June for the first time for about 12 days,.


We go to France in June for a month with our son who likes to stay in one place rather than tour so we stay at Chateau le Verdoyer in the Dordogne. A comfortable one and a half days journey from Calais but over 450 miles.
Every year we have had temperatures of 30 C for part of the time.

My question to you is why on your first trip to France do you feel the need to waste some of your precious 12 days travelling when you could be exploring somewhere nearer than the S of France.
One of the things which new travellers to France fail to appreciate is the size of the Country.


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## SidT (May 9, 2005)

Hi. Welcome to MHF, very good advice from Gillian as usual (and the others) we certainly underestimated the size of France, it is about 5 times the size of Britain with roughly the same population so roads are not so crowded apart from the major cities. So don't waste the time bombing down the autoroutes, you will spend a lot of money and will miss so much.
Have fun. Cheers Sid


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## lummers (May 1, 2005)

Grizzly and everyone else thanks for the advice.We are travelling with N.Line to Dunkirk and will be taking our cycles.We have the compulsory items and are happy whether we potter around on back roads or use the auto routes.Good points from Gillian I don't want to spend hours and hours driving to reach a destination miles away and bypass equally good locations closer. My wife doesn't drive, electric hook ups are preferred, we like picturesque locations as I am a keen photographer, and my wife wants to explore and experience traditional authentic locations and customs rather than commercial areas, we thought about S.France to increase chances of good weather.Hope this makes sense and thanks again PS What a helpful site this is.


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

Just a last thought, much along the lines of Autostratus and others - it's a big country so don't try and see it all in one go - what you don't see on this trip will still be there for the next and next and next...............

I have friends who have tried many times to get to the souuth but never seem to get past Brittany!


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## Left-Hooker (Sep 28, 2005)

Hi Tonyt,

That is my experience exaclty, my first THREE trips were intended to take in the south as I have friends and family down there.

Never made it further south than Bordeaux yet. We inevitably slip into the easy style of driving just as little as possible to be somewhere else.

Remember that in June the south will be hot and busy (not as busy as August I grant you, but busy just the same).

Electric hookups will be availible pretty well on all sites.


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

That's the great thing about MH travel; you can find the best weather and stick with it. We rarely set out with more than a rough agenda so if it is too wet or too hot or too crowded we can go elsewhere. Make sure you have a good road atlas though !

One site we found this summer and will return to, was Camping Municipal at Bourg Charente. It's on the river bank ( with boat launch), towpath alongside for easy cycling to Jarnac or Cognac, 1* Michelin restaurant within 150 m and a shop in the village, Sunday flea market outside the site, wonderful mix of nationalities and sooo laid back and friendly that we stayed for a week rather than our original overnight. Two UK couples had been there 3 weeks having intended to overnight ! It's not a smart site, no reception, site yourself and pay the man who comes daily but it is kept scrupulously clean. Not suitable for big rigs though as it has a chicane on entry to prevent travellers ( I suppose). Lots to see and do in the area. 

G


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

lummers - not sure if you're aware of the mass of information that's stored here in the forum. If you're new to m homing then I would strongly recommend you do a search, and get familiar with:
Hook ups and continental connectors/polarity testing.
Aires.

The Forum Search is very easy to use.


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## lummers (May 1, 2005)

I'm taking all comments on board,most of them common sense when I analyise them really. Im interested in good info like the type of sites Grizzly mentioned and thanks Tony about reminding me about polarity checking I had read about that once before.I will make use of this forum and try and read up as much info as poss.One thing is I am now already convinced I wont be trekking down to the South on this first trip bowing down to the advice given
Dave


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## autostratus (May 9, 2005)

lummers

Look for an area like the Dordogne with loads of history and a number of Camping Cheque sites relatively close together.
You can book into a site like Chateau le Verdoyer ( http://www.verdoyer.fr/gb/index.html ), decide to stay or move on knowing it's not going to be far to your next overnight using the journey as part of your exploration of the area.

If you do decide to visit le Verdoyer we will be there for a month from late May/early June in a mobile home we own.
The motorhome will be parked next to it if we are in.
Please feel free to call.

There's loads of information on here regarding routes and stopovers but but if you think I can help you in any way please ask either on the forum or by PM.


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## lummers (May 1, 2005)

Gillian, many thanks.I will take a look at the area and site mentioned. I am beginning to formulate in my mind ideas to what we want.My original fear was that I set off with no plan heading south and fritted the days,once I have a slight agenda to fall back on if neccessary I m quite happy to meander.
Dave


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## 88845 (May 9, 2005)

I agree with all that has been said, 12 days is to short a time to go to the south of France ,there is so much to experience in between particularly on a first trip.

Saying that our last trip for the whole of September did take us to the south and we roughly followed travel writer Richard Binns --Sun Run Supreme,
www.richard-binns.co.uk which takes you south via the free Clarmont Ferrand aotoroute over the new Millau Bridge.
His small booklet gives alternative routes but also gives details of about 30 places to see on the way down.Even with the time we had we found it impossible to visit them all ,but it proved to be a good basis for the trip. This alone shows what a varied and interesting country France is and why it is so popular with us grey nomads and with respect those that are not so grey.

Happy travelling,
John

p.s. The early bird may catch the worm ,but it's always the second mouse that gets the cheese.


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