# Trip to France so far



## gromett (May 9, 2005)

I spent a week with my friend and various members of her family.
2 days at Montreiul-Bellay just south of Saumur then down to Villefranche-De-Lonchat (Bastide Anglaise). I was there for 5 days and intended to stop a few more at a local campsite. When I got to the campsite it was awful so decided against it. Plus it was surrounded by trees so no good for my satelite internet. The facilities were ok (just) for caravans but not for MH's.

I then went up to Montondre to hopefully meet up with Billym but he went off the radar. I decided to just head west until I hit water.
I ended up at a place called Blaye which has a wonderful fortification by Vauban. This is well worth visiting. There is an aire between the castle and the water with enough space for about 40 vans. It is very peaceful and the views of the castle are excellent. I highly recommend this spot.
And for the drinkers amongst us it takes two minutes to walk to the front o fthe castle where there are bars 

I then travelled north following the coast as closely as I could. Some of those roads are very very narrow :roll: I hit a nice nature reserve and a couple of port villages then on up to Royan.

I was about to head up to La Rochelle and on the the island but picked up some young hitchhikers who were headed to Oleron Island. I thought ok I'll take you there and have a look. I love not having plans. My first impression of the islands was YUCK. But i needed to find somewhere to stop so I asked them were there was an aire for Camping Cars. They sent me to BoyardVille. I am so glad I came now. The village is named after the fort (Fort Boyard) of TV fame.










This picture is taken from around the corner from the aire about 2 minutes away on foot along the beach. Its taken with a 300mm lense on a digital camera. Artona will explain what it means but its something like a 500mm lens. It is a long way away so the picture quality is not good. I will maybe go out to the fort tomorow to view it close up.

I plan to stay here tomorow and then head further north. I will definately be going to Ile de Re for a few days then heading inland.

If anyone is in this neck of the woods and fancies meeting up give me a shout.

Anyway more as it happens.

*Edited *
Adding GPS Coords (autoroute) for good stops.

(* = marks out of 10)

Montreiul-Bellay: 47.13383N 0.15549W *****
Blaye: Lat 45.12642N Lon: 0.66669W *****
Nature Reserve and park: Lat: 45.32827N Lon: 0.71200W *** 
FortBoyard (Boyardville): Lat 45.96891N Lon: 1.23737W *****

Cheers
Karl


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

Great report and I have got those places marked on "Places to go" spreadsheet.

Just going to check on Autoroute for the finer details. Many thanks.


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## tramp (May 25, 2005)

*west coast*

hi gromett,
we have just returned from 2 months in france, the aire at la rochelle by the marina is excellent 100+ vans, also the cubra forest between royan and ronce la bains is excellent and ok for a spot of wild camping especially at weekend you will not be alone and come sun down the beach is your own. also if heading north the islle of noirmoitier has 3 aires all excellent and very popular at weekend great for cycling 
hope you enjoy!!!

tramp


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## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

Hi Karl, relax and enjoy mate, you we're missed at the weekend,..(Stewart could'nt log on to MHF on Sun morning)   :lol: 

M&D :wink:


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

Thanks Tramp and Pusser. If either of you have GPS coords of good Aires that are nice and quiet or places that have decent architecture to look at I would really appreciate it if you could PM them to me please?

I have added the GPS coords as indicated by Autoroute to my log above and will add others as I check them out 

Sorry to hear that Dave, Hope Stew gets his net access sorted soon 
I was thinking about you guys at the weekend. Wish I could have been there.

Cheers
Karl


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Nice to hear from you Karl. France is great isn't it. Don't listen to Dave, you were missed for much more than your internet connection, we needed some ladders as well :lol: 

As to the internet connection I am finding gprs very good, this post will be uploaded via it but I find that between 11am and 3pm it is slow, presumably due to the amount of traffic the internet is receiving at that time.

If everyone does not already know a 300mm lens that was origonally designed for a 35mm film camera will as Karl states give the magnification similar to using a 500mm if used on a digital camera. This is because the sensors in digital camera are often smaller than a 35mm film frame. 

Remember to let us know if you come back to the UK Karl and we will arrange a meet to greet you back and drink all that cheap French plonk you might bring back

stew


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

Hi Karl,

The aire at Boyardville is in the Campsite database

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Campsites&op=display_results&csid=90

I hope you don't mind if I 'borrow' your cooordinates and put them in this entry as I didn't have GPS at the time?

In addition, as tramp says, there a few good aires on the ile de noirmoutier, one in the database at L'Herbaudiere..

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Campsites&op=display_results&csid=121

and one on the west side at L'epine - not in the database but a cracking aire right by the beach.

A little further up the coast just south of St Nazaire is a good one at St Brevin Les Pins...

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Campsites&op=display_results&csid=122

Unfortunately none have cooords as I didn't have a sat nav at the time so if you do visit them i'd be much obliged of you could post the coords here.

Enjoy the rest of your hols and do let us know of any good aires you find up the west coast as we are probably going there early July.

Pete


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hiya Karl mate
Glad to hear that you arrived safely then... Sounds like you are having a great time and we hope that you are getting the most from this trip.
We did miss you at the weekend, our awning just could not provide enough shade from the sun and we needed that umbrella that you carry around with you :lol: :lol: 
Give us a bell as soon as you land mate and we will uncork some very nice English wine so that you can reaccustomise your pallette with decent grape juice :wink: :wink: :wink: 
If you need anything just give us a shout and we will do what we can to assist mate...

Keep on trucking Karl and keep posting your trip...

Keith & Sharon


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

Hi peejay, thanks for the pointers.

Just a quick note about the Boyardville Aire. It is very noisy. The site stops charging for entry at 9pm and the girl goes home. Unfortunately it is a 100% french Aire so they all apear to know this and vans keep turning up from about 9:30 till around 2am. Plus I didn't realise its an active fishing port and a boat started its big diesel engine at around 3:30 and kept it running for about half an hour before pulling out.

Also it appears a couple of fairground vans are parked here and they had a dog that kept barking on and off all night. This is probably a rarity as they won't be here permanently.

It is still well worth stopping here but be aware that if you sleep lightly like me then it may not be perfect.

Cheers
Karl


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## Snelly (Aug 20, 2005)

Hi Karl

Good to hear from you. Nice to see the picture of the fort. We have two similar ones in the river humber... built during the WW1 to defend the humber from subs and ships.

Keep safe and enjoy!


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Hi Gromett - while you are there on Oleron try the Vert Bois beach - on the west side of the island; plenty of parking & superb beach. As well as the boyardville aire in September last year we used camping La Brande on the east side on the route d'Huitres; nice site with excellent pool - camping cheques. Try the restauarant there - the local speciality is mussells cooked over pine needles. Also the trips out to the oyster beds - the man is a complete enthusiast!


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Moules A L'eglade - the restaurant is called L'eglade. Brain in gear now....

The mussells are packed tightly (sideways) into a shallow sided container, then are placed on the outside barbecue & a pile of pine needles are set alight under them - two "firings", and they are ready - they can't open in the container, and when you get them you need fingers like asbestos, but they taste superb - smokey with pine hints.


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

too late Mike sorry, I moved on. Am now on Il de Re at La Flotte.
I thought I would come back here, I have some very pleasant memories of the place and wanted to revisit.
The beach is great, the market and quay with all the cafes around is is well worth a visit.

This is the first time I have paid for a campsite since getting here. the island has strict rules about motorhomes so it leaves you little choice but to go with the rabble or find a quiet site.

The site I am on is located here
46.18520N 1.31446E
Its 36C and georgeous 

BTW I am allergic to shellfish 

Tomorow I go to St Martin and then on up to Phare De Balleine.


Karl


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