# Motorhoming in France



## laddy (Aug 17, 2008)

I have given in to my husbands wish to take our tag axle to France next year,he's a haulier by trade and drove continental work,it's me that has put off going but now decided to enjoy the experience...we need any and all the info everyone has,,remember she's a 8mtr tag axle...we not be taking our tow car but still want to see sights..we are aware of some roads,we want info on where is best routes to avoid major cities with our van..we know a little about aires,we are both in our 40s with a teenager..we not new to caravans or motorhomes,just hubby wants to take her to the continent....unit we have is a burstner.with it being my first time on continent with our van,I don't want to go to far down France,not this time anyway...our daughter is happy enough with her phone to txt,so don't worry about routes that would interest her,she probably wouldn't lift her head from her phone to look out the window anyway,,,teenagers,,eh.....roads to take,avoid.sights to see,avoid...aires to stay,avoid...many thanks..A...


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Bien venu en France,

welcome, France is brilliant for "camping cars" - they are very popular here and much provision is made for them by virtually every town and many villages too.

Stopping overnight is simple - stop....... generally there are few problems with stopping where you wish as long as you are not causing damage or an obstruction. There are thousands of aires - the Vicarious Books guide is very good and you can get it in English or (we prefer) a French edition.

Is your teenage daughter doing French at school? If so encourage her to help plan by using a French language guide to e.g. aires.

Places to go? There are so many depending on where you start and what you like. Normandy is great - much to see and good roads to get there, the Bayeux tapestry, the D Day beaches, La Memorial at Caen (The Museum of Peace) - is brilliant and well worth a day - I have taken enthralled school groups there and struggled to get them out as they were fascinated.

The WW1 sites are a bit sombre IMO and best left until later.....

The further South you go, the better the weather is generally, it is often said that you can guarantee the weather "South of the Loire", but IMO not totally!

We are happy to answer any questions that you have - driving in France is VERY easy and the roads are MUCH less crowded than the UK (and a better standard).

Do browse the French Touring section of MHF - there is a massive amount of info there, and a very large number of MHF members go to France often (and stay there in our case!).

Dave


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## TIM57 (Feb 11, 2012)

Just go for it. The roads are less busy. It is motorhome friendly on the whole. Don't limit yourself to any fixed route, make it up a bit as you go along. You will have fun and see a great country.

Just returned from a 2 week tour of the Alps, weather was great.

Have fun.

Tim


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## aldra (Jul 2, 2009)

Do it once and you will return again and again

Have a fabulous time

and just take it a day at a time

some you lose others are fantastic

and at your age you have all the time in the world to build up your continental experience

Aldra


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## lesanne (May 1, 2008)

Hi , been in France nigh on 10 YRS now Motorhoming and leisure is Brill ..aLL the Aires Available ...But please remember ..you can park anywhere you like ....but not between July and August inc ,,this period you must obey regs ,or get a fine ...regards Les..


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## p-c (Oct 27, 2007)

Hi
I have to agree a camping car in France is great. Easy driving, accepted by the vast majority and with good provision for us.
i would suggest a general idea of where you would like to go but be guided by how you feel and what the weather forecast is. I love Brittany but it is not generally warm enough for my wife's health.Given time I would at least head to the Lower Loire/North Vendee or down to Troyes/Dijon on the east, we spent Easter just north of La Rochelle on a quiet site with a covered pool. I like to get the first bit behind me and use an autoroute, once on a clearly defined N road go on that and look at the scenery until you want to stop overnight or longer. At first, if using aires, stop early at 3-5 pm. That way you are more likely to get onto the aire you have selected. As you get used to it you can stop later or move on if one is full or YOU DON'T LIKE THE FEEL OF IT. I do try and buy something local to an aire, but it does not always work like that. I find that hopping place to place is all very well but it is not until you stop on a site for several nights that you settle and relax, isn't that what a holiday is about! It will depend on when and where you go but some sites may have a social life for a teenage daughter, been there!
I really have to say it beats the UK every time for a camping car holiday.
p-c
PS Currently near Frejus on night 32 of 46. the weather is great.
PSS I do not see that a tag axle will make any difference.


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## harveystc (Sep 20, 2008)

*motorhoming in france*

Hi,You will enjoy everything about France,if you go to website about France.com,here you will find lots of info on routes,roads,tolls,and much more,hope this helps .regards Harveystc. :lol:


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi Laddy
I can only echo what everyone else has said about france and the continent. years ago a couple of freinds of ours kept going on and on about it and me and the missue would rol our eye and whisper "they are off again". Mainly becuase we didnt want to leave our old labby.
When he died we gave in and to be honest we realise how silly we had been all those years. 
You will realise how bad England is for MHs when you go there. As penguin has said they have a totally different attidtte over there.

Your tag axle wont be too much of an issue and plenty of 6 wheelers find it ok. 

Your first trip could be just a drive down the Normany coast on the good ol D940 which runs from Calais right down the cost to Deippe (i think). The road to Boulougne is quite spectacular and you can stop on a nice day and look at ol blighty over the water.
Theres are lots of aires along the route so you wont really need camp sites unless you particularly want all those facilities. Some aires I know you will be Ok on are. Calais port, St Valerie on Somme, Fort Mahon Plage, Le Touquet Paris Plage, Le crotoy (theres one on the harbour or another on the beach if you prefer.)
Le- treport (electric on this aire) and Deippe. There may also be others which i havent been on. Get a good aires book and you will be OK. I like "all the aires" from Vicarious books.

Tthe aires i am talking about are constructed and maintained by the local community to invite people to stay and use the faciliteis in the town or village and spend a little money. You wont be far from a bread shop or Boulangerie i can tell you and they open at stupid oclock too.

So do a little planning by all means but not too much. You wont have to. Just go with the flow girl and with the help of us all here on MHF you wont regret it.

Phill


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## selstrom (May 23, 2005)

Keep off the Toll Roads as your MH is Class 4, the same rate as 40T artics!

Many of the cities have places to park large MHs near the center, Rouen, Avignon, Angers are examples. Others have campsites with good public transport into the towns, Dijon, Nantes, Amiens, Auxerre, Chartes and many more.

We gave up planning a route many years ago and decide where to go depending on the weather forecast. Research before you go on the various areas and have a guide to Aires and campsites available. We use Autoroute with several files of POIs for Aires etc for planning our route.

Take your time and enjoy France but dont for get the adjacent countries.


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

I know your husband is used to Continental driving but my recommendation to those a little wary of venturing over there, particularly on the first day, is to take a Saturday afternoon/evening crossing, sleep over in, or close to the ferry port, and then you can start your journey at whatever time suits you, on a Sunday morning with no ferry to catch and no trucks on the road.

A clear run to where ever you are heading.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

lesanne said:


> Hi , been in France nigh on 10 YRS now Motorhoming and leisure is Brill ..aLL the Aires Available ...But please remember ..you can park anywhere you like ....but not between July and August inc ,,this period you must obey regs ,or get a fine ...regards Les..


Les

Please what are the regs., or pointer where to find them?

Geoff


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Geoff

Parking regulations are just like in the UK. There MAY be notices excluding "camping cars" from parking at certain times of periods, there may not. There MAY be signs stating that parking is restricted to a certain PERIOD of time (VERY rare in France) or there may not. You just need to search out the signs wherever you choose to stop, simples??

Each town has its own rules, just like in England.

Stop worrying and get over to France, its the most motorhome friendly country possible, VERY few restrictions but a LOT of concessions. Its a great place to take a MH.


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## jonron (Jul 4, 2010)

LADDY,
Iknow exactly how you feel. Been wanting to go for ages with our 8.4 Cheyenne pulling our smartie,read horror stories on this site about terrible promlems with tunnels at Rouen etc .
then I asked the same question to the wonderful people on this site ,they all said GO GO GO.
WE went this year for 6 weeks it was fantastic,cant wait to go back.

I will be 75 in December so you will have no problems with your outfit Just go as fsr south and feel the heat.
good luck 

Jonron


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## busterbears (Sep 4, 2010)

We're not long back from 3 weeks when we ventured to northern spain then up into the french pyrenees with our 16 yr old daughter for company. Our Betsy is just over 7m long so not a 6 wheeler but big enough to get stuck in one way in a tiny village (yup did that) and was too high for a tunnel turn off that we needed on the peripherique (yup that was us too) and was too wide for the farm our sat nav took us through. Nothing like that ever puts us off. We were 3 days travelling to get down from Scotland to Northern Spain. Melissa spent most of her time watching dvd's and on BBM so didn't give a hoot what way we went. We stayed on a site in both spain (at the beach) and france with swimming pools so she could laze about while we biked or wandered(probably will stay more on aires when she no longer comes with us but it was worth the money to give her a base for most of the 3 weeks). She read all 3 of the hunger games and all 7 harry potters and spent most of the entire trip horizontal on the sun chair. We loved it, driving is no worse than here, weather is sooooo much better and would never hesitate to head south in the tunnel.


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## Sideways86 (Feb 25, 2009)

*Hi*

we are off again for the 3rd time this year early Friday morning on Euro Tunnel, (thanks Tesco)

Paris and Disneyland and the back up to Honfleur, Fort Mahon etc etc, only 6 days this time
Can not wait !!


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## bigtree (Feb 3, 2007)

Only bought our motorhome last December and not long back from a 3 month trip to Europe,half that time myself.Away for another 2 months in 4 weeks time,just do it,the roads in France are much quieter than Britain.


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## tony50 (Oct 16, 2007)

we towed a 7.4 metre caravan ,with the volvo car it's a lot longer than your tag axle , and unlike your motor home once you make a turn you can't see the blind side of the caravan (if that makes sense) roads generally are not so busy as UK roads ,if you go to the D Day area around Brittany there is a municipal site at Courselles sur Mer right on the sea front they have a Aire site attached /outside main camp site gates which is cheaper than going on the campsite but you can use the campsite facilities , don't worry about driving in France if I can do it anybody can ,enjoy yourselves.
ps. I think the more south you go the scenery is more interesting . 

Tony A.


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## oscardaisy (Dec 10, 2009)

you may like to consider fitting a solar panel, I got caught out recently in france watching too much football, if you stop at the aires and don't have hook up it gives you peace of mind knowing your battery won't let you down, not essential but does give you peace of mind and more freedom to stop wherever


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## alphadee (May 10, 2009)

We spend several months each year in France - all over the place, in an 8.2 metre tag axle Frankia. Never ever had a problem anywhere. 

Go for it, relax and enjoy. You will want to go back time and time again.


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## BrianJP (Sep 17, 2010)

The reason its great in France is that for towns etc to allow Aire Motorhome Parking is enshrined in their constitution ( a copy of this in French came with my Rapido) This means that wherever you go you will find that Motorhomes are accepted indeed welcomed and encouraged to stop . I am usually greated with a friendly " bon journee" whenever I go to a bakers etc following an overnight stop in France.
Unlike the UK where you are made to feel like a vagrant/ traveller who wants to park up forever and run a tarmac business and cover the area in rubbish before he eventually is forced to leave.

I would just go for it, as they say


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## Seeker (Dec 26, 2005)

We've never "done" France but went through it this year to get down to Greece. Avoided autoroutes as much as possible because they are costly - just went on overnight to stop on aires. Stopped off at the Somme memorial to the missing in action (ie those blown to bits) - near Albert, if memory serves. They have a museum there though we didn't stop to look round. There's another museum of WWI at Peronne. There's also an interesting museum at the de Gaulle memorial at Colombey les Deux Eglises (14 Euro), along with a bloody great cross of Lorraine. This museum is not well set out, though, and it's quite difficult to follow any historical sequence. Interesting to see the 'other side' of the 1968 "events". We did find the scenery a bit more interesting on the route down, better than what we've seen on the west side. Found ourselves in Dijon city centre in the rush hour - where they are building a new tram line. One way of killing an hour. Had snails as a starter for the first time ever. No, they don't taste like chicken, in fact they don't taste of anything except garlic butter! 
We've now put France on our 'to do' list for another year.


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## bigtree (Feb 3, 2007)

Same as above,got stuck in Tours where they were putting in tramlines then I couldn't find the aire I was heading for.Set out for another one and came upon a route barre',bane of my trip roadworks.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

You DONT need to go onto the motorways to find an Aire !! 

There are thousands of them dotted all over France!! Invest in a copy of "All The Aires" book (cheapest on Amazon) it will be money very well spent.

I holiday in France frequently (7.5m MH) and have yet to have any problems with vehicle size (just make sure you know your vehicle dimensions and keep a careful eye out for the signs) 

France is a great place (if not the best) to take a motorhome. Just get over there and ENJOY it. There are many hundreds on the forum who do exactly that and we cant ALL be wrong can we???


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## baldlygo (Sep 19, 2006)

Seeker said:


> Had snails as a starter for the first time ever. No, they don't taste like chicken, in fact they don't taste of anything except garlic butter!
> We've now put France on our 'to do' list for another year.


You got it wrong *Seeker* :? 
It's the frogs legs that _taste like chicken_ - not the snails 

Paul


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