# First Trip To France



## rustydexter (Sep 21, 2008)

Hi all Pat and I are thinking of going to France with our Tracker Motor home . We have never bean abroard in the van before ,Pat is rather nervous so i would be grateful for any tips or info on pitfalls
We will of course be taking Ban the lab with us :wink:


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Think of all the worries you had when you started motorhoming in UK.

Motorhoming in France is free of all those worries and is actually far easier.

Only two things to make it slightly difficult.

The locals don't speak your language and they have an annoying habit of driving on the wrong side of the road.

The language problem is the hardest to solve of the two.

Just enjoy!!


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## iconnor (Nov 27, 2007)

Don't forget to check all the requirements for the dog. You will find all you need in the pets section.


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## rustydexter (Sep 21, 2008)

Thanks for reply we are doing a french course at the mo :? so should be fun


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Remember too that France is HUGE ! Somewhere that looks a comfortable drive is usually much further than you thought. Don't try too much at once. Choose a region and explore rather than driving too much.

After a short while you will get used to travelling as the whim takes you and looking for a stopping place- campsite or aire- from day to day. For your first night however I'd advise picking somewhere close to your arrival port and, if it is summer, booking it in advance. That way all you have to do on arrival is drive there and you will not have the additional worry about whether you'll find somewhere to stay and what it will be like.

If you've not got a satnav then put one on your list for Father Christmas. They are a great help and take the strain off your navigator as well as having POIs that can guide you to a campsite gate or aire.

G


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

You will enjoy visiting France - life there in a MH is very easy - they positively welcome "le camping car" and there are so many facilities that it makes the UK look very second rate.

There are numerous points for emptying waste water, loads of aires and excellent campsites of all sizes and prices.

We really enjoy the "camping a la ferme" which are often simply rural sites with good facilities for a few € per night including EHU and hot showers. Their Municipal sites are very good value and maintained to a very high standard, their commercial sites do tend to be large and expensive but we try to avoid those - particularly in the summer when there is often a minimum 7 night booking.

Many sites can be located from the UK or from books, try this site too for some excellent small sites;

http://www.gites-de-france.com/gites/uk/camping

Driving is easy and lane discipline MUCH better than in the UK - they stay in the right hand lane of motorways unless overtaking. Fuel is cheapest bought in Hypermarkets - avoid motorway service stations for that as they are VERY much more expensive, if indeed you use the autoroutes, the road system is excellent and much less busy than UK.

Sat navs are very useful - we use Tom Tom Europe and it has proved 100% reliable on all sorts of journeys - it does reduce/remove "in van discussions" which can become slightly stressful! :lol: But a decent map will suffice if you do not have sat nav. But beware they seem to enjoy changing road numbers at frequent intervals "just because they can".

Enjoy yourselves - I am sure you will! The French are VERY welcoming if you try to speak ANY French, however bad!

Dave


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## naunty (Aug 19, 2010)

Just been loooking at your photo of your beautiful black lab. We went to France with our two dogs. One black lab - Harvey, and Henry a cross - same size as Harvey, but now a old 14 year old. I too was very nervous about going to France and taking the dogs. But having done it once I have no reservations of going again. My husband said it would be fine - I think it is a man thing - so far as he is concerned "everything" will always be fine - he never sees problems!!
We had a lovely holiday and travelled over via the tunnel. Stayed at a nice site at Guines just a few miles from the tunnel and stayed there on the way home - there is a good vet at Ardres- not far from Guines. We had no problems at all with the dogs, the French seem to like dogs - especially black labs - Harvey had a lot of admirers.
We are aiming to go over to France next May, hoping to have 7 weeks away, driving down to Calpe in the Costa Blanca. I am a bit worried about going all of the way down to Spain with the dogs, but guess what! My husband says it will be "fine". So the tunnel is booked and we will be off. Enjoy France and look after your lovely lab.

Mrs Naunty. 

'Grizzly'and 'Penquin' also make some very good points and I would agree totally with their comments. The only other thing I would mention is that we have always found it best to travel out of the main summer season, and along with that, wouldn't be without the ACSI camping card and book of sites which really can cut your costs significantly - Check out http://www.vicariousbooks.co.uk/
Naunty


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi Brummie (or is it black country) :lol: 
welocme to the forum

When you get a mo have a look in the fance touring sub forum and you will see quite a few people asking very similar questions so have a look through these and you will get a lot of useful info.

How do you plan to cross? We go on eurotunnel and its quite easy although i have never taken the van on the ferry. If you book early enough and are not too fussy about the dates or times then the crossing is usually about 65 quid each way. Its a lot less stress on the dog and you sit with him in the van and hardly feel a thing. I think on a ferry you have to leave him in the van on his own which is a bit worrying if its a bad crossing so thats to bear in mind.

We plan to go before the end of june. In august all of france goes on holiday and the place is very busy so try to go before Aug aug if poss.

Where will you stay. Camp sites or Aire-de-Serv. If you dont know what these are then look at the section where you will get a lot of info. We always use Aire-de-serv and have never used a camp site. it wont be a problem with your dog on aires. the only downside is you cannot book them. thats rarely been a problem with us s we get their at lunchtime when most people have moved off. 

As others have said its really easy driving in France. Easpecially on a sunday when all the HGvs are off the road (except perishables)

As grizzo said dont try too much. We did brittany one year. its only 6 inches on the map but 300 miles by road and took us 2 days travelling so dont make that mistake. Theres lots to see just in Normandy for a first trip if you like the seaside.

Enjoy anyway - i,m sure you will

Phill


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## tonka (Apr 24, 2006)

Rusty...
Go for it.. !! Youll never look back...
The beauty of being on this forum is that you'll get most of your questions answered plus lots of pointers...

I may be worth telling when you are thinking of going, for how long and any partuicular interests... Sure you will get lots of great input...

It's also surprising how many fellow motorhomes you could meet on the way. At the docks and overnight at aire's or campsites... This helps to build up tips and information..

oh... and dont worry to much on the language, I get by with my schoolboy french from 35 years ago..


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## rupert1 (Feb 13, 2009)

rustydexter said:


> Hi all Pat and I are thinking of going to France with our Tracker Motor home . We have never bean abroard in the van before ,Pat is rather nervous so i would be grateful for any tips or info on pitfalls
> We will of course be taking Ban the lab with us :wink:


I feel everyone worries a bit when going to a new country, really it is pretty simple these days. Language nice to learn a bit but do not worry about it, our French is OK but German nil and we get by no problem. Even if a campsite speaks no English, this is rare now, how much do you need to know. One of the nice things about being from the UK is that English is rapidly becoming the language of Europe. Driving will come naturally, just remember drive right look left. I would recommend three books, the ACSI campsite one if going outside of July/August, All the aires of France and the Rough Guide. Avoid paying autoroute's if not in a rush and head South, in my opinion most of the best bits are south of the Loire. Contrary to what has been said France is not that big and you can reach any part of it fairly fast although like the UK their is an awful lot to see.


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## musicbus (May 1, 2005)

*go for it*

Hi Rusty,
I remember planning every last detail of our first trip to france in the M/home in 2003. nervous about what might happen where to stay etc - lot of nervous energy expended.

Had a fantastic trip 6 of the best weeks imaginable. One of the best parts was meeting fellow 'homers on the road and getting some really good advice.

How things change - these days almost 100,000 kilometres later its as simple as get off the tunnel and decide to turn left or right and just roam. Interestingly the single best thing we have bought back then was the tom tom. With all aires and campsite poi;s loaded plus Passion France life on the road is a breeze.

Go for it - everyone here will second that and as someone above said check out the continental touring section. Literally every question you will ever encounter has been mulled over and answered by people who know what they are talking about. I know I have benefited greatly from the generosity of other members.

bon chance!

barry


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## trekki (Jun 2, 2010)

Hi rustydexter
have a look at this http://www.campercontact.nl/ it lists a mutitude of sites and some aires .Im afraid it is in Dutch but easily translated with Google translate. It may well help you with planning your trip also I noticed it seems to have sat. nav co-ordinates for the majority of sites and aires which are more than helpful.
All the best on your trip


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## EEVpilot (Aug 15, 2010)

HI,
we were new to motorhoming in July and apart from a quick trip round Scotland to get the hang of things, went straight across the channel through France and down to the SW of Spain. It was no problem and I can only endorse all the other comments on the forum. France provides very well for MH's. 
When we left the UK as absolute beginners, we thought camp sites would be for us, but by the end of the trip we were sold on Aires.
Follow the advice provided by the very experienced group of people that contribute to this forum and you'll have a great time.

Bon Voyage

John


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

Hi,

We went for the first time this year and it was so easy,after all the worrying about the ferry,driving on the right,booking sites etc...it was a pleasant surprise.

I don't know why we put it off for so long but I have just booked the tunnel for next year,this time for 3 weeks 

I was grateful for all the advice on here of course,it made the trip so much easier.

Have a look at this thread-
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-86047-.html


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Advice*

Hello,

One piece of advice.

If you do not already speak French, learn a few basics.

The French are very traditional about their languages. They always greet people with Bonjour, get the niceties out of the way and then get down to whatever it is they want the say.

ALWAYS

Greet the French with "Bonjour"
Alway say s'il vous plaît for please and Merci, Merci Bien or Merci beaucoup.

Never ceases to amaze me how many foreigners walk up to someone else in that persons country and just blart out demands in English, without so much as hello (in the local dialect) or some kind of apology for not being able to speak their language.

I have said this before. But if a Marseille supporter walked into the Gorse Hill pub after a football match With Man UTD and said to the Landlord..

"bonjour, un demi et un vin rouge s'il vous plaît monsieur"

Joe the landlord would reply.......

"Are you on ******* DRUGS?"

TM


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## blondy (Aug 23, 2007)

WE have all the books mentioned previously, but started off with, and still use Caravan Club, Europe 1, book as it has more sites including municiples, which are often near towns or villages and more reasonably priced, we never book and have never failed to get on a site as its full.
All the best on your adventures, as thats what they are, but as has been said its easier then you think.


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## Ken38 (Mar 24, 2009)

I guess you have got the message!
As a newbie we found France great. The motorways are expensive but you just roll along.

Remember to turn right at Calias first time over. The motorway is very quiet and there is some good scenery quite early.

My wife is comfortable driving in France but she still won't drive in the UK!

Someone may have said already but once loaded up get a weight certificate in the UK at a weigh bridge. It's a couple of quid and could save a lot of hassle if a policeman does pull you over. 

Campsites are great. Public aires are everywhere! Right in the middle of town often and free!


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

We have fallen in love with France. Its fantastic and so vast and with many different regions.

We dont like to use campsites if we can avoid them and for us this is huge bonus when visiting France. Its pretty much legal to wild camp in France just about anywhere and much safer than the UK and the Aires system is superb, especially if you can hunt out the nicer onces.

This site is very good http://www.campingcar-infos.com/index1.htm although google translate doesnt always work too well on it.

A good sat nav is a must with POI for Aires, wifi, supermarkets, LPG, McDonalds (for wifi). Most POI are available on here or by googling. The best Aires one I have found is the campingcar-infos site as its not just France either.


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## christine1310 (Apr 10, 2008)

Hi, If you are stuck for ideas to go at first have a look at http://www.mycamperstops.com for a few ideas.


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## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

First time we went to France in a MH was in 1991 just a few weeks after buying our very first MH. This site as not running then (probably before they invented the internet anyway :lol: ) so we just went! No worries about reversed polarity, weight restrictions, etc. etc. etc. 'cos we didn't know about them  

Nearly 20 years later and a little bit wiser we still enjoy our much longer hols. as much as we did then. We still take the attitude that we are visitors in their country and respect their culture and countryside. So far we have always been welcomed and have had some lovely experiences with kind French people.

I think what I am trying to say is - be sensible, but don't over plan or get neurotic about thing that could go wrong. Try to converse with the French in their language and you will be made very welcome.

Sue


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

It won't take more than 50 miles to get comfortable and relaxed on the wrong side of the road. Unlike car driving, your high seat and big mirrors give so much better visibility, making continental driving a pleasure.

Be sure to understand that the "Aires" we talk about are the designated motorhome/campingcar stopping places provided by the local authorities in so many towns and villages. NOT the "Aires" on Motorways which are like our motorway service areas.

Within a couple of days you will wonder what all the worrying was about, as you explore deeper and deeper into this fascinating and spectacular country.

Then you will be thinking about calling the ferry operator to put your return back a few days.

And when you do eventually get home, if you haven't already done so, you'll be planning and booking your next trip as early as you can get away.

We've just done our eighth French trip in two years and have barely scratched the surface of northern France. At this rate, we'll never make the Med.

Bonne route.


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## peeter (Aug 6, 2009)

*first trip to France*

You will definitely find France much better than Britain for food travel and welcome.I find driving on the right much more natural and now worry about driving in Britain again after 5 years without a visit.I think the drivers here are a little more considerate athough they will often drive too close behind.Watch the speed limits in the villages and take great care at roundabouts. Remember that a new law will exist which give pedestrians priority over drivers when they wish to cross the road they need not use a pedestrian crossing anymore.There is a lot of controversy over this new law in France and people say there will be a lot more accidents.I cannot see how it will work on main roads.


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