The Essential Guide to Camping in France - Camping in Europe

A guide to camping in France by Art Johnstone, (edited by Keith Saye).

The Essential Guide to Camping in France Introduction - Why am I writing this guide? Planning your holiday in detail is a good idea and that often starts on a cold, wet and dark weekend in winter – until, of course, it’s time to break for coffee and forget all about it until a couple of days before departure. As time goes on there are more and more laws about all sorts of things, especially those which apply to drivers, which most people will not have picked up on before they depart for what should be a couple of weeks of pure pleasure in our nearest foreign neighbour.

“Planning your holiday in detail is a good idea and that often starts on a cold, wet and dark weekend in winter …” This is where we come in With our ‘Essential Guide to Camping in France’ we put you straight from the beginning - and we start before you even think of packing. Hopefully after reading this you will all be able to enjoy a hassle free camping holiday!

Your best ever camping guide! I believe also that this is better than any free guide which has gone before in terms of detail and my and my wife’s knowledge of the departments and regions of la belle France, but that is for the reader to decide. Without further ado, here are the sections; click on each or scroll down to read on! 1) 2) 3) 4)

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Who I am (and why you might want to listen to me!) What we define as camping Getting there – or plane, trains and automobiles! Driving in France - Paperwork (Vehicle) - French police - traffic police - Navigating French roads! - Borrowed, hired or leased vehicle - Drink driving limits in France - Driving Speed Limits Your Campsite Differences between British and continental owned mobile homes Vive la difference! - A note about public toilets - Beaches, dunes and nudity… - Medication / medicines - The weather - The British and the language barrier - Some handy lingo – start speaking some French! Checklists: - Paperwork (Personal) see also Paperwork (Vehicle). - Common sense items - Camping checklist French Regions and their Departments – a mini guide in itself! Handy Links

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Copyright Future Computer Services Limited. Last updated 24.04.2017 E.&O.E.


Who I am… and why you might want to listen to me! My name is Art Johnstone and at the time of writing I am nudging 70 years young, having been camping with my sister and parents in France and other European countries since I was 5 years old. We toured all over in those days but far more slowly than today as there were no autoroutes then, but what you never had you don’t miss. My partner in this website and E book is Keith Saye who is indispensable in doing all the techy bits. Later on I joined up with three other lads and we drove from here in the Midlands of England to stay in the south of France for two or three weeks yearly for about five years. Those were great times but even then the roads system in France was especially dire as the roads through towns and villages were cobbled and they shook our old car to pieces so it taught us to drive through towns with a great deal more respect (for the car). One other thing which we sorely missed in those days were the “cat’s eyes” which were non-existent in France in the 1960’s because the inventor, Percy Shaw, refused to allow other countries “foreigners” to buy or produce them for their own use. That remained the case until he passed away. We had to take a break of some years as our own family was growing up, and by the time they were sixteen or so we started taking more camping holidays in France. By that time the autoroutes had been made, complete with cat’s eyes and driving over was made extremely easy because of the lack of traffic and the fact that said autoroutes bypassed towns and villages so there were no hold ups. Driving there is so relaxing and pleasurable but the reason for that is probably because France is roughly two and a half times larger than the UK with approximately the same population, most of whom live in the major cities. We still go on holiday to France but now we are becoming older we tend to favour the west coast after a ferry crossing to St Malo – bearing in mind that we are based in the Midlands nearly five hours away from Poole with a ferry crossing time of roughly four and a half hours and a hundred and eighty mile drive to the Vendée from Malo.

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What we define as camping Camping includes Either You taking your own tent & equipment Or Hiring a tent or mobile home from a travel company beforehand. These days when you hire a tent it will include proper bedding, cooker, fridge and crockery but it is wise to ask the tour operator or campsite manager before booking to determine exactly what they provide. Mobile homes include pretty well everything you are likely to need and some companies even include things like hair driers. However, the tour operator/camping company you book with will either have a brochure or a website which will tell you precisely what is included in your mobile home hire, but please take notice of what is mentioned about bedding – do they supply or do you have to cart your own all the way from the UK? Camping and mobile home holidays are one of the best types of holidays for getting to know people from… well, from anywhere: France, Netherlands UK, Italy, Germany etc, and everyone gets on well with everyone else. There are no barriers of any sort here; there are no class barriers, there are no financial barriers and the family with a beat up Citroen Saxo out of the Ark will live side by side next to a family with a new £60 K Range Rover. Camping is the best of levellers. As campsites have such a variety of different peoples, ages and viewpoints there is an unwritten rule that noise levels be kept to the bare minimum from 10.30 pm onwards, not that high noise levels are tolerated anyway, but it is generally felt that children and old people (like us) need their rest so 10.30 pm is the chosen “hush” time.

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Getting there – or plane, trains and automobiles! As aforesaid, driving in France is a doddle, even today, unless of course you are stuck in the middle of Paris but I would never drive there unless it was through the night when the traffic lessened. Now we come to the nitty gritty of do we drive to our camping destination or do we go on a coach? Well in fact there are 4 ways of getting there which we list below:

Coach trips You may notice in your local press that some coach companies both near to you and nationwide take a busload of passengers down to the South of France for a couple of weeks at a time in Summer. It’s cheap and good value but tiring as you really, really need to have a break from being in a coach for 24 hours with only a few comfort breaks until you get there. We did it once that way but never again because we both needed a holiday to get over the travelling.

Trains Another option is to go by train. Now until recently I would never have mentioned doing that but Eurostar http://www.eurostar.com/ now take you and your luggage to several places in the S of France in 6 hours from London St. Pancras. Early in 2015 they had unbelievable offers down to £89 pp return at one time to get the project off the ground and depending how things pan out for them you may well find similar offers in future years. There’s no doubt that travelling by train – in France they are all pristine clean and on time by the way – saves all the hassle of driving 700 or 800 miles from Calais to the south and you arrive there fresh as a daisy. Most people would hire a car at that point. Another advantage is that you can take far more luggage than if you were to fly there as you are only limited to the weight you can carry – not just the 25 Kilos you would have in the hold of a plane.

Fly drive Well you may have guessed that the third option is to fly/drive and again, this is hassle free so far as driving is concerned but you lack the means to take more than the minimum of luggage with you. Wherever you go you will quickly find that you need transport in France so we strongly recommend that you hire a car at the airport or train station BUT you will get a far better deal if you do this online before leaving the UK.

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Driving The last option of course is self drive and yes, it can be tiresome for some but to repeat what was said previously, driving in France is a doddle and road signing is far better than it is in the UK. Self drive holidays in France are simply the best and as you go along you will pass all sorts of scenery and history which may want you to stop and explore, but you have a deadline on this first day and must be in your campsite by 11 pm or you will have to park outside and carry your luggage to your mobile home. The 11 pm thing is a law in France by the way and is not just something campsite owners have cobbled together in order to get an early night.

Where are you going? Before you consider driving, deciding on where you are going and how long it will take are excellent questions n’est pas? This will be closely followed by which port are you using? OK, well you can use the Michelin Route Guide http://www.viamichelin.c o.uk/ - to determine the quickest and cheapest routes including tolls (remember those or your calculations will be well out!). The further west you go the better a ferry to Caen looks until you wish to go straight down the west coast in which case St Malo is by far the best bet.

Driving in France What you need to take with you to comply with French law + other Euro countries: 1) Two self breathalyser kits (available in car shops or boat). These may well be totally inaccurate but you have to carry them anyway 2) Complete set of replacement car bulbs 3) Headlight beam deflectors 4) Complete first aid box (a comprehensive kit – a box of plasters will not suffice) 5) Hi Viz jacket each for driver & passengers – the driver must be able to put on his/her jacket before exiting the vehicle. 6) Fire extinguisher 7) You must display a GB sign on the rear of your vehicle 8) You must carry a breakdown triangle in your vehicle 9) Common sense says that your vehicle should have a service before the hols.

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New laws were introduced in France, effective July 1st 2015 onwards 1)

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No eating whilst behind the wheel – at present it is unclear if the French authorities will issue fines for eating whilst in a traffic jam as they do here (£100 fine for eating a banana whilst stationary in June 2015) Applying make-up whilst driving is banned from this date Map reading whilst driving Listening to excessively loud music Using headphones or other earpieces are banned whilst driving a car, motorcycle or bicycle Smoking in a car when there is an under 12 year old passenger Smoking is also banned at children’s outdoor play areas, including those at motorway services Satnavs capable of detecting speed cameras are banned whether in use or not! Fines for this are up to £1,000 or equivalent. There are stiff on the spot € fines for non compliance.

We strongly suggest taking a good map of the country you are to visit OR Sat Nav. Driving regulations and customs in France are different to the UK. There are severe and rigidly enforced penalties for all road traffic infringements. These include imprisonment and a heavy fine for causing death whilst driving over the alcohol limit or under the influence of drugs. There are also similar penalties for causing death by dangerous or negligent driving.

Paperwork - Vehicle Although we have attempted to provide the all the necessary information for driving in Europe we accept that the authoritative word must come from bodies like the AA whose website give info on this topic at http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/general_advice.html If you are travelling by your own transport – car, minibus etc then you need to take the following:1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

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Vehicle registration document (V5C) – the original, not a copy Vehicle insurance policy Valid full (not provisional driving licence) Driving licence paper counterpart – if you have a photocard licence International Driving Permit (IDP) where necessary Blue Badge parking: If you have severe mobility problems you will be familiar with the blue badge scheme which allows you to use disabled parking spaces and to park on single or double yellow lines under certain circumstances. The Blue Badge is recognised in all European countries. When you display it on the dashboard, it allows you to make use of the same parking concessions allowed for the country's own citizens with disability. Air Quality Certificate for drivers in French cities – this has its own section below…

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Air Quality Certificate for drivers in French cities A new air quality certificate if required for driving in French cities. From January 2017 onwards, this certificate is required if you plan to drive through Paris, Lyon and Grenoble, although another 20 cities will be incorporated into this initiative in the very near future. We are providing you with best advice as things are now and what we expect the law to be in the future, and that is: We believe the police will be lenient initially, and we hope that attitude will include the summer rush to campsites all over France, but we still advise you buy a certificate to avoid a fine of circa £100 - details of how to buy the certificate are set out below. If you feel you need this certificate then we advise you to purchase it well in advance of your holiday or planned trip to France because having read through the blurb we think it may take a week to 10 days to obtain. NB: Don’t leave it too late to get your certificate because this is not something you can just buy at the last minute! Why is this certificate necessary? Air quality is a major health issue: 60% of the French population is breathing in polluted air. This is why the State has put in place an action plan for air quality. One of the main pollutants, fine particulate matter, accounts for a large part of the road traffic and leads each year to an increase in the prevalence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. To protect people's health and promote the development of low-emission vehicles, the roadmap from the 2014 environmental conference provided for the creation of a vehicle identification system: the Air Quality Certificate. The quality certificate of air, how does it work? There are 6 classes for the cleanest vehicles. The nomenclature is based on the pollutant emissions of passenger cars, 2- and 3-wheelers and quadricycles, heavy trucks, including buses. It has 6 classes depending on the engine and the age of the vehicle, a specific class of which is reserved for "zero engine emission" electric vehicles. The classification order has been published and to obtain the certificate, simply go to this website http://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr/ Manufactured on request, the certificate will be issued by post, individually, to each vehicle owner who requests it. It will be sent to the address shown on the vehicle registration card. The certificate is a secure document that limits all types of fraud. The vehicle classification is valid for the lifetime of the vehicle for which it was purchased. The certificate costs a few Euros, payable online. It will take a few days for the certificate to be manufactured and mailed. Once the order is validated, the applicant will receive by e-mail a receipt attesting the category of his certificate pending receipt of his certificate by mail. The main thing is when you’re driving through France you will be able to use the périphérique, or ring road, which nearly every city has, so there is no need for you to enter a city at all. Should you wish to during your vacation we suggest you use their Park & Ride system which is usually cheaper than parking back home. You may well need this certificate to drive to the south, eg Calais >Paris>S. of France. That being the case you will need to purchase the certificate. A Publication of:


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French police / French traffic police Please Note: If you are disembarking from a night crossing it is possible the French police may be waiting to do spot checks and breathalyzer tests – just a word to the wise if you have over enjoyed your first evening of “duty free” drinks. The French police apply speeding restrictions strictly and if you exceed speed limits you will face heavy on-the-spot fines. Having said that, they are most active during the peak summer holiday period when the roads and autoroutes are jam packed with Brits racing to the south. Travel there in June as we often do and you have to search diligently to find a flic. If you break French driving laws you can also have your UK driving licence confiscated by French Police. This could lead to your vehicle being temporarily impounded if no alternative driver with a valid licence is available. Whilst we hope this never happens to you, in the event of an accident or of being stopped by the French Police (les Flics) we strongly recommend that you never, ever argue with them. The French police are formally addressed as monsieur/madame l’agent and colloquially called flics (cops), although there are many less polite names. They do not, repeat do not have any sense of humour at all so the more you argue the deeper in the doo doo you will find yourself. Just pay up and look unhappy! A note to explain briefly about the French Police Services and why they differ from the UK: The National Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces which is in charge of public safety and with police duties among the civilian population in France. These are the guys you are most likely to meet. The Gendarmerie also contains a special forces division which you will only encounter if you are a really bad lad. The Gendarmerie works with the other national law enforcement agency, the Police Nationale and, although it is a part of the armed forces establishment, it is now a part of the Ministry of the Interior. Both divisions are armed and it has always been my firm belief that each and every one of them was born out of wedlock. Should you come into contact with one of the above you could be forgiven for thinking they have a "down" on foreigners. They do not. They simply 'hate' everyone!” A Publication of:


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Navigating French roads! Road signs, map reading & other bits to remember.. Instead of indicating a road's number (D-76) or direction (East, West, etc etc), road signs usually simply point you to the next community on a given route. You will often see signs indicating a chain of cities leading from the next village through to the next major city or cities; when reading a map, always look for the name of the next major community on your itinerary as well as road numbers. This takes some getting used to but is actually quite logical; you can easily navigate from Marseille (south) to Lille (north east) etc. without ever looking at a map. All this should really come under planning your holiday and most people plan their route when they finally know where they are going to spend their camping holiday. To this end we show you a link to the Michelin Route Planner http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ which is probably the best as it supplies you with a detailed route as well as the correct mileages and typical costs for both petrol and diesel users. The motorways (autoroutes), indicated by signs with blue backgrounds, are almost exclusively toll-roads. In most cases, you'll pay by the kilometre; you pick up a ticket before getting on and pay (in cash or debit card) at the péage when you exit. The D roads are usually dual carriageways and are mostly free with little traffic on them (compared to those in the UK). Traffic will enter these roads from the right, often at great speed and with little regard for you. On the highway, the French are trained to stay in the right-hand lane except when passing. A turn-indicator light to French drivers is not a request but indicates an immediate manoeuvre. Drivers are supposed to use the right turn-indicator to signal leaving a roundabout (although this rule is routinely ignored). NB: Beware of drivers coming towards you who have their indicators flashing as if they are about to turn. In short they may not do and a typical French driver will leave his/her indicators flashing for miles. Priorité a droite : which loosely means that you must give way to traffic coming from your right (please see above). It is an archaic law that dates back to the times of the horse and cart and for some unknown reason has never been repealed. However, bearing in mind you are driving on the right and if you are nearing a junction doing 80 mph and some maniac shoots out from your right then he/she most probably has the right of way. The first time this happens to you is frightening, so to avoid possible life changing injuries to yourself and your passenger(s) we strongly advise that you move over to avoid a collision. A Publication of:


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Roundabouts: Vehicles on a roundabout ( sens giratoire orrond-point) usually have priority and not those entering it, who are faced with a ‘Give Way’ sign (‘ Cédez le passage’ or ‘ Vous n’avez pas la priorité’). While it used to be that drivers on the roundabout at times had to give way to vehicles entering the roundabout, this has slowly changed, and almost all roundabouts give priority to the vehicles actually on the roundabout. Note to Brit drivers: Remember to drive anti-clockwise on a roundabout – exactly the opposite of what you do in GB. If you are nervous at a roundabout then just drive slowly and indicate right before you exit.

Borrowed, hired or leased vehicle If you are taking a vehicle abroad which is company owned, hired or borrowed you will need a letter of authorisation from the registered keeper. In addition you will need to take either the original vehicle registration document (V5c) or Vehicle on Hire certificate (VE103) The VE103 is the only legal alternative to the vehicle registration document and can be obtained from BVRLA/All fleet services on 01452 881037

In an emergency 112 is the European emergency call number you can dial anywhere in the EU in case of accident, assault or in any other distress situation

Drink driving limits in France TheBAC (blood alcohol content) limit defines the maximum legal amount of alcohol that is permitted to be in the blood for people to legally drive in each country and jurisdiction. Please note that drivers are likely to be breath tested at random when alighting from ferries after long night sailings. The drink driving limits(at time of writing) are: 0.5 mg per ml in France (for bus drivers it is lower at 0.2mg per ml) & 0.8 mg per ml– UK, Ireland with 0.5mg being the equivalent to one small beer. To check the current drink driving permitted levels, please visit: http://www.safetravel.co.uk/europedrinkdrivinglimits.html Please note: In many parts of Europe, the police don't need 'probable cause' to stop your vehicle and breathalyze you. They're permitted to make random stops and checks, so you could easily find yourself stopped unexpectedly. With the fact that many people are pushing towards zero drink driving and that driving with any alcohol in your blood can impair your reaction time and judgement, it is probably safest to not drink and drive at all.

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Driving Speed Limits Below are standard legal limits which, unless otherwise signposted, apply to motorcycles and private cars (including those towing caravan/trailer). A list of speed limits is usually displayed only at border crossings with no reminders within the country, so check to make sure that no changes have occurred. Remember, the penalty in most countries for exceeding speed limits can be expensive on-the-spot fines. To check on speed limits in France see this link: http://www.safetravel.co.uk/frenchspeedlimits.html Now this bit is rather nasty but is a fact of motoring life in France so please picture this: You have just got off the boat at Calais and are driving to the South of France. You get on to the A 26 full of the joys of summer and looking forward to a relaxing holiday and some sunshine, but you find there is little traffic on this road so you put your foot down and in no time you arrive at the first Payage booth (toll booth) where you will meet a nice police officer who will tell you that there are automatic speed detectors which provide an average speed per vehicle/journey. He or she will gravely inform you that if keeping to the speed limit of 130 KPH (81 mph) you could not have legally covered the last 80 KMS (50 miles) in 17 minutes, so would you like to pay by card or cash Monsieur?

Your Campsite Most campsites allow you to take up occupancy around 3 pm, and that is because the mobile home/tent you have pre-booked has to be serviced prior to your arrival. All the above should really come under planning your holiday and most people plan their route when they finally know where they are going to spend their camping holiday. To this end we show you a link to the Michelin Route Planner http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ which is probably the best as it supplies you with a detailed route as well as the correct mileages and typical costs for both petrol and diesel users. At the last count there were in excess of 11,000 campsites in France, and whilst all of them are vetted by their local authorities you will invariably find that some are better than others. That being the case we have only been able to dedicate time to those used by the major UK and European camping companies such as Homair, Eurocamp, Keycamp, Canvas Holidays, SelectCamp, Alfresco-Holidays, Siblu and one or two more. In fact, Homair, a French company, now owns Eurocamp & Keycamp making it one of the largest in this marketplace. However, those companies still act as though they are UK companies in every sense. Siblu is French owned. These companies, whether UK or European owned, will provide you with at least a 3* campsite, and in most cases it will be 4 or 5* or the equivalent. A Publication of:


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They will all have a nice pool and sometimes more than one with slides etc thown in. They will all have a bar area which normally supplies meals and/or their own restaurant. Very often the bar area will be (an early finish) night club in the high season – early finish because of noise laws which affect all campsites in France so none of these will carry on after midnight and most will finish before then. The whole idea is for campers to enjoy themselves whilst paying due attention to the fact that camping holidays are not about clubbing. They will all supply fresh bread at least twice a day and most have their own shop for fresh food and many other things. For those campers who are in tents – as opposed to mobile homes – there will be pristine clean shower and toilet block (s) and the larger the site the more of these there will be. Take your own toilet rolls!

Differences between British owned mobile homes and continental ones Now this can be interesting. Believe it or not but there are some distinct differences between mobile homes (static caravans) which are provided by British companies (Canvas Holidays, Eurocamp, Keycamp etc. etc, not in the size, design or the structure but in other things such as cups and saucers. Don’t get me wrong here, both are just as nice and just as comfortable but there are some subtle differences. Cups provided by continental owners are generally the demi-tasse size – the tiny little ones which will not quite allow your little finger to go into the holder, whilst Brit owned mobiles provide what we consider the normal sized cups or mugs. Brit owners provide a kettle whilst most continentals boil water in a pan. You are likely to have a coffee maker in a continental mobile home but not in a Brit owned one. However, the main difference is in the electricity supply and Brit owned mobiles have 220/240 v just as you have at home whilst continental ones are on 110 v, so if you are in a continental owned mobile home and they have provided you with an electric kettle then you may still be trying to boil water when it’s time to leave for home. One little tip should you be staying in a continental mobile home is to watch out for their TIN OPENER as they are without any doubt the most lethal instrument that could possibly lurk in your kitchen draw. We have managed to find an image of said lethal tool which was first designed in 1855! And the French still use it! Lastly, and this is important: if you stay in a Brit owned mobile home you can just walk out of it at the end of your holiday (you should really clean it but you don’t have to). However, stay in a continentally owned mobile you have to leave a deposit to cover cleaning it at the end of your stay, and if you haven’t done it properly you lose that deposit– and yes, they do inspect thoroughly before handing the deposit back! A Publication of:


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Vive la difference! A note about public toilets The French certainly believe in sex equality so far as public toilets are concerned, and some Brit ladies may be a tad squeamish about entering one for the first time. Mostly the public toilets are unisex and more often than not ladies will have to pass the Gents area while it is in use in order to get to the ladies cubicles. I must admit that performing at a trough whilst ladies pass by at the back of you put me off more than once too. But at least most towns have got rid of the dreaded “hole in the floor” which has always been the French version of a public toilet until the last few years. If you haven’t had the dubious pleasure of using one of these then you are lucky! Beaches & Dunes France is well blessed with coastlines starting in the North East next to the border with Belgium and going westwards past Picardy, upper and lower Normandy and around Finistere in Brittany to return East again to the Loire Atlantique, the Vendée and the Charente-Maritime. From there we go further south to the French/Spanish border in the Pyrénées Atlantiques which is the Bayonne & Biarritz area. The other coastline is also massive and reaches from the other French/Spanish border near to Perpinan and facing the Mediterranean Sea. This first part is the Languedoc-Roussillon region which joins the Provence-Alpes-Cote-d’Azur and eventually Monaco and then Italy. Nearly all the French coastlines have dunes which are protected as they are thousands of years old. On most of them you will find stunted pine trees – stunted usually by the prevailing winds over the years. Again, most of the French beaches are superb and the local authorities under whose control they belong try their hardest to keep them and the seashore clean and tidy. Now then, we have to mention that there are quite a few “naturist” beaches dotted about here and there, and apart from any private ones they are free to enter and normally have a sign somewhere saying “Plage naturiste”. The French do like their skin I must say, and my wife and I have wandered unknowingly onto one of these beaches when out walking. We found that nudity is no big deal and virtually no one gives you a second glance. Having said that please don’t go away with the idea that we are raving nudists who rip our clothes off every time we hit the beach! We have never seen any signs giving age limits so assume that anyone from toddlers to oldies with walking frames are welcome. Cameras are unwelcome on most of these beaches. A Publication of:


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Now I am a man who has been on many hundreds of different beaches in France, the UK and other parts of the world, and in my journeys I have rarely seen games of beach volleyball being played. Yes, I have seen some games but not many, so why is it that when I have inadvertently strayed onto a nudy beach they are all playing beach volleyball? I have noticed over the years that this game is played more by ladies and gentlemen who have an overabundance of flesh to say the least, and I can say hand on heart, that watching these acres of wobbly bits leaping ungracefully about is not a pretty sight, so if you are of a nervous or frail disposition I would avoid these areas like the plague lest you see something which may be detrimental to your normal sleep pattern. It's too late for me – I’ve been and seen.

A medical note We like to think that our guide to camping in France has the personal touch, and to prove that point I shall now tell you a little known fact about how most of the French used to take their medication, and how a good proportion of them still do. By that I mean tablets and/or pills. Well, you and I (I hope) normally take tablets, pills or whatever you like to call them, by swallowing them with a glass of water, n’est pas? To put it bluntly, lots of the French do not. They - and you will need to excuse me here because I have tears in my old eyes – they take their tablets anally. Yes, you read it here first! Obviously I have never seen this done, and nor do I wish to, but the reason they do this is far from silly because medication is absorbed into the bloodstream far more quickly via the lower intestine than it is by swallowing it with water. So if you have a headache… you fill in the blanks! However, as a guy whose tablet medication extends to 16 per day, and more on occasions, then the French method has little appeal for moi. Inserting 8 pills in with breakfast and another 8 in early evening would, I suspect, cause me a degree of inconvenience and at very least give me a funny walk. Any and all of you are always most welcome to mail us on any subject but please do not write in to ask how they treat a sore throat! Take your own medication! By the way – I advise you to take all your own meds from home for 2 reasons. 1) They are vastly cheaper here and 2) You can only get things like paracetamols etc from a pharmacy in France. They are the shops with the green flashing cross outside but they normally keep shop hours so if you feel ill after 6 pm, tough! The weather Before we go further on this topic we can offer you a link to a weather page http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/France.htm which tells you what the weather is doing Today but if you haven’t ventured into France before, or you are taking a holiday somewhere in that country that you haven’t visited before then you may be interested in what the weather is generally like in summer, and though this is not my forte I have managed to cobble together what I think you may wish to know. A Publication of:


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France has lots of micro climates such as the Charente mentioned below, and in most places by the shoreline you will have a nice sea breeze. Briefly then, Northern France is a tad warmer than Southern England, so if you hail from Derbyshire as we do then it is substantially warmer than here. Brittany is similar but the Finistere department in the far west can be bitterly cold and windy in winter. Summer time though is usually nice and warm and probably the best region if you have very small children who can’t take too much heat. Further south, the Vendée is getting warmer and drier. It can be very hot in a bearably dry sort of way and not at all humid as it often is at home. You can experience thunderstorms at times but these are generally during the night and by morning the sun is shining brightly once more. Further south is Charente-Maritime and this is a micro climate, having nigh on as much sunshine as there is in the far south. Further down is Aquitaine, again a warm to very hot region and this is where you get the best of the surfing with the Atlantic rollers pounding in. In southern Aquitaine it can and does rain throughout the year – have a look at the surrounding fields and see how green they are – but rarely will there be enough to spoil a holiday. The rain here is due to precipitation from the Pyrenees. Around the corner in the Languedoc-Roussillon/Provence regions it is normally very hot in summer and August is when the inhabitants of Provence take their holidays – out of the heat!

Checklists: Paperwork (Personal) 1) Ensure all travellers have an up to date passport 2) Ensure all travellers have their E111 card. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) can be used to cover any necessary medical treatment due to either an accident or illness within the European Economic Area (EEA). The EHIC entitles the holder to state-provided medical treatment within the country they are visiting and the service provided will be the same as received by a person covered by the country´s ‘insured’ medical scheme. 3) If you have separate medical insurance then take that too

Common sense items 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

Taking out breakdown insurance is a good idea as being towed from Nice to Calais can be quite a drain on the plastic. If you are driving in Europe and have children in the vehicle it may be a good idea to take something to occupy some of their time Have your car serviced a month before you go Credit cards UK issued credit cards are not always accepted at stores or petrol stations in other countries. Check with the card company before you go, particularly if you plan to rely on the card for payments. Sadly we have no knowledge of whether cash points charge/don’t charge for dispensing money. Mobile phones – NB: Use of a hand-held mobile phone while driving is prohibited in many countries and if you are caught doing so in France there will be Hell to pay – or rather something akin to €130 on the spot . Pets - Contact the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS) helpline on 0370 241 1710 if you are planning to travel with a pet. Spectacles - Take a spare pair of spectacles if you wear them – especially if you are the sole driver.

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Camping checklist Please note that our camping checklist applies far more to people who are tent camping rather than staying in static caravans or mobile homes. However, if you are hiring your tent from the holiday company they supply most of what you will need – cooker, fridge, beds, crocks and utensils but it is best to check with them as to exactly what they supply. For just normal camping we recommend the following: 1.

2.

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

Tent – always choose a larger berth than the number of people camping, this gives you extra space for luggage. Tent Accessories - these can include tent porch, tent carpet and tent footprint (depending on the tent you own) Spare Tent Pegs – nothing worse than bent tent pegs Mallet / hammer- ideal for knocking tent pegs into the ground and for the windbreak too! Lantern / torch Duct Tape – you’d be surprised what can be fixed with tape Brush Electric Hook up – adds electric to your tent, for the mod cons. Sleeping Bag Sleeping Mat/Airbed – whether roll mat or double airbed, this can add comfort and extra insulation during the night. Camp bed – a camp bed gets you off of the ground, and feeling like home. Pillow Extra clothing – the temperature does drop at night, layer up and you can remove layers as you get warmer during the night. Ear plugs – other campers can snore or be loud; whether after you’ve gone to bed, or before you want to wake up. Air pump for blowing up whatever Furniture – camping chairs and tables can go a long way to creating a great social area outside the tent or in the living area. Portable Toilet – ideal for the middle of the night, or with young children. Windbreak – good for campsite privacy, and of course keeping the wind away. Torch/ Head torch + spare batteries Water container – ideal for drinking water, or trips to the onsite tap. Stove and/or BBQ Gas/Charcoal – depending on your choice of cooking appliance. Pots/Pans Low Wattage Appliances – to work with your electric hook up, for extra luxury Kettle Cooking utensils Tableware - crockery Cutlery Basin - even if not used to wash the dishes, it will certainly help for carrying dirty dishes to the campsite wash area. Tin Opener Bottle Opener Cool box / Cool bag Matches/Lighter Wet Wipes Bin Bags – leave nothing behind String / Cord – can be used for binding, or an onsite washing line. Personal medications (plus extra)

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A guide to camping in France by Art Johnstone, (edited by Keith Saye). 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.

Sun Cream Anti-bacterial handwash Insect Repellent Extra Batteries Pocket Knife Toilet Roll(s)

The British and the language barrier The whole world is aware of the British “non-involvement” in languages other than our own – in other words most of us only speak English and tend to go on holiday where English is spoken (Spain etc.), and we are universally blamed for not trying to speak even a few words of the host language when we venture abroad, relying instead on the poor, long suffering waiter/barman to understand our tongue and it’s various accents. For this we are thought of as being discourteous and ignorant, but having thought about this aspect of the British abroad there are a couple of things which may help to explain this hesitancy we have for “speaking foreign.” First of all we are an island nation and in the last couple of millennia we have been conquered and occupied only twice, once by the Romans and then again by the Normans in 1066, but on both occasions we did in fact learn to cope with, and assimilate their languages. Since then if we didn’t travel abroad we had no need of another language, and very few Brits travelled abroad until the 1960’s at the earliest when package tours became cheap and available. Secondly, we had the Great British Empire, the largest and most far flung empire the world has ever known, which some historians believe started in the very late 15th century, though personally I put it a tad later than that. The actual dates are immaterial so far as we are concerned today but the fact that we as a country were so powerful for some centuries meant that we as a nation did not have to learn other languages – the conquered nations had to learn to speak English! Sadly, the effects of both of the above are still with us but we really should have a stab at speaking French when we go there, if only for the sake of politeness. I can tell you now that if you go into a shop in France, or ask someone for directions in English you will find they do not speak a word of our language, will shrug their shoulders and move on. But there again, if you try speaking to those self-same people with a few words of your most execrable French, they will be all over you like a rash in their haste to accommodate you. You do not have to know much French to have a wonderful holiday there because once the ice has been broken you will find that the aforesaid waiters etc. will automatically speak to you in English because they want to better their own language skills. A Publication of:


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Some handy lingo One of the things I was determined not to get into with this E book was the French language because where do you stop with it? To be honest you don’t need to know much French but the more you know and use the more they will love you for it. However, Keith suggested we pop in a few choice bits & pieces. You can now get a French phrase book for Smartphone users https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codegent.apps.learn.french For non Smartphone users I suggest buying a phrase book from any decent bookshop. However, there are one or two things you ought to know which may not be covered in a phrasebook: Bonjour monsieur/madame (Hello/good morning) Bon soir “ “

“(Hello/good evening)

BUT the perennial question is: What time does bonjour become bon soir? The answer is there is no set time but this is a question which can baffle the best linguists so I always use bon soir from early evening onwards and that way you can’t go wrong. NB: In English we have only one word for YOU, apart that is from using ONE, which is the more upmarket word for it. However, the French use Tu and Vous and they are very particular in the way those words are used in everyday speech as I try to explain below:The word tu is the very familiar way of saying you and normally you are only invited to use the familiar term when you have got to know someone very well, which can be several weeks, months or years depending on the other person. The plural is vous. Because you may only be in France for a few weeks and unlikely to form such a close bond with anyone in that time I strongly recommend that you use the more general vous in any conversation, and by doing so you will avoid giving offence. One exception is where children are concerned and you are expected to use tu when talking to them. This is important and I have known of instances where (upmarket) engaged and married couples still use the vous form of address. You may find someone on your campsite who becomes rather chatty and greets you thus: “Bonjour, ça va?” >> which means, “Hello, how are you/ how’s things etc To which you could reply: “Bonjour, ça va bien.” Means,”I’m good/doing well/OK” For drivers: Petrol is L'essence Unleaded petrol is L'essence sans plomb Diesel is Le diesel but more often gazole or gasoil (diesel oil) Interested in learning more? Perhaps a learning CD may help you? http://www.linguaphone.co.uk/ or the remarkable http://www.michelthomas.com/ are excellent places to start learning French. A Publication of:


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French Regions and their Departments Something which confuses so many people is the difference between a Region and a Department. Well a region is like a large county which has several Departments within it. To help our readers we are listing all the Regions of France and their Departments which apply to camping holidays, starting from the north and travelling west to Finistere in Brittany, then down the west coast and along the south which takes in Languedoc-Roussillon and the Provence-Alpes-cote-d’Azur. We then take in the Rhone-Alpes, Franche-Comté and the Centre region. Region: Nord-Pas-de-Calais Departments: Pas-de-Calais and Nord Region: Picardy (Picardie) Departments: Oise, Somme, Aisne Region: Haute (Upper) Normandy Departments: Seine-Maritime, Eure Region: Basse (Lower) Normandy Departments: Calvados, Manche and Orne Region: Brittany Departments: Ile-et-Vilaine, Cotes-d'Amor, Finistere, Morbihan Region: Pays-de-la-Loire Departments: Mayenne, Sarthe, Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Vendee Region: Poitu-Chanetes Departments: Deux-Sevres, Vienne, Charente-Maritime Region: Aquitaine Departments: Gironde, Dordogne, Lot-et-Garonne, Landes, Pyrenees-Atlantiques Region: Languedoc-Roussillon Departments: Pyrenees-Orientales, Aude, Herault, Gard, Lozere Region: Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Departments: Bouches-du-Rhone, Var, Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de Haute-Provence, Haute-Aples, Vaucluse Region: Rhone-Alpes Departments: Ardeche, Drome, Isere, Savoie, Ain, Rhone, Loire Region: Franche-Comte Departments: Jura, Doubs, Haute- Saone, Territoire-de-Belfort

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As to where to take your camping holiday, well, how long is a piece of string, but we have been asked the question and though the pages in our website cover most areas we will give our opinions (for what they’re worth) below; Picardy and the Pas de Calais areas are just a stone’s throw from Dunkerque, Calais or the Channel Tunnel at Coquelles. These places don’t boast too many camping holiday villages but one which springs readily to mind is Guines about 15/20 KM’s on the D305 direct from Calais. This is nice and quiet, great for walking holidays and near to some of the 1914/18 WW1 battlefields which more or less follow the A26 E15 autoroute or D943 road to St Omer, Bethune, Arras, Cambrai, St Quentin and others as you drive south. There cannot surely be many people who would not be very moved by the sight of thousands upon thousands of white crosses by the side of the road, each marking the resting place of a WW1 soldier. Going west from Calais then Picardy, or Picardie is the next port of call, and getting here is also very easy as most of the northern ports are within easy driving distance: Calais obviously, Dunkerque, Dieppe & le Havre. There are lots of camping towns and villages on the north coast which tend to be less frenetic than those further south in high season. Again, this is another area which offers excellent walking facilities and we are hard put to mention any one which is more suitable than the others. Many people visit this region to see the battlefields around the River Somme, another massive battle which caused a huge loss of life during the WW1. St Valery at the mouth of the River Somme tends to be the most popular camping town in the whole area. Normandy tends to be a tad busier than Picardie, probably because it is arguable the easiest to get to (more ports) and it has its own history of battles from the Norman Conquest up to WW2. Bayeux for a start is somewhere every self respecting visitor to Normany should see, and the colours in that huge tapestry are still vibrant nearly 1000 years after it was made. To be accurate this “tapestry” is not really a tapestry at all, it is an embroidered linen cloth 70 metres or 230 feet long. History has it, rightly or wrongly that the work was done by a team of seamstresses in Canterbury Cathedral – not the ladies of France at all. It is thought that the Bayeux Tapestry was completed in the 1070s, several years after William’s victory in the Battle of Hastings. There are so many things to do and see in Normandy that we do not have space for here. This is far, far more than a holiday region and one which has so many characteristics you could spend months seeking them all out. For instance, the Mont St Michel, a rather magical island topped by a gravitydefying medieval monastery, the Mont-Saint-Michel counts among France’s most stunning sights. For centuries one of Europe’s major pilgrimage destinations and the most visited place in France, this holy mount is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Caen, though badly damaged during WW2, is the capital of Lower Normandy and a thriving university city with exceptional historical heritage. Inland a tad from Caen is Bagnoles de l'Orne town nestling in the heart of the Normandy-Maine Regional Nature Park. This little place has been looked upon for centuries as a veritable paradise on A Publication of:


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Earth, as has the virtually next door Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei and the Parc Naturel Régionel du Perche, and other wonderfully relaxing area of natural beauty. Ports giving best access to Normany are Calais and Eurostar, Dieppe, le Havre, Cherbourg and St Malo. Brittany has always been a favourite for British visitors and to a great extent is uncannily like Cornwall, which is most noticeable when you look at the boulder strewn beaches, and to this day some Bretons and Cornish (Corns?) reckon they can understand each other when speaking in their native tongues. It was on the way back from our last Brittany holiday to the port of St Malo when, for some reason I became lost, a fact I put down at the time to my wife and daughter jabbering enough to make me momentarily lose concentration and take the wrong road at a junction. It turned out well though because we inadvertently stumbled across a little town called Josselin and the castle or Chateau there, so I can give you a little first-hand info on the place: The magnificent Josselin Castle overlooks the Oust Valley and it has been in the Rohan family on and off for centuries, in fact, the town is named after the son of the viscount who built it. The castle, which is owned by the only remaining branch of the Rohan family, is open to the public from April to October. There is a doll museum in the old stable block in the castle grounds. The collection now counts around 3,000 dolls and 2,000 other items including children’s toys and books. The museum puts on a different exhibition each summer. Most of the camping holiday sites here are scattered around the coastlines but Brittany is another region which is well accessed by the northern ports of Roscoff (actually in Brittany), St Malo, Cherbourg and Caen, and there is no shortage of good resorts on the Cote de Granit Rose (North Coast) which gets its name from the massive rosy coloured rocks which abound in that area.

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There are oodles of towns and villages in Brittany which have well established camping links, and whilst most are on the coast, a few such as Dol de Bretagne are just a little inland. Dol is near the Normandy border and very handy for the beach and a day around France’s most visited landmark – Le Mont St Michel. Le Mont is a tad dear in terms of parking and entrance fees but if you are in the area or have some spare Euros left when waiting for your boat back home then it is well worth spending some time there. For a nice walk round or a day out you can see masses of history in the old town/city of Dinan less than 20 miles south of St Malo. Other than Dol the main camping towns and villages in Brittany are (on the north coast) Cancalle, St Cast which is very popular with school trips, Perros, Carantec which is near Roscoff, and then we round the cape of Finistere which is nice in Summer time but bitterly cold and windy in Autumn and Winter. On the southern coast we have Beg-Meil, a tiny little place on the Baie de la Foret opposite Concarneau which is perhaps the busiest fishing port in France. Pop down there early in the morning when the fleet get in and you can buy fish straight from the boats. Benodet which some people have mentioned to me as being in Spain!!, is there as well on the south coast and is one of the busier camping holiday resorts, as is Carnac and la Trinité sur Mer which are more or less joined at the hip. If you have ever heard of the Alignments, Dolmens or Standing Stones which are many thousands of years old then they are all here and most can be viewed from the roadside, but the best view of them is to hop on one of the Little Trains which go round the area which you can hop on and off as you wish. On an historical note we understand that it was Napoleon Bonaparte who named Carnac after the Karnak in Egypt. That leaves us with Quiberon (Kiberen), the main town of which is a good 15/16 KM’s away at the end of the Quiberon Peninsular. There are some exceedingly nice campsites clustered at the far end and we have visited them all during a stay there a few years ago. The rest of the Peninsular is a dump but the far end is very pretty and Quiberon town is neat, tidy and very upmarket.

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The downside to staying there, and it is a serious downside so far as I was concerned, is a small but very noisy private airfield which opens up around 9 am and closes down between 8.30 pm and 9 pm. NO, and I repeat NO camping brochure mentions this menace, but if you want a peaceful vacation then this is a place to avoid. Certainly the best bit of it is the D768 road back to the mainland. Having said that, there is a small town just a few clicks away called Port Haliguen which must be the most beautifully designed town in France! All the houses are entirely different and it is a sight for sore eyes. Drift down the coast a little and you will encounter the St Nazaire Bridge over the River Loire, a frighteningly high construction when you drive over it and it costs to go over these days. You are then entering les Pays de la Loire and the Vendée. MAP Drive over this horrendous edifice then and take the road south signed for the Ile de Noirmoutier – another peninsular, but before that you come to the idyllic town of Pornic which is beautiful in the extreme and has an imposing chateau looking over the bay. If I remember rightly (and I do) this little town has the largest ice cream parlour I’ve ever seen! Sadly I am banned from eating those these days unless I’m able to lose the wife for a few minutes! Carry on the same road to the south and you come to the turn off to Noirmoutier which is a lovely little place on a peninsular roughly 22KM’s long, and there are camping sites at the far end. Further down and following the coast is the Foret des Pays de Monts with all its associated bird and wildlife of a wooded area in France. Red squirrels abound here (as they do all over France in the woods & forests) and we have regularly hand fed them. You will often see signs for Camping des Ecureuils which really means “camping squirrels. There are thousands of these endearing little creatures in most of the campsites which have trees. Please note that there are NO grey squirrels in France and the authorities are keen to keep it that way. A Publication of:


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Next we come to St Jean de Monts which is my favourite town in western France. Why? I know not but I formed an attachment with the place about 25 years ago and still love it to bits. There are masses of beaches there including one for naturists but they are all flat and safe for non swimmers and kiddies. I must tell you this: to the north and also inland of St J de Monts are areas called les Marais, or marshes, and it is in these Marais where dragonflies breed – hundreds of millions of them, and you will meet these little creatures in virtually every campsite there. They are in the grass, they are in the hedges and if you carefully offer up your hands they will settle on your fingertips – they are not at all dangerous so don’t be afraid of them. I managed to have 9 on both hands one year – not bad considering I have a finger missing from my right hand! Whilst we have names for all sorts of dragonflies it appears that the French call them all Les libellules – saves on identification then! This was the first seaside town I saw in France which was on several levels, the uppermost one being at sea level and all that stops a huge wave from swamping the town proper is a wide promenade and a road. Perhaps tsunamis never hit the French Atlantic coast. As aforesaid, the top of the town is at sea level where there

are plenty of hotels and restaurants, and there are streets leading down to the middle level where there are more shops and a very pretty church, then down again to the town proper which must be a good 500 feet lower than sea level.

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The town itself is exquisite, having an English/Irish pub (which closes at 10 pm), lots of shops and a supermarket. There is a large carpark which is turned into a market place on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Stallholders come here from all over western France. Like all French markets this one starts early (7 am ish) and finishes on the dot of 1 pm, and I guarantee you will never, ever find any leftover rubbish when the stalls have been packed away, unlike here in Chesterfield, Derbys, when the local council pays guys overtime to pick up the rubbish left from markets. Most of the camping sites here are on the top road about 900 metres from one of the beaches though there are a couple – la Bois Masson and la Bois Dormant down at the outskirts of town on the north side – they face an uphill walk of a mile to get to a beach but they are lovely sites as our family knows having stayed there in the past. I may have rambled on rather about St Jean de M but the place is worth it and if you ever go there you will remember my words and say, “That old man sat in his office in Chesterfield was right – this is a wonderful place.” Just don’t leave any litter please. Further down the coast is more woodland near the beach, and of course, the protected dunes which are all around the French coastline. Next come a duo of towns more or less joined together but separated only by the River Vie, St Gilles Croix de Vie and St Hilaire de Riez. There are flourishing camping sites here and we gave them full marks when we were last in that neck of the woods. Further down still are a plethora of small towns and tiny coastal villages which blossom in summer time when the camping holiday season starts properly in June. We have Givrand, La ChappelleHermier, Brem sur Mer, Jard sur Mer, the Lac du Jaunay, Bretignolles sur Mer, Port Bourgenay, Longeville sur Mer and les Sables d’Olonne. Now les Sables is a far larger town and one where it is easy to let loose your plastic. There are some wonderful beaches here and similar applies to shops as well. If you visit les Sables we recommend using the Park & Ride facility which saves any hassle in parking. Les Sables again is a town which boasts plenty of camping facilities on the outskirts and the town is pristine clean, as are the beaches. Just to the south les Sables of the city also boasts one of the best small zoos in France where birds and small monkeys are free to fly and roam around though the monkeys tend to stay near the coffee shop where they steal milk and buns from the visitors. They have this off to a fine art it seems where one will distract your attention whilst its mate pinches whatever you are holding. Les Sables hosts the Vendée Globe yacht race which starts and finishes here and all the inhabitants of the city are avid sailors (mostly from armchairs, but still very keen). Further down the coast is St Vincent sur Jard, a tiny place but well known in camping circles, and then les Conches where we have stayed a couple of times and where the surfing is good enough for people from all over northern France will pop over for a weekend just to catch some waves. Les Conches is 6 KM’s north of La Tranche sur Mer, our last resort in the Vendée. La Tranche is also good for surfing and it is a clean little town normally A Publication of:


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bedecked with welcoming baskets of flowers all over town. Parking can be a problem here in high season so get there early! Charente-Maritime is the next department further south from the Vendée, and this has its own micro climate and has about as many hours of sunshine as the south of France quite some distance away. The main city of course is la Rochelle, the walled city, which was made a free town in 1199 by Eleanor of Aquitaine and in one way or another it has been a fortified city ever since. This is another city where we strongly recommend using the Park & Ride facility and the cost for a day parking there will be roughly equivalent to a couple of hours parking in your own town back home. A day here in this beautifully clean city is a day well spent where you can wander the streets and window shop to your heart’s content. My wife and I walked around the city walls one year, or all that’s left of them, and there are great views out to sea from that vantage point. Drive through la Rochelle (not a problem) and you will get to the bridge which takes you out to the Ile de Ré, where there are also camp sites, but frankly I wouldn’t bother as the cost of going over the bridge is extortionate at 16,50 € from 20th June to 11th September – that is for a return ticket though but so far as I’m concerned it can float out to sea at that price! Next down and worth a visit is Rochefort which probably has more to do with the Three Musketeers, d'Artagnan and Alexander Dumas than it does with much else but it’s a pretty place and worth taking a look at. Compared to other areas of France there is a distinct dearth of holiday spots in Charente, but the ones which spring to mind are around Marennes, the gateway to the Ile d’Oleron on a FREE bridge, and the more or less landlocked Parcs a Huitre. From Marennes of course you can drive directly onto the Ile where campsites abound like fleas on a dog’s back. Take the D728/D25 road from Marennes to la Tremblade – a beautiful town surrounded by water on one side and the huge Foret de Coubre on the other and you will come to a town called la Palmyre which faces the Atlantic on one side and is encircled by woodland on the other. It is truly a delight to be here I can tell you. The main (or best known) campsite here is called la Bonne Anse and this is sheltered from the ravages of the Atlantic Ocean by a spit of land. Very nice and peaceful it all is too, and just to the south of the town are the beaches – la Plage de la Palmyre and la Plage de la Grande Cote. There is also a world renowned Zoo just to the south of la Palmyre which I have been told liaises with other similar all over the planet. After that and just a few miles south of la Palmyre comes Royan, a seaside resort in its own right which occupies a site on the mouth of the Gironde Estuary facing the Atlantic coast, and from here you have a choice if you are going to enter the Aquitaine coastal area. A Publication of:


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Drive around the River Gironde is one choice but this takes ages and costs quite a lot in toll fees & fuel, OR make the ferry crossing from Royan to le Verdon sur Mer into the Gironde department of Aquitaine. You need to work out where you are going before deciding which route to take. The schedule is listed on this handy page http://www.bernezac.com/passages_eau_royan_verdon_uk.htm Costs – and this is what you will have to work out for yourselves depending on where in Aquitaine you are going to settle – is it cheaper to cross here taking fuel costs and tolls into consideration or drive further south and through Bordeaux? AQUITAINE OK, we are now in Aquitaine, a vast region of South West France and one of the largest provinces in the country even though the indigenous population is just a tad less than 3 million people, most of whom live in the towns and cities. Aquitaine in made up of 5 departments: The landlocked Lot-et-Garonne & Dordogne, Gironde which hosts the capital Bordeaux, then Landes and the Pyrenees Atlantiques. The Gironde, Landes and the Pyrenees Atlantiques have coastlines facing the mighty Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay at this point) and this provides massive breakers which are a delight for surfers. Five metre waves (around 16 ft) are common but there is a shelf somewhere near to Bayonne which occasionally delivers the odd one or two 15 metre waves, or roughly 48 feet high. I have never surfed one that large but it sounds quite scary. Surfing on this coast is without doubt the best in France and compare well with surfing in southern Spain and Portugal in the Algarve area, but here you also have masses and masses of forest land for wildlife/birdlife spotting with walking and cycling trails all over for when you tire of surfing. There are lakes here for fishing, sailing and associated water sports, and to be fair to other regions of France this region is idyllic in many ways. You may find that camping sites on the Atlantic coast are many but small and relatively peaceful. Hourtin Plage which is tiny and Lacanau Ocean which is still small but far larger than Hourtin are but two resorts here which have large lakes to the rear, so if you tire of the sea you can use the lakeside facilities. Surfing Lacanau Ocean Mvericks Competition Further south lies Arcachon and Cap Feret, both of which are in the huge Bassin d’Arcachon which has plenty of small towns and villages dotted around the shore. A Publication of:


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Drive just a little further south and you are into the department of Landes and the first camping towns you meet are Biscarrosse and Biscarrosse Plage. To the rear of Biscarrosse town is a lovely large lake called Etang de Biscarrosse et de Parentis, and the town of Parentis is literally swamped with campsites by the lakeside. Further south still lies Mimizan and Mimizan Plage. In between Mimizand and Lacanau Ocean, just up the road is a large Military zone which is banned to civilians, but this place is so large there is no need to be concerned about a few miles of banned territory. Following the coastline to the south you will find it covered with forest and woodland with little villages dotted about all over the place. It must be surprising to the first time visitor to see this huge expanse of land with so few people in it. Truly, Aquitaine will never become over populated. So from Mimizan Plage going south we have lots of small resorts such as Contis Plage, St Girons Plage, Moliets Plage and Messanges Plage which we know to be a superb little camping resort just a little to the north west of Dax, a spa town first settled by the Romans. It’s a nice little shopping centre too. Next down the map we come to the Pyrénées Atlantiques, still in Aquitaine of course but the coastal area of this part is very upmarket with Bayonne, Biarritz and St Jean de Luz very close to the border with Spain. This is a wonderful part of Southwest France but the holidaymaker must be aware that it can and does have some rain in every season because of the near vicinity of the mountains. In olden times, Saint-Jean-de-Luz was the lair of corsairs. Today the chic town ranks among the most popular seaside resorts in France (with the French). Nestled between Biarritz and Hendaye on the southwest Basque coast, the crescent-shaped bay of Saint-Jean-de-Luz has been going through a few decades of ongoing historic battles, traditional whale fishing, royal wedding celebrations and tourists by the drove. The sea here, although it is part of the Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay is called the Cote Basque and this is Basque country full of people who are unsure whether they belong to France or to Spain, but they are Basques down to their toenails. Dordogne Coming away from the coast for a while we now visit the Dordogne, another of Aquitaine’s gems which is the most northerly of the Aquitaine departments and which is completely landlocked. But visitors to the Dordogne are there for walking and/or cycling holidays in what is some of the nicest scenery in Europe. The French name for this area is A Publication of:


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Périgord, and the capital is Périgueux Go to the Dordogne and you really must visit Sarlat, the “medieval capital of the Dordogne” and perhaps the most lovely town in France in the heart of Périgord Noir. History, caves, scenery and more history is what you will find there. The area around Sarlat has masses of camping and mobile home sites and it is just as busy an area as anywhere by the sea. The Dordogne River is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit the phenomenon known as a tidal bore. The upper valley of the Dordogne is a series of deep gorges. The cliffs, steep banks, fast flowing water and high bridges attract both walkers and drivers. In several places the river is dammed to form long, deep lakes. Camp sites and holiday homes have proliferated wherever the valley floor is wide enough to accommodate them. Photo: The River Dordogne with boats, bank and houses of the village, in the Dordogne valley, in Périgord. Download courtesy of France Voyage.com Languedoc-Roussillon Now Languedoc-Roussillon reaches from the Mediterranean border with Spain near to Perpignan and curves around this massive bay to end just east of Nimes whereupon it becomes the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur and Rhône-Alpes, a huge area of hot, sandy beaches and inland skiing in the Alpes but we shall get to that shortly. Languedoc-Roussillon map One of the first camping resorts you will come to as you drive east from the Spanish border is Collioure, a town which is steeped in history and which has ever been a coveted location because of its access to the Mediterranean Sea and its two shores making it easy to defend. Phocaeans, Roman and Greek seafarers, Visgoths as well as the Counts of Roussillon and the Kings of Majorca, not to mention the Order of Knights Templar have left their marks here and added into the mix, but even if you don’t stay here it would be a shame to miss out on a visit for a few hours. Argeles-Plage (Argeles-sur-Mer) is the next port of call, and this is a particularly popular town with camping/mobile home sites all around. Small but “bustling” in high season is how I would describe it, but as nearly all the resorts along this coast the beaches are golden and the Mediterranean Sea is that wonderful blue/green. A tad further along and you come to the town of St Cyprien and the beach area called St Cyprien Plage. This is definitely a beach resort but there is the usual plethora of bars and restaurants here with some specialist museums. More peaceful than Argeles. Some 20 or so KM’s further and we arrive at Canet-Plage, a town resort which many people have heard of. Of course this resort faces the Med too and has the usual golden beach, but for nightlife lovers there is also the regional capital of Perpignan just a few clicks inland where you can have any amount of fun, but a note to drivers here: get back to your camping site resort after 11 pm and you will find the gate locked so you will have to stagger to your mobile. Mind how you go!

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We must mention that nice as Canet-Plage is it will tend to be busy busy in the evenings and at weekends because half the population of Perpignan will descend on the beach area as they want to top up their tans by the Med too. Tired of the sea? Then Canet Plage also boasts a large lake to the rear called the Etang de Canet et de St Nazaire. Fishing, swimming, water sports and some sailing goes on right here. Next along the coast (sadly we cannot mention them all) is Toreilles-Plage, a tiny little spot next to the beach although the somewhat larger town of Toreilles is just a tad inland. It’s nice, it’s small and it has everything you will need for a relaxing break in the sun. What more can we say? The little village/town of le Barcares is next in line, and this is also a renowned camping/mobile home holiday resort with a very large expanse of water, Etang de Leucate, to the rear. Le Barcares is situated close to Port St Ange which connects the Mediterranean to the Etang de Leucate at PortBarcares. Etang translates from the French to Pond in English, but many an Etang is more like a lake (Lac) to me! This Etang is a great place for all water sports, swimming and sailing. We come then to Narbonne-Plage which is slap bang in the centre of a National Park or Conservation Area, even out to sea. The city of Narbonne with the necessary nightlife, is not far away. You could do a lot worse than try a 15 km drive through the Massif de la Clape natural reserve which takes you to the beach at Narbonne Plage, the seaside resort and beach of Narbonne. Four Plage towns come next, Valras, Seragnan and Portiragnes, and Vias Plage, of which Valras is by far the largest and has much more in the way of tourist facilities and shops of all kinds. Valras has roughly 4 KM’s of sandy beaches which are supervised during the high season. Serignan, Portiragnes and Vias are really smaller versions of Valras. All three are well within 15 – 20 KM’s of the regional capital, Beziers and it would be a crying shame not to take time off from the beach activities to pay this city a visit. Beziers is the wine capital of Languedoc, and is known throughout the region for several things: wine, rugby and bullfighting. This town is perfectly situated for excursions A Publication of:


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into the Haut Languedoc, a rugged mountainous region of picturesque stone villages, and mountain streams. Now a little further on there is a very interesting town called le Cap-d’Agde – it has nothing whatsoever to do with us or any of our affiliates but we are sure you would like to know a little about it. The main town is Agde but nearer the beach area is le Cap and that is a completely naturist town, as in no clothing, nude etc. Visitors are welcome only if they get their togs off and don’t take photos of the residents. Marseillan-Plage, a beach front village, is just a couple of clicks to the east of le Cap, and again this is another small place where there are some camping and motorhome facilities. Whilst it is a nice little place for a relaxing break it has nothing which any of the other resorts don’t boast. Now if you are seriously into bird and animal life then the Camargue is just the place for you. The main resort there is Aigues-Mortes which still has its medieval walls around the town. Camping/mobile home holidays here are really for dedicated twitchers and wildlife watchers as this whole, massive area is given over to marshes, lakes and wetlands called the Parc Naturel Regional Camargue. This is where you will see (depending on the time of year) masses of different migratory birds, resident birds of all flavours and of course, the magnificent wild white Camargue horses. I have never stayed there but have visited once in my younger days and still treasure the sight of them 40 odd years later. Some good way further eastward we come to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, of which Marseilles is the capital, indeed, it is the second largest and most populated city in France with all the facilities of a Mediterranean city and beaches to match to the south. Maybe it has been tamed now but for centuries this city was a smuggler’s haven. Between Marseilles and our next port of call there must be hundreds of campsites both small and large but our affiliates, like most others, decided long ago that their interest lay in sites starting in the region of St Tropez where the once beautiful Brigitte Bardot bought some property which she turned into an animal sanctuary. Give her my best if you happen to see her, though it is doubtful that she will remember little me after so many years. So on from St Trop towards the border of France and Monaco there are more campsites than fleas on a mangy dog. This is the “True” south of France, the French Riviera which was regularly visited by rich English families during the summer, the people who stayed in hotels and who would never have camped out in their lives. This is the region where you have mountains an hour away from beaches, fields of lavender growing, their scent taken on the wind for miles, tiny hamlets hidden away a lifetime away from larger towns and cities, mountains and lots and lots of empty space. One can only wonder what they got up to in these hamlets and villages prior to TV being invented when the winter snows blocked them in! A Publication of:


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This is also the region written about by Peter Mayle whose first book entitled “A Year in Provence” which began with the immortal opening words, “The year started with lunch…” So popular was this tome that it sparked a Brit invasion of Provence the following summer and the local French eventually became irritated by we Brits looking for Monsieur Mayle or his abode. To my certain knowledge he had fled the scene by then leaving the French to field all enquiries as to his whereabouts. Although camping and mobile home holidays here cost the same as ones in Picardie or Brittany we fear that the comparison stops there. Everything on this stretch of coast is majorly expensive with stratospheric property prices. I rue the day when I was offered a nice house in Agay for the equivalent of what was £200!! That was a fortune then to a 19 year old but I would have sold my Granny to buy it had I known what prices would be like years later.

So why was that house and many, many others like it so cheap? The second World War was mainly to blame as France had not modernised properly in the 1960’s, and in a large way people like myself and my mates who used to travel there in those days were few and far between. Property speculation was for the rich few and at that time they were absent from the French Riviera. So, our recommendation to any of you contemplating holidays in this very warm region of France is to take as much in the way of non perishable foodstuffs as you can cram into your car, train luggage or coach because dining out is trés cher at best. One popular tourist resort which features in many brochures is Port Grimaud, the “Venice of France” which snuggles sheltered at the back of the Golfe-de-St-Tropez. This is a man made resort on the water which has become very popular with both residents and holidaymakers but there are still people who question why it was designed like this in the first place, especially when there are so many other aged places with historic connotations to stay. Still, it takes all sorts. A Publication of:


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The next resort with which we deal is St Aygulf – a beach front town/village located 5 km west of Fréjus, between Cannes and St. Tropez, on the banks of the Mediterranean in the heart of the Riviera.This is an exceptional environment with the pines and mimosas you will discover the wonderful little coves of Saint-Aygulf. This little place is rapidly becoming “bustling” in high season. Next up we have the “twin” towns of Frejus and St Raphael. I mention the word “twin” tongue in cheek because when I first visited here in ’64 they were both dusty little villages, albeit having the charm of the Mediterranean climate and quaint little houses and shops. To be honest, they are both nice places now, and they are certainly popular with both Brits and the French but neither they nor any of the other resorts on this stretch of coastline are as pleasant as they were 50 odd years ago, but that’s life I guess. Continuing eastwards we come to Cannes, the city of the Film Festivals and hotels, café’s and restaurants where you need to be using someone else’s credit card or expense account. This is a place for the “ordinary Joe” to sit around the marina and see how the other half live. Strange, but most of the owners of these mega, mega expensive yachts appear to party onboard and sleep in hotels. “Go figure,” as our friends across the pond say. Between Cannes and Nice, both of which share the coastline, there are many other resorts but not so many that are visited by holidaymaking Brits, probably because of the vast expense in renting property in the area. However, Juans les Pins, Antibes and Nice are most certainly worth visiting, and whilst you are in that area a visit to the tiny Principality of Monaco is surely a must! That is as far as we go in terms of resorts around the French coastlines but we know that many people don’t specifically go on holiday for the undeniable pleasures of beach life and so to cope with other tastes France has much to offer in terms of holidays around lakes such as Lac Chalain in the Loire, Lake in the Jura, white water rafting in the Ardeche and climbing in the French Alps, and all of these landlocked areas provide excellent walking and cycling facilities. Strangely enough the mountainous regions are well visited in both summer and winter as walking, climbing & cycling holidays combined with camping are very popular indeed. During the winter of course there is always the skiing with which we do not involve ourselves at present, but who knws what the future holds? Well that is about as far as we go with camping and mobile home holidays and we hope that this E book will be of some use to you whenever you venture into France for a holiday. Remember that you can always contact us by mailing [email protected]

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Handy Links http://www.qualitycamping.co.uk/ Your handy reference site for all things Camping, including this guide! Universal currency converter - http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/ Eurostar from St Pancras International London - http://www.eurostar.com/uken/destinations/france#.U-IS7bt0yic Ferries to France showing routes and ports finder, the best ferry deals and links to all the ferry companies all in one site - http://www.directferries.co.uk/france.htm French motorways (autoroutes) - http://about-france.com/travel.htm#tolls Michelin route planner - http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ This is a superb, most useful website where you can plan your route from start to finish, print it out with every twist and turn shown with distances given in KM’s or miles. It also calculates the fuel you will use on any particular route in petrol or diesel together with approximate driving times and Toll costs. Very often it will also suggest alternative routes If you are flying to France then you can use this link to check or book flights there and back: http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/cheap-flights/france/ Overnight stops: Drivers (and their families) often need an overnight stop on long journeys so we have dug out a link to a website which has a comprehensive list of French hotel chains, cheap and luxury options, that you will find dotted around France that are great for an overnight stay http://www.franceforfamilies.com/travel-options/overnight-stops

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