Andrew, it really depends which sort of 'Aires' you are thinking of! The 'Aires de Reste' along the Autoroutes are available to all and you can certainly stay there (although you may not feel entirely comfortable on the more isolated ones - there are certainly reports of thefts and robberies taking place on those). The other type of Aires are dedicated motorhome stopping places, often in the centre of villages or small towns. These are only for 'camping cars' or motorhomes. I have never heard of caravanners stopping on them and would certainly suggest heading for the nearest Camping Municipal as the best option.
Most of the French motorway service areas have caravan parking and on route to sites we often take night stops on them and have never had a problem. The aires that are just toilet and picnic stops are a bit remote and deserted a lot of the time and I would not want to stopover on them.
For personal security be very careful staying overnight in remote Aires, particularly in the southern part of France. They look nice but can and have been subject to robberies and petty theft. In extreme cases sleeping gas is pumped into Caravans to keep people sleeping while they are robbed. When we caravanned abroad we used Gite de France sites - not far off the main roads and only around 12Euro a night.
Why would a webmaster want to block such am important discussion ?
Surely if there have been cases of this happening,no matter how rare, it is important to make people aware so than can make their own decision of whether it is safe or not to stay in these places.
Personally I think the Gassing stories are very common.
I beleive truck drivers have more of a risk with this sort of thing.
On another thread re cycle theft I mentioned people I knew cycles stolen with good locks from a circle of tents on a camp site. We have never experienced theft on sites but know of more than a fair few that have lost everything from wallets, passports and cards to clothing and equipment.
I wouldn't stop at a deserted pull in here in the UK, but stop have stopped at many main fuel and service Aires when in France.
On a last minute holiday opportunity years ago I could only get a late night crossing to France. We took a chance and pulled into a fuel stop on the autoroute south. Quite a few Caravans and Motorhomes were there and even more when we breakfasted in the morning.
The idea of staying in an Aire overnight seems to crop up quite a lot. As far as I am concerned it is a definite no no. I do not see why any one would want to plan to stay in one. There are many camps you can make for at only a small cost. We like to arrive by about 5pm, have a walk or swim a relaxed meal and glass of wine. Then settle to a comfortable nights sleep ready for the next day's drive. This is my holiday and I do not want to try to sleep wondering what might happen, no matter how slight the chance. As for the cost, well, 2 nights down and 2 nights back at say
I like to do A 2 B, No wandering along looking at here and there and this and that.
Finding little camp site near a main route and then getting back on route is a waste of time to me. I've seen enough little quaint French and European villages and towns. Many tens of thousands of Truckers and others stop on road side stops at night without a care in the world. Stopping at MAIN stops and leaving car and van hitched we sleep fine and relaxed and are on route when we leave for our chosen destination.
I've never come across anyone who has been robbed or had stuff stolen at these sort of stops, but know plenty who have had goods stolen over the years on site.
Just a couple of comments. Firstly why one forum may stop discussions of reports of gassing. I suspect there are two reasons for this. A) it has been discussed at length in the past and B) because in all of the discussions I have seen not one person has put forward any evidence of it actually happening. Lots of hearsay, but no evidence.
On the subject of stopping on Aires. Everyone is free to do as they wish but I think we do have a duty to people going to France for the first time to warn them of the risks involved and I would certainly agree with those that suggest that they should be avoided. It seems to me one of the problems of stopping on Aires is that people have driven until they are fit to drop and then sleep very soundly and this makes the job of robbing them so much easier. There is always the risk of robbery when on a campsite but the reports of that happening are few and far between compared to incidences on Aires.
I undererstand that advice as given by british consulateis not to park in "remote" stops or dark remote camp sites. When we first started touring Europe with our Caravan we were warned against using small basic or municipal sites especially near big city suberbs as theft was rife!
As far as I know this is still the case!
Stopping at the main 24 hour service Aires is not some remote desertd picnic stop Aire.
I feel safer in France than in this country! I've never been approached by shady watch salesman or other shady sorts at French stops as I frequently get in the UK. Many main Aires are on toll routes the chances of a problem is somewhat remote especially as the services are 24 hour.
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