Travelling To The South of France - Messanges

[AnthonyCambs]

Hello everyone,

I am travelling to Messanges at the end of July, we are new to caravaning, I have planned to get there in 2 days. What and where would you suggest for an overnight stop? I prefer to hit the miles hard on the first day.

Also is it safe to sleep in the van in a service station?

Any advice would be very helpful and appreciated.

 

[ValA.]

I'm sorry I can't recommend a particular Aire on your route, but there's a website which gives information about all campsites within 10 kilometres of the popular routes through France - here: http://users.pandora.be/leo.huybrechts/camp1.htm. Most people would advise you, especially as first-timers to find an overnight campsite, and most French towns have a very cheap municipal.

There are lots of people who would say 'DON'T ever stay overnight on an Aire' and those, like me, who would say 'We've done it at least twice every year for 27 years, and never ever had a problem'. If you're going to stay overnight on an Aire then choose a well-lit, full service area, with other caravanners around, and take sensible precautions.

It's amazing the number of 'tales' there are around of people who know someone who knows someone who was 'robbed of everything they had'. There are so many hiding places in a caravan that anyone robbed of anything of value must be negligent! We put all our stuff away in places that even your nearest and dearest might have trouble finding it! Our caravan has a million hidey-holes, all of which are inaccessible to a thief! However, I'm prepared to acknowledge that in some areas French police advice against overnight stays on autoroute services, and there are some with notices advising against it. In that case it would only be sensible to heed this advice, hence my first paragraph - find a campsite if you possibly can.

 

[LesleyRussell]

There is a very handy camp site just 5 mins off the Nantes ring road (east side on the road to St Luce and Thouare) it is called Belle Riviere and it is now appearing in the Camping and Caravanning overseas brochure as an ideal overnight stop. If you can get there for mid afternoon there is an Intermarche just up the road where you can do some shopping and refuel before your jaunt the next day.

 

[ShadySadie]

You really have to make your own choices on how you feel about your plans, solo and with my husband and family we have stopped over night on many French service areas. Un-manned "aires" that have no fuel are not somewhere we would stop for the night!

I can't remember stopping on a main 24/7 service area without being alongside other caravanners and motor homers and without finding there have been arrivals and departures during our sleep period.

Rather than trying to make up time to get to a booked site or bump along to local village/town municipal sites, I tow under no pressure to get to camp site and and decide if I want to do a shorter or longer drive depending on how we feel as there will always be a manned service area that I can safely park in.

Recently we just heard about motorhomers on their first overnight stop at a municipal site not far from an Autoroute.

Pleasant site with only a small number of other campers. They drove off in the morning heading for Italy and found several hours later that the faint noise they could hear from the motorhome roof was the open top box lid banging up and down and then realised that their bike rack had been removed from the back of the motorhome along with the families bikes along with the roofbox and rack contents whilst at the site.

The bikes were nearly new as they had previous family bikes stolen at a UK site site two years ago. We know of other rare instances of site theft but have found using Autoroute services a great way of getting to and from sites without having to leave our chosen route.

Stopping at sites over night often ends up with a longer than planned decamp in the morning and can involve the extra cost of getting to and from your main route as well as the site fee however small ikt may be. Stopping on route makes you plan out what you take and need whilst you travel and helps you keep your caravan balanced without having to worry about re checking noseweights the next morning.

Many continental services have good restuarants and good food unlike the dross served up in the UK and we have stopped at services alongside lakes and parkland and nature reserves such a Baie de la Somme.

We took the advice to book sites along our route when our children were young and soon found we could travel with ease to the south without worrying about time tables, arrival times and finding site entrances.

Next week I will be towing solo to the south of France before staying in Monaco for the GP weekend and then having a week in the caravan with my husband before he goes to Montreal. No sites on route, I'll just pull over when I want or when the phone goes if the office wants me, and my route is just a couple of hundred metres from me when I pull away with no traffic to hinder progress.

 

[AnthonyCambs]

Hi again,

Thank you very much for your advice, I know last year when we went to the Vendee (in a tent) we stopped at the main service areas off the autoroutes and saw lots of caravans parked up.

How do you find the pitches in France for parking a caravan on, we stayed at Du Jard, Le Tranche Sur Mer and I helped a couple of people push their vans on as the roads were so tight.

Ive just bought a Bailey Senator Carolina and whilst im not over worried about towing in general, the thought of reversing onto the pitch does concern me. Saying that I want to have ago regardless, and im quite happy laughing at myself if i mess it up, and most people watching will be laughing at listening to me and the wife (like last year when we had to put our tent up), theres nothing like abot of husband and wife teamwork especially when your 3 kids are running around causing havoc!

 

[LesleyRussell]

Hi again,

Thank you very much for your advice, I know last year when we went to the Vendee (in a tent) we stopped at the main service areas off the autoroutes and saw lots of caravans parked up.

How do you find the pitches in France for parking a caravan on, we stayed at Du Jard, Le Tranche Sur Mer and I helped a couple of people push their vans on as the roads were so tight.

Ive just bought a Bailey Senator Carolina and whilst im not over worried about towing in general, the thought of reversing onto the pitch does concern me. Saying that I want to have ago regardless, and im quite happy laughing at myself if i mess it up, and most people watching will be laughing at listening to me and the wife (like last year when we had to put our tent up), theres nothing like abot of husband and wife teamwork especially when your 3 kids are running around causing havoc!

Always check the site first as to the size of their pitches - then email them to let them know when you will arrive and with the size of your van. Ask them to allocate a pitch with plenty of manoeuvring area in front. It will also depend on when you are going. Providing you avoid the first two weeks in August you should have quite a choice.

 

[AnthonyCambs]

Always check the site first as to the size of their pitches - then email them to let them know when you will arrive and with the size of your van. Ask them to allocate a pitch with plenty of manoeuvring area in front. It will also depend on when you are going. Providing you avoid the first two weeks in August you should have quite a choice.

Hello Lesley

thank you for the advice, I will contact the site.

typical I am there the first two weeks August!

 

[ShadySadie]

As per Lesley's advice, we alway's email ahead of arrival advisng re caravan size and need fo a good sized pitch and plenty of room if possible for reversing.

I remember practicing reversing in our village hall car park, when it was empty!

Maybe fit in a towing course before your holiday.