What Do I Need

Apr 11, 2005
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I thinking of tacking the van over to France. As I have not dun it before could you help and tell me what I will need and any think I shod now . when pulling the van.

Mark
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Go for it. Once you are out of town the roads in France are so much quieter it makes driving fun again. Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road is probably your biggest problem and so I would suggest you aim to arrive at the French ferry terminal when it is busy. Yes, there will be lots of traffic but there is very little chance of you going wrong as you will simply follow the car in front for several miles. Driving on a deserted road for your first venture onto the Continent you might find yourself forgetting and going the wrong way around a roundabout. Unless you are very unlucky and get behind another newbie it is so much easier to follow the car in front.

Put a big sticker on your door window saying something to the effect of 'PAVEMENT THIS SIDE' to help you remember which side of the road you should be on but, truth is, after a few miles you'll wonder what the fuss was all about.

Good towing mirrors will help give all round visibility and a passenger who is prepared to be 'lookout' on the occasion you need to overtake will be a great boon.

Take all your documents - licence, insurance certificates, registration documents, Camping Carnet, E111, Passports, credit cards and some Euros to get you through the first hours when tolls/ice-creams/fuel might be needed.

Good travel and breakdown insurance is easily available and several threads carry recommendations as to which is best.

An very good website is http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-france.htm which will give you lots of info about speed limits etc.

Hope this gets you started. Loads of experience on this website so just wait for more info to come flooding in.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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hi sam go for it.i was very apprehensive our first time but as (z)keep the pavement on your side and extra care when turning left, don't forget the french electric adaptor and polarity tester have a good time the road's are pretty quite regards peter
 
Mar 14, 2005
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hi sam go for it.i was very apprehensive our first time but as (z)keep the pavement on your side and extra care when turning left, don't forget the french electric adaptor and polarity tester have a good time the road's are pretty quite regards peter
Be warned the french police are very hot on the brits

something to do with, the hundred years war, the olympics, etc.

instant fines, 90 euros for waiting on coloured lines

while reading map. Must be in cash or arrested and car impounded.

But driving in france a doddle, drive through paris, everything else is simplicity itself, and the food is good, do eat when the locals go (within reason).

roger
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Mark Assuming you are going no further than France. You need a spare set of bulbs for your vehicle and a warning Triangle. Don't forget your E111. Buy or borrow the Caravan Club 'Caravan Europe 1' [Sites guide and Touring Handbook] also a Michelin 792 France map [or similar] for route planning. Are you going 'Peak season'? Is it just adults or also some children.

Norfolk Line - current offer - Dover/Dunkerque -
 
Mar 14, 2005
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My input is to take additional length of E/L cable. sometimes the power points are a little too far.

I much prefer driving in France than the UK!
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hi Mark - the first time my wife and I took the van to France we sailed from Plymouth to Roskoff as we were staying in Camp Du Letty at Benodet in Brittany. Thought we would do most of the driving in this country as only approx. 120 miles the other side. The ferry crossing was 6 hours which we took as being part of the holiday. Stayed first night on quay side in Roskoff which was exceptionally clean and free. Road to Quimper was perfect with no problems at all except for the lack of filling stations. The site and surrounding towns/countryside was beautiful - clean without any signs of litter, etc. To only disappointment in the two weeks was Brest - not worth visiting as very industrialised. We only saw 3 policemen and they were on push bikes. There was no road works in over 1000 miles of sight seeing. Suggest you take bikes with you if you can as Benodet area is quite flat and there were a lot of cyclists about. Incidently if you travel over night book a cabin on the ferry and not the reclining seats - this area, although cheaper, is very noisy and not very comfy for sleeping.

We booked through Select Sites at Abergaveny (www.select-sites.co.uk). They did every thing except passports and Euros. As it is your first time why not contact a company such as this and go with them this year and in future times you will knew exactly what is required.

In conclusion after caravaning in France we are hooked and the sites, country side, etc. I am sorry to say, in this country are dirty and poor in comparison. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and there was no problem with the language either.
 
Dec 16, 2003
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Years ago when we first went we spent most of our month there questioning why we had not done it years before.

Had a puncture on 2nd trip and Gendarmes pulled up within 2 minutes of me pulling over. I got to the jack before I reached the warning triangle. Friendly Gendarme kicked the jack away and led me by the arm to get the red triangle that I was about to get. As soon as I had that out they left us to it!

Had a rock damage gas pipe and lost all gas only to find that European bottles are different to calor, so had the choice of buying new European or Gamping Gaz bottles or drive 90 miles to a gas supplier that a site rep told me about. They filled bottles OK but said they could not do it until the end of the day, so we had to have 2nd trip out thenext day.

Polarity plug for mains testing in France is a must unless you van has system that automatically switches if Polarity is wrong.

ie. live and neural wiring can be either way around in France. Some multi point box's can have a mixture of correct and incorect box's. My tester has been used by many first time visitors to France as I see them plug in amd then wander about shaking their heads.

You will see petrol station signs saying 24 hour petrol, generally this means they have a Card pump. Don't expect to find stations open in the evenings or at night or on the weekend. Even with the new chip and pin cards in the UK, they still do not work on most forecourts in europe! They work in cash points fine and shops take them some places, some ask to see passport in out of the way places if their machines do not accept british chip and pin.

Make sure you keep topped up with fuel and don't get to low at nighht or on a weekend.

French never check signatures on cards, so don't lose a British card as they still need signature most places and with no checks anyone can use it.

Remember french also have two hour lunches, so arriving at a dealer at 11.50am to have a broken window replaced I got a nice smile and was ushered to the door and they pointed to the 2pm on the door. All the shops closed in the small rural town and I walked in 100 + degree heat before I found the local hypermarket, 1 till out of twenty + open and me the only customer, the cafeteria lady managed to stir herself reluctantly and make a lunch.

Driving is easy, just take care. I take the ferry loading ticket that you hang on the the rear v mirror and tukk it in my side of the window so it is always at the edge of my line of sight all holiday. First few days you cancentrate on being on wrong side of the road. I and most people I know seem to lapse a few days in when all relaxed, the little constant reminder

that the bit of card has to be next to the kerb works well for me and others.

On our first trip my wife and I had to go out and buy bicycles as to take make the best of coastal cycle ways, most sites do bicucle hire.

We have found most sites over the years to go dead quiet at 10pm with many banning cars after or around that time. So if you go out late make sure you have all valuables out of your car as you can find cars have to be left outside sites after 10 or 11pm. Its not a problem most places but some areas do have problems. Most sites I have used have night time security who do wander out and keep and eye on cistomers cars.

Booking privately is easy especially with internet and fax, but don't be surprised if they want full payment up front and I have still found large sites that will not take a card.

I have travelled 500 + relaxed easy driving miles in a day in France with seven in the car with no problems and we averaged obout 56 mph trundling from west coast to near Niece. I would never dream of doing it here, but most trips have been without traffic or road work hold ups over the years.

My wife is happy to share driving on French roads towing a large caravan but she will not tow it in England
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Lots of good advice already. The CC Europe volume 1 will give you virtually all you need. If you happen to have a twin axle van you may have some problems with some sites - they refuse them as a means of keeping travellers away (on the specious grounds that they are "too heavy" whereas the actual wheel loading is likely to be less than a big single axle)

Most sites will take your CCI card as security instead of your passport - you get this card as part of the package when booking insurance with the major clubs. Pay the night before you go is usual.

Major risk of "wrong side " driving is after lunch when you do not have the van attached and there is bvery little else on the road. A lesser publicised risk is that of staying on the wrong side after returning to UK particularly if you have been away for some time and are on country lanes - I've done it more than once since first taking a van to France in 1968.

The autoroutes are worth using for the longer distances. some are non-toll - if you have a good atlas these are usually shown with the kilometer distances in blue figures whereas the toll routes have them in red or orange. Michelin maps are probably the best, but you can download from www.viamichelin.com which will also do routes, as will www.mappy.fr - both these show you the actual road signs you will see and are very good. Trailer vans are Class 2 and more expensive than solo cars. Fuel on autoroutes is more expensive (as here) and the best buys are at supermarkets, but often the pump area is tight and it's best to unhitch the van and collect it again afterwards.

Could go on, but hope this helps. just take it easy for the first few hours and don't try to go too far for the first couple of days. bonne Route !
 

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