# Hi everyone .. Motorhomed up & cant wait to to wild it up in France in the new yr :-)



## markgroves (Dec 7, 2013)

*Hi everyone .. Motorhomed up & cant wait to to wild it up in France in the new yr *

Hi all
Look forward to reading all your tips on France as we`ve been preparing for a road trip there for ages now
Just got the dog his new passport and waiting for February until we can go
Have done the split screen camper scene for ages but got fed up with camping in a freezing tin can !!!  , so have bought an insulated house on wheels with a heater ... lush  lol
look forward to meeting a few of you here, there & everywhere

Mark


----------



## RoaminRog (Dec 7, 2013)

Hi Mark and welcome to the site. You will find France a breath of fresh air compared to this country because they positively welcome motorhomers, with many towns and villages having an Aire for you to park and recharge your facilities, for very little cost. Details of all these aires can be found in a book called All the Aires published by Vicarious Books and they use GPS co-ordinates instead of postcodes, very accurate.
Enjoy the site, there is more collective info on here than you can shake a stick at, so if you have any problems the chances are that somebody will be able to help.


Regards Rog.


----------



## Deleted member 20892 (Dec 8, 2013)

Welcome to the forum, we have a Trigano Tribute panel van convertion, basically a tin can, with a heater.!!

jt


----------



## Seannachie (Dec 8, 2013)

Hi Mark,

You probably already know this, so forgive me if I'm teaching my Granny to suck eggs, but you can download GPS co-ordinates of thousands of aires in France and elsewhere free from CampingCar-Infos., and on THIS PAGE you can look them up by Departement. Remember, though, that in February, many of the aires may have their water shut off to stop freezing and burst pipes. 

Another thing, even in your new insulated motorhome, in February you will still use lots of gas for heating etc., but if you use Calor gas bottles, they are not available on mainland Europe so if you run out you will need to make other arrangements, such as buying gas in France. Whilst gas is readily available in most supermarkets, you may need a new pigtail to connect it up to your appliances and you might find it cheaper (and easier) to buy that here before you go.

Regardless of the above, have fun and enjoy yourself.


----------



## philm (Dec 8, 2013)

Hi :welcome::have fun:


----------



## shawbags (Dec 8, 2013)

:welcome:


----------



## Deleted member 23433 (Dec 8, 2013)

markgroves said:


> Hi all
> Look forward to reading all your tips on France as we`ve been preparing for a road trip there for ages now
> Just got the dog his new passport and waiting for February until we can go
> Have done the split screen camper scene for ages but got fed up with camping in a freezing tin can !!!  , so have bought an insulated house on wheels with a heater ... lush  lol
> ...



Hi Mark

We took off to France for 6 months back in May and had a fantastic time. It is just so easy and relaxed with so many places to wild camp. The aires are wonderful and many are free.
We are now house sitting in Switzerland until January when we will return to the UK until April. We then plan to head straight back to France for the Summer.
This was also our first time and we were apprehensive but it has been amazing.
All the best
Karen & Adrian


----------



## MykCamper (Dec 8, 2013)

john t said:


> Welcome to the forum, we have a Trigano Tribute panel van convertion, basically a tin can, with a heater.!!
> 
> jt


:

Yea! But arn't they light & economical, especially if you fit a plugin chip! Just a plty they don't winterise them?? :cheers:


----------



## mariesnowgoose (Dec 9, 2013)

MykCamper said:


> :
> 
> Yea! But arn't they light & economical, especially if you fit a plugin chip! Just a plty they don't winterise them?? :cheers:



Will that increase the bhp to 140? :lol-049::lol-053:

Welcome to the forum btw, Mark


----------



## Deleted member 21686 (Dec 9, 2013)

Welcome to the forum.


----------



## Rodeo (Dec 9, 2013)

Welcome Mark. Im quite new here myself...theres a HUGE amount of info on this site! Happy travelling.


----------



## Sky (Dec 9, 2013)

markgroves said:


> Hi all
> Look forward to reading all your tips on France as we`ve been preparing for a road trip there for ages now



Hi Mark,

Welcome to the forum. :dance:

I went to France in August last year for the first time in a motorhome.  You may find my list of tips helpful. 

:have fun::camper:


----------



## markgroves (Dec 9, 2013)

Wow so many replies  .. thank you, what a welcome 

I most certainly will look up as much info as possible

re, the gas .. i`ve just put in a gas-it system  

first time out and did a few lovely nights in Brighton with friends, long story, but I stupidly didn't test it !!!

Cooked breakfast in the morning, lovely fry up it was too !!  ... then went for a long walk to Brighton town with the dog, pub lunch, and got back 5 hours later.

Opened the door to a horrendous smell of gas, with my trusty blow heater sitting on the floor, on thermostat !!! ... good job the temperature didn't drop any more is all I can say !!!  lol ... lesson learnt 

I will certainly look up the Aires info, thank you for that .. cant wait to go


----------



## Bel (Dec 14, 2013)

Hi Mark,

I hope you enjoy France.  So what's the make of your new van, can you recommend places to purchase motorhomes?


----------



## markgroves (Dec 16, 2013)

Hi Bel

Its an old P reg Swift / Fiat Ducato ... I did a lot of soul searching and travelled miles looking

You`d be surprised what some peoples perception of good condition is !!!

I found this one with 36,000 miles and totally unmolested apart from an iffy wall light, on Ebay

There were loads with dodgy mods, dinks and donks that didn't show up in the photos and re-sprays over old murals etc

I ended up with a list prepared on word and copy and pasting it into every ad I replied to and if I didn't get answers to everything, I avoided it.

Are you looking still, or have you found one !!

Mark


----------

