Sharon the Cat
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Is wildcamping, ie parking the van and sleeping in it still OK in France?
We enjoy just wandering so if we haven't got waste to dump or water to get, a nice spot is just that. We tend to avoid the busy spots and just go inland. Haven't been since pre-covid so was wondering if anything had changed.Do you mean to avoid the aires ?, I found a few of the chateau car parks were ok for overnighting if you were planning a visit next morning ,at least that’s what I would have said if ever asked but I never was.
I haven't heard that anything has officially changed. If you are over 3.5 ton you should get the angles morts sticker and worth getting the crit air sticker in case you stray into a city.We enjoy just wandering so if we haven't got waste to dump or water to get, a nice spot is just that. We tend to avoid the busy spots and just go inland. Haven't been since pre-covid so was wondering if anything had changed.
Thanks, we don't need the angles morts sticker and the crit'air is already on the windscreen.I haven't heard that anything has officially changed. If you are over 3.5 ton you should get the angles morts sticker and worth getting the crit air sticker in case you stray into a city.
We did some 61 days in Eastern France last Summer and only used a formal site on one occasion, because we couldn't find an aire. Many of the smaller towns were offering free aires with EHU with a polite request to buy your bread and pains aux raisins from the local boulanger! Not too hard to avoid bending that rule! We paid a little over £378 on Aires and site fees for the overall 95 nights we were away, and about £185 was Rally and Site Fees in UKThanks, we don't need the angles morts sticker and the crit'air is already on the windscreen.
Always has been and always will be. The French are passionate about their camping cars ... and their freedoms!Is wildcamping, ie parking the van and sleeping in it still OK in France?
And yet, on 3 of our stops in Eastern France last year, we were directed to a quieter spot away from the designated Aire, once to the Churchyard [water tap pointed out to us], once to a spot at the rear of the Church because there was going to be a lively Wedding Reception on the Saturday night, and the local hairdresser [who I had asked for coins to use the freshwater refill], phoned the Marie at home on Saturday afternoon to establish whether the payment remained suspended!]; and once to a 3 bay [or 4 if you ignored the marked lines!] Aire alongside the Recycling Facilities. People could not have been friendlier, they appreciated our sub-schoolboy French competence, they wanted to practise their English, and we had some very pleasant chats.There have been reports of some municipal mayors prohibiting overnight parking in their jurisdiction. This seems to have been the case in locations where CampingCarPark or AireResevations are now running pay Aires for the locality.
I can’t think of any off hand, but they tended to be in honey pot locations, rather like the restrictions on Il de Re etc.
Davy
That's the essence of France in a nutshell!And yet, on 3 of our stops in Eastern France last year, we were directed to a quieter spot away from the designated Aire, once to the Churchyard [water tap pointed out to us], once to a spot at the rear of the Church because there was going to be a lively Wedding Reception on the Saturday night, and the local hairdresser [who I had asked for coins to use the freshwater refill], phoned the Marie at home on Saturday afternoon to establish whether the payment remained suspended!]; and once to a 3 bay [or 4 if you ignored the marked lines!] Aire alongside the Recycling Facilities. People could not have been friendlier, they appreciated our sub-schoolboy French competence, they wanted to practise their English, and we had some very pleasant chats.
Steve
We've never had any issues but we also stayed inland, specifically in the south of France region. I suppose as long as you're not blocking an entrance, you're good to goWe enjoy just wandering so if we haven't got waste to dump or water to get, a nice spot is just that. We tend to avoid the busy spots and just go inland. Haven't been since pre-covid so was wondering if anything had changed.