Trip to France

Pudsey Bear said:
Dunno mate, not been before soon idea if any of it was new or not,just that another few cars and it would be roadside parking.

When he says the farm is losing money, he must not be including the shop etc.
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Not sure the farm has lost money. One of the things he showed on the last show was why stuff was so expensive in the shop. Who knows?
 
We visited the RAF museum at Cosford this morning, what a place, entrance is free, 7.50 parking less a quid if you book online, we were there for over two hours and could have stayed longer but the wheels needed to be turning towards nearer home for tonight.
 
Yesterday sadly was the last day really, need to be back home this morning with luck.

Despite a few grumbles it's been great, Aires are not in almost every village nor as many as I was told, and LPG not plentiful at all.

D Day was spent appropriately at RAF Cosford in the morning, in the afternoon we paid our respects to the pilot who went down in the Spitfire and last night we spent at RAF Coningsby watching Typhoons taking off and landing until 11pm
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Yesterday sadly was the last day really, need to be back home this morning with luck.

Despite a few grumbles it's been great, Aires are not in almost every village nor as many as I was told, and LPG not plentiful at all.

D Day was spent appropriately at RAF Cosford in the morning, in the afternoon we paid our respects to the pilot who went down in the Spitfire and last night we spent at RAF Coningsby watching Typhoons taking off and landing until 11pm
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Not sure what source you were using to find Aires and LPG?
 
There are a lot less free aires than in years back. A lot of places have been taken over by Camping Car Park and now charge, as well as ensuring nearby sites are closed down. Funnily enough though this year we have found more free places to park up that are not actually aires.
I also think LPG is harder to find in France this year. Also a lot of places have only 1 side for filling and usually it is the wrong side for me. Resolved by reversing in(which gets a few queer looks) or pulling the fill hose really hard under the van!!
 
Tonybvi said:
There are a lot less free aires than in years back. A lot of places have been taken over by Camping Car Park and now charge, as well as ensuring nearby sites are closed down. Funnily enough though this year we have found more free places to park up that are not actually aires.
I also think LPG is harder to find in France this year. Also a lot of places have only 1 side for filling and usually it is the wrong side for me. Resolved by reversing in(which gets a few queer looks) or pulling the fill hose really hard under the van!!
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Or if LPG is on an island pump, just drive up on the wrong side - easier if not too busy (as is reversing in!).
 
TJBi said:
Or if LPG is on an island pump, just drive up on the wrong side - easier if not too busy (as is reversing in!).
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A lot aren’t island pumps unfortunately. If on an island I do what you say (ok in unmanned stations but I was yelled at in once place for ignoring the sign saying fill LPG this side only!). I simply pretended I couldn’t read French
 
alcam said:
Not sure what source you were using to find Aires and LPG?
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Driving through towns, sat nav set to avoid motorways most of the time, when we did see a Aires sign more often than not if we found it, it had been taken over, facilities broken, or had none at all, if I remembered I did add it to the reviews, usually the next day.

I used the WC app first then the others if it had none near to us or our heading.

Remember this was our first trip so had none pre visited, some were recommended but we were either past them or in a different area.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Driving through towns, sat nav set to avoid motorways most of the time, when we did see a Aires sign more often than not if we found it, it had been taken over, facilities broken, or had none at all, if I remembered I did add it to the reviews, usually the next day.

I used the WC app first then the others if it had none near to us or our heading.

Remember this was our first trip so had none pre visited, some were recommended but we were either past them or in a different area.
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The French definition of an aire is different to the WildCamping definition; it can be simply a parking area with no facilities for fresh water or dump.
 
It's been a while now but I always used the French Camping car info's site for Aires and wild spots. It also covers all of Europe not just France. The comments were useful also. Good way to check how up to date it was.

Years back we had Leo "The Belgian" on here (RIP) who literally spent his whole time discovering brilliant wild spots mainly in France. We used to often share spots and post them on here. I probably have them all somewhere. Ancient now though.

Streetview was a game changer except for Germany where they are bit paranoid. I would literally spend weeks before a trip plotting the best parking spots and Aires. 90% of the time it paid off.
 
barryd said:
It's been a while now but I always used the French Camping car info's site for Aires and wild spots. It also covers all of Europe not just France. The comments were useful also. Good way to check how up to date it was.

Years back we had Leo "The Belgian" on here (RIP) who literally spent his whole time discovering brilliant wild spots mainly in France. We used to often share spots and post them on here. I probably have them all somewhere. Ancient now though.

Streetview was a game changer except for Germany where they are bit paranoid. I would literally spend weeks before a trip plotting the best parking spots and Aires. 90% of the time it paid off.
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That's what I need , someone to do my planning .
Seriously though looking at search for sites right now there is a dozen + within 10 miles .
Must admit with all the good information available now I've got lazy . Previously would find my own places
 
Planning is beyond boring, sticking to a plan even more so.

We go with the flow, good or bad simply tell the tale, we don't seek out bad places.

The actual aire signs are deceiving too,some show a dump others don't so we go to the dump ones and many didnt have that facilities.

We would see a sign in a village and go look for the aire, too often the aire had been closed down or the other signs removed and as said many are just a carpark.

I do hope we can do better, but it being Britain I do doubt it.
 
We too have always found out own, and we did in France too quite often, we used aires as a last resort or to get water and empty, although the emptying bit has sorted it self the pipe & tap have vanished.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Planning is beyond boring, sticking to a plan even more so.

We go with the flow, good or bad simply tell the tale, we don't seek out bad places.

The actual aire signs are deceiving too,some show a dump others don't so we go to the dump ones and many didnt have that facilities.

We would see a sign in a village and go look for the aire, too often the aire had been closed down or the other signs removed and as said many are just a carpark.

I do hope we can do better, but it being Britain I do doubt it.
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You say that but in your entire trip I never saw a single Aire or parking spot I Would have stayed at. Not so bad if you arrive late and move early like you seem to do but Im really fussy about where I park up and seldom stop for one night only. Even if you plan its not set in stone. Ill have a rough idea of where I am going and ill have a pre surveyed list of potential stopovers but it often changes. Dont sound like your experience of Aires has been a good one and thats either down to the fact that you took pot luck rather then do research and / or maybe some of the good ones have gone or got taken over. I don't mind paying for decent Aires either but free is always good. :D

Of course its a bit different for us as we tend to look for places away from the Honey pots usually out in the sticks. I dont need to be in a village or town as we use the bike. You know what they say. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!! :D Or Prior planning prevents Piss Poor performance. (Six P's principle or summat).

You seemed to enjoy your trip though and thats all that matters! :D
 
Timeline for the three months we were away.

I'd zoom in for more detail but Google put in too much gubbins as in the last pic andI have no idea how to get rid of it.


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barryd said:
You say that but in your entire trip I never saw a single Aire or parking spot I Would have stayed at. Not so bad if you arrive late and move early like you seem to do but Im really fussy about where I park up and seldom stop for one night only. Even if you plan its not set in stone. Ill have a rough idea of where I am going and ill have a pre surveyed list of potential stopovers but it often changes. Dont sound like your experience of Aires has been a good one and thats either down to the fact that you took pot luck rather then do research and / or maybe some of the good ones have gone or got taken over. I don't mind paying for decent Aires either but free is always good. :D

Of course its a bit different for us as we tend to look for places away from the Honey pots usually out in the sticks. I dont need to be in a village or town as we use the bike. You know what they say. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!! :D Or Prior planning prevents Piss Poor performance. (Six P's principle or summat).

You seemed to enjoy your trip though and thats all that matters! :D
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When we first started Liz planned it down to the last detail as she likes to be prepared and I was boooooored out of my gourd, next time I planned it, kept it secret from her and only showed it to her as we passed the welcome to Scotland sign on the M6, 4 A4 sheets of blank paper, I just said we're on holiday for two weeks (both working) I have my day set out every day at work, she was tied to a shop, if there is somewhere specific you want to go I am happy to take you there but otherwise as far as I'm concerned if we get to a T junction, just say left or right and we'll see where we end up at the end of the day, and we have been doing that ever since, she still plans and then but mostly ignore it unless it is somewhere special like when we went to Monets garden, we both enjoyed it apart from the rubbish disabled facilities.
 
barryd said:
It's been a while now but I always used the French Camping car info's site for Aires and wild spots. It also covers all of Europe not just France. The comments were useful also. Good way to check how up to date it was.

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Including a few in UK and Ireland. Also Morocco and a few in Mauretania and Tunisia.
 
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