An update for anyone interested and those who provided advice in this thread, although many of the tips will be used another time as we changed our itinerary after a few days. A night in Brive was followed by another at Carcasonne (very acceptable municipal site, although Cantine de Robert Rodriguez closed on a Sunday unfortunately), and then we headed for Collioure.
We stayed at
www.lescriques.fr, and I can see why it's busy in Summer, with the campervan pitches on a steep terraced area facing the bay, and Collioure or Argelès-sur-Mer a short walk or bike ride away. The picture below illustrates the idyllic setting, but Sammy the whippet isn't admiring the view, he's looking for his bed that has just flown over the hedge towards the sea, along with anything else we hadn't pegged to the ground, and a few things that we had.
The Tramontane wind was unbelievably strong and consistent, and the overall effect was more Middlesbrough than Mediterranean. They say it's the wind that can drive you mad, but it drove us to a detailed study of wind maps and weather forecasts, and we could see it was set to stay for a week or so. We realised that driving East along the coast would just be swapping the Tramontane for the Mistral, going inland would be cool and wet, and to escape the constant gale by heading to Spain we'd have to travel further South than we wanted.
So after two days of life in a wind tunnel we drove across France to Arcachon and spent an extremely pleasant week at
www.camping-arcachon.com which is walking distance from the town and very close to the cycle path network. Arcachon is ideal if you like your beaches perfect and your dunes very big.
Then on the way back our favourite campsite of the trip, and maybe of all time (although we have only been camping a year or so)
www.loireetchateaux.com for several days. A new site with a very warm pool, excellent facilities, and on the Loire cycle network. It's privately owned and the whole family (including children and a huge shaggy dog) are very welcoming.
The van is a year old and we had our first minor glitches, the ones factory fitted as standard: tailgate brake light cover and screw attaching the gas strut to fridge lid both fell out. Resolved with glue and purchase of new allen key set respectively. I taped the little fridge screw in place with gaffer tape which might stop it working loose again.
Are Eurotunnel becoming more picky with the gas check or were we unlucky? On the way back we had to remove three bikes to show them the actual bottle, as demonstrating the cooker not working wasn't good enough. I didn’t bother to secure the VW rack when lifting the tailgate so of course it fell on my head when I lowered the tailgate, giving the officious gas checking operatives a free sample of English expletives.