France essentials

[Aaron Artus]

Hi there,
Making our first camping trip to France in our Cali Beach next week, what do people recommend as essentials.

Cheers & thanks for any advise

 

[bigmac77]

Speedos

 

[Jay20cali]

Speedos

I'll second that

 

[Hotel California]

Welcome on your first post , essentials to take is hard to say , each has theire own list ....special as it is your first trip as you say , just take some stuff and see how you will get allong . The second trip you will adapt things and so on...

 

[jqp]

Essential - passport, credit card, toothbrush, sense of humour. They have shops!

 

[Zebedee]

European driving kit eg 2x breathalysers, luminous yellow jackets for every person travelling, bulb kit etc. also see another post re emissions tag depending on your visiting certain cities, toll auto thingy if travelling on a lot of toll motorways.

Notice you are in a Beach....we have had literally four seasons in one day. 30 degrees then a few hours later 14 degrees and rain even quite far South....Guide to Les Castels sites for when you need some luxury. Otherwise Aires or Municipal sites can be really good. Enjoy.....

 

[kave]

Empty containers suitable for storing wine.

 

[Blubus]

Would not be without https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/

 

[WelshGas]

Hi there,
Making our first camping trip to France in our Cali Beach next week, what do people recommend as essentials.

Cheers & thanks for any advise

Besides Passport and money - European Driving kit. See AA or RAC for details of what is required and you can urchase from them or Halfords etc. Watch the speed limits. On the spot fines. Travel insurance.
Everything else can be bought..
Oh, and register any bank cards for use abroad.

 

[marshian70]

In addition to the above, I always keep a road atlas to hand. French roads are generally fine, but a useful reference in case of traffic issues
Definitely +1 for the Sanef toll chip

 

[Loz]

We saved hours with our toll tag;
use this link to get a discount on your first subscription charge; https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/subscription?ref=RF-20130418-9E30913

 

[Volky]

Euros - if the site has a shop they often want payment in Euros and for site charges themselves. You can buy everything out there, true, but with the Euro rate as it is and if you don't want to spend all your time shopping, take your loo roll/soap/sink plug etc with you. A mozzie killer also useful, depending where you'll be.

 

[Romke]

Learn French

 

[Loz]

We also have a postoffice travel money card, you top it up as you go and pay in euros without and extra charges. Its accepted in all places except automatic fuel pumps.

 

[Annik]

A big wallet! We found cost of living terrible out there this year, even stocking up in the supermarkets is getting really expensive and the exchange rate does not help. We had a basic pizza meal one night in the campsite restaurant as a little treat before we returned home and the bill came to over 75 Euro for four of us, a 25cl glass of Leffe was 7.50Eur

 

[Bugsy]

A corkscrew still no screw caps here!

 

[briwy]

Adapter for your hook up lead.
A lot of continental sites have the standard two pin socket so the adapter is essential.
And a lot of sites don't have the hook up point actually on the pitch, rather on a post with a number of hooks ups on. This can sometimes be a fair distance from your pitch so a long lead is required.

 

[Verity]

Nurofen for the morning after all the luvverly wine ....

 

[bigmac77]

A big wallet! We found cost of living terrible out there this year, even stocking up in the supermarkets is getting really expensive and the exchange rate does not help. We had a basic pizza meal one night in the campsite restaurant as a little treat before we returned home and the bill came to over 75 Euro for four of us, a 25cl glass of Leffe was 7.50Eur

I'll second that, food in the UK is cheap.

 

[Seaside Sussex]

Most has already been covered. If you are new to France, be aware that almost everything (including most supermarkets) except restaurants/bars closes between 12.30 and 2.30/3.00pm for the long lunch break.

Would second an adapter. We've just returned from France, staying at 5 different sites. Only needed adapter for one of those but was an essential for us.

Probably not got the time now to do so, but would recommend getting a Halifax Clarity Mastercard for Euros purchases plus it works out cheaper than debit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs with this, so long as you pay the card off in full at first statement. Check out Martin Lewis's moneysavingexpert site about this.

 

[Seaside Sussex]

Would not be without https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/

or just avoid the toll roads completely. You'll see more of France that way.

 

[GrannyJen]

Depends where you are going but a pollution sticker as well if you want to avoid a 100 euro fine.

Unless you go into one of a few big cities you will not need it ... Yet .... but it only costs a few euro's £4 approx) so worth having just in case.

You can get it online here https://www.certificat-air.gouv.fr

 

[mccp]

If you are new to France, be aware that almost everything (including most supermarkets) except restaurants/bars closes between 12.30 and 2.30/3.00pm for the long lunch break.

Where I am currently (Herault), supermarkets are generally open 8:30 to 19:00 or 20:00, right through lunch. In fact, 12:30 is a great time to go shopping as most people are having lunch. Even big stores shut all day Sunday, although you are now starting to find small stores like Carrefour Connect (think Tesco Metro) open on a Sunday morning.

Sticking with the lunch theme, avoid autoroute aires and service stations between 12 and 1 when every Frenchman and his dog stop for lunch.

+1 for the Halifax Clarity card. Also be careful of bank charges on debit cards (Lloyds are dreadful), use a credit card instead. If I get cash from a hole in the wall The Halifax Clarity is cheaper for me, even though I have to pay interest on cash withdrawals until the next payment date.

Occasionally you might get hit with the 'pay in Sterling' dodge, when you use a card to pay. This is where you are asked (usually by the card terminal) if you want to pay in Sterling. Avoid this and pay in Euro, because the Sterling exchange rate will be very poor and in the retailers favour. Decathlon tried this on me a couple of weeks ago and the rate would have been 0.92 euros to the pound instead of 1.12.

 

[SallyW]

Some French campsites only allow men to wear speedos in their swimming pools instead of apparently unhygienic Bermuda style trunks. We discovered this after a particularly long and hot journey to a campsite near St Rémy de Provence. My husband resorted to wearing my M & S pants as he didn't have any speedos (which looked better on him than they do on me) but he did get to cool off in the pool. So speedos are highly recommended.

 

[Amarillo]

My husband resorted to wearing my M & S pants as he didn't have any speedos (which looked better on him than they do on me) but he did get to cool off in the pool. So speedos are highly recommended.

Photos?


Follow my blog at www.au-revoir.eu