France in August

callena · Jun 24, 2014

KernowLad said:
Wow - very similar plans!

We had a great time last year and it didn't get silly hot (35 degrees in the day in the Ardeche) so we didn't really suffer at all.

We found we used an outside double gas hob for pretty much all our cooking; it uses the same 907 bottle as the Cali which was handy in case one ran out.

Little outdoor folding chairs and a table were also used a lot for the kids.

Think we're similar to you - we don't need mega facilities, just a nice spot to camp. We very rarely used hookup too unless it was free.

Not decided on our route this year (the 27th for a month) but we might actually head more for NW Spain and Portugal to avoid the worst of the crowds and mega heat - we'll pop into France to see some friends though - they live near Biarritz.

Good luck with your plans and do shout if you need any pointers!

'only' 35 degrees huh *ouch* I've been coping with the 24 degrees here - any hotter and I start to wilt lol Guess we'll be avoiding the worst of the heat in the middle of the day by chilling out in the shade - or maybe using it as driving time if its not too stifling in the van!

We were in Portugal back in February for a surf trip for a few days, without the van though (my folks had the children, so we had a childless trip!).

Our cooker in the van is a meths stove but we have a single butane gas cooker and also do have calor bottles and a dual burner for it from our tent camping days. I was considering taking that and our folding table (has 4 stools inside it) for eating outside rather than in the van - did you find you mostly did that rather than cooking/eating inside the van? Its hard to know what to pack when we've never done a trip like this before in the van!!! Totally different to our tent touring days!

At some point might look at changing our meths stove into a calor one instead - but that is probably the topic for another post, plus doubt we'd have time before we go!

How did you get away without hookup - were you still running the fridge in the van? I've been looking at solar panels for topping up the leisure battery, but again not something we'll probably do before this trip!

Lots of questions for you there

Trying to gather as much info as we can before the trip so I know what to pack - though I guess worst case we can buy out there if we're missing something we find we really need.

Do your kids sleep in the van with you or in an awning? My daughter wants to go in a popup tent (and I'm looking at getting a quechua base popup tent to act as an awning by the van -possibly connected via a roll out awning if I can find out more about attaching them to a van with surfboard rack on the side!).

Long post sorry! So many things going round in my head!

Sadie

ps - where in Cornwall are you? I'll have to keep an eye out for your van

callena · Jun 24, 2014

Spud said:
We joined the ACSI camping club before our trip down through France along the the north coast ans down towards Portugal last year. You get a guide of all the campsites registered with them and discount too, we just looked at sites along the way and stopped off when we wanted to, it includes Europe and uk sites well worth it!

Thanks Spud,
I've looked at the ACSI club, but due to the time we are going there I wasn't sure it was worth it - the sites seem fairly expensive (as they have loads of facilities) but we're not really after that kind of holiday - we tend to park up as a base and then go out and explore rather than being on site and using pools etc. I might be reading their site wrong though - would love any info you can fill me in on for them.

I think the ASCI discounts only run till the end of July and then again from end of August so missing out most of the time we are there

I've been looking at the France Passion sites which are amazing (though we'll need to take a portaloo to use them), love the thought of pitching up on vineyards etc and paying by taking a tour / buying some wine etc. also been investigating the Aires guides. Anything that gives us flexibility really to see where we are on the day and then find somewhere to stay is perfect for us.

Our kids are 12 & 14 so pretty self sufficient and not so worried about play areas (though they would use them if they were there) but we can do other stuff to keep them entertained anyway

Sadie

KernowLad · Jun 24, 2014

Spud - we used ACSI last year and saved a lot on some sites but sadly it's only an "off season" card so not much use this year - but the book is handy. We did sometimes find a non ACSI site that we preferred though.

Callena;

We always camped in the shade and opened the top "windows" - it got warm at night but not awful. Ours has climate control so when on the move we keep cool.

We've run our van with the fridge on for five days (in Mull) in a row and not needed a top up - the latest leisure batteries seem to be very good. We used it on a site in Biarritz (AWESOME but expensive - it's called Pavillion Royale) and occasionally when free but for day to day campering, we didn't need it - we don't use hairdryers or anything (especially me who has almost no hair…!) so our stuff is all low drain things like mobiles/a laptop, etc.

We did pretty much all our eating outdoors using the Cali's two chairs and table plus the extra little table and folding chairs for the kid - but ours are 3 and 5 so their stuff takes up less room.

We use a small Quecha pop up tent too for general stashing of stuff; like the child seat, a box of outdoor kit, etc. When in the UK the dog sleeps in it too - about £45 and WELL worth the money.

Here's a photo which shows most of our setup:

You might also like Indigo campsites - we've stayed in two (they have about eight or so across France); very tree lined so plenty of shade, lovely pools, very relaxed but clean and well maintained - http://www.camping-indigo.com/en

Linda · Jun 25, 2014

On our visit to France last August we used quite a few municipal sites, some only around €10 per night, simple clean facilities. The one just North of Carnac is pretty much on an amazing sandy beach- could have stayed there all summer!