Advice For Camping and Caravanning in France

After a six-week journey that covered most of France and a large number of campsites, we might pass on some of the things we've seen firsthand. We have traveled to France with certain prejudices, so I hope this article helps you sort the fact from fiction.

Reverse polarity on power poles
This is not a myth in France! Several of the sites we visited were the live and neutral wires crossed in their sockets. If you have not heard of this, then it is very simple in concept. Old two-pin plugs euros and could be reversed, so that changes in Europe are normally two poles (ie, cut the connection on both live and neutral wires when off). This extra protection has become a bit lazy European electricians when connection sockets. They often do not care if live and neutral wires are changed.

Now, as a traveler in the UK, probably the team works well when you plug into a power reverse polarity. The risk is that it will remain "live", even if you turn off the wall and appear to be off. This is because in the UK we normally use single-pole switches, just cut the live wire feed (but remember that the neutral wire is "live" in a connector inverted).

For example, changing a light bulb that would still be sitting on a lamp assembly live - potentially dangerous material.

Fortunately, the solution is simple. Get a polarity tester and a crossover cable and you're ready for anything. Your local supplier of caravans could provide expert advice on this, but the pieces are easy to buy and self-explanatory in use.

If equipped with the necessary skills, then the ultimate solution for a caravan is to get a polarity checker unit of exchange is simply plug cable between their input and transformer.

Plug types of electrical towers camping in France
He is still a mixture of old French-Style (2 pins plus ground), plus the new standard-3-pin cable used in most UK sites. Get a PIN 2 (plus ground), adapter to fit on the end of normal power line and you will be fine. This was a 50/50 split socket on our trips, so do not bet on it!

Pitches are sometimes very far from the posts of electricity - so a long cable!




Camping Crime
We had to make these reports to urban myth, but unfortunately, our experience shows that this is something to consider. Campers are extremely vulnerable as they have to carry papers, documents and cash with them. Criminals know it! We stayed at the campsite in beautiful rural terrible of France, and yet during our stay we were around the following facts in two different places in two different regions:

Car window was broken and her purse stolen at the reception outside daylight in the afternoon, while campers marked in meters (great start to the holiday)
Stock theft auto open at night
Shop trailer fell during the night by thieves to rummage valuables
Four torn tents overnight with the loss of luggage, etc.

These thieves are incredibly bold. Wander into campsites and tents open court employed in several places and get in the bags, car keys, wallets, etc. Our advice is to keep this matter in a sleeping bag or locked in your car! Be aware of intruder easy access point (such as fences or near rivers) and the tone elsewhere.

Pitch Space
This varied widely across sites, with a direct relationship between the casting cost and size. Research carefully and if the value of your space then perhaps a package of protection against the wind to avoid being cornered (people have different ideas about personal space while traveling in Europe - protect yours!)

The availability of WIFI
Most large sites offer WiFi, but the cost varies enormously. Found independent sites tended to offer free or maybe a couple of euros. Our experience with one of the largest chains (Castles) was that they wanted € 5 a session of WIFI - outrageous in this day and age. Do not forget you can get free WIFI unlimited McDonald's (and your coffee is not bad).

and finally ...

Toilet paper
Take your own block in the shower ... is often not always!

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Ferry Crossings to France

If you are looking at visiting France, then moving through the water by ferry travel is a popular form of travel especially from the UK and for some can be much more fun than sitting in an airport with the hope that the plane will leave on time!

And with so many different ferry operators like P & O Ferries, Sea France, Norfolk Line, etc. and with the numerous departure points in and around Europe, from Dover, England, Cork, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey , Olbia, Sardinia and Bastia in Corsica, you will be able to find the best possible crossing for your particular needs.

Personally, I prefer to travel by ferry across to France, as we do from our vacation experience and gives you the flexibility of travel, because even though we're in plenty of time to negotiate the appalling roads UK, you can easily end up trapped in a jam, and if by air, you may have many more complications to get another flight, whereas if it is early, sometimes we can get an earlier crossing, or if late, multi-channel operators will do everything possible to get that coming on the ferry, which is too long to wait, and no additional cost if you are booking within three hours of any way to your designated time you have booked.

But instead of the standard ferry crossings we think, for example, Dover to Calais that we normally use, there are also speed ferries now operating exclusively for car passengers between Britain and France and the crossing takes only 50 minutes also SpeedFerries exclusive port facilities in Dover and Boulogne and offer low cost tickets £ 20 in one direction in all year Dover to Boulogne fast ferry service.

Brittany Ferries is another cross channel operator is able to offer the classic cruise, along with high speed services out of Portsmouth, Plymouth and Poole to the ports of Cherbourg, Caen, Roscoff and St Malo in France, and have the option to get lower in France to places like the port of St. Malo, can mean a lot less driving to get to your desired destination, and this means that while on board you can relax while enjoying the many facilities have to offer even opt for a cabin that all have private bathrooms, so you can get a rest and come to their port of call, smart and cool before the next part of your trip.


However, during a short ferry crossing, you might like to do some duty free shopping and a snack or have a latte before heading out to beautiful deck to experience the sea breeze and the scenery as you enter the port, but not compared to a longer ferry crossing, only you also have the option of a cabin, but the services offered are more extensive, with numerous restaurants, bars and activities, obviously, always important tax-free shopping on board and in some cases even have entertainment like a band, film or record, of course, the disc may be an interesting experience in high swells when in reality it is necessary to move the boat is doing for you!

Obviously, they all have Bureau de Change facilities for exchanging your currency into Euros, which is the French money, but usually only ever give you notes, and it is also a good idea to use a bill of a euro to bring about change and can not do this on board and then try to do so as soon as possible because this is very helpful for things like coffee at a service station or use of some public toilets.

And though you can convert your Euro coins back to their own currency onboard the ferries, you can not do back at home, if you think you are going to take a trip to Europe in the near future, it is worth keeping hold of a few coins for this very reason, and that will save you time and hassle the next time.

Now, you're probably aware that you can also get to France via the Channel Tunnel, which is faster than even travel through high-speed ferry and Eurotunnel only takes about 35 minutes from Folkestone, while that high-speed catamarans take just under an hour and the ferry trip is an average of 90 minutes, but we found that with the facilities on board the ferry that cater for children of all ages, including the provisions of baby food and changing areas for youngsters through play areas and then the video arcades for the older children can travel for the stressed calmer adult, instead of being trapped on a train, even only for a short time!

And if like us, has decided on a weekend or travel around the weekend so that their children return to school on time, then do not forget that most places are closed on Sunday, so if you have certain activities in mind, double check that is not a national holiday or odd hours, otherwise you can end the game rather boring! And as we always say now, planning is very important, especially in France, where they tend to stop at least two hours every day for lunch! This is especially important if you travel through France and want to stock up on beer and wine before heading to the ferry port.

But that gives you know to avoid national holidays (which are always cheaper crossings), if you hunt around you can find some good offers excellent, right through day trips to France, a return of 5 days, or even an open ticket for any length of time you want to go on holiday in France, and found that Norfolk Line and Sea France offer some fantastic prices, but not all operators take all credit cards onboard , which is the same to pay his ticket, such as American Express, so it's worth checking if you always use a card like Amex.

All we have to say is enjoy the whole experience, it can become part of their French holiday.