Some advice please? We are off to the South of France in two weeks and I see that many of the sites say "no barbecues".
Can anyone tell me exactly what this covers ie is it just open barbecue burners or would they allow a closed systm like the Cobb? If they say no barbecues does this also mean no other naked flame system such as a camping Gaz burner or Coleman stove?
Im wondering if I should get one of these electric cook n steam thingies as a back up as I dont fancy cooking inside in a non air-conditioned van.
regards
Firruk
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Gas is normally acceptable. What campsites normally worry about is stray sparks setting fire to dry vegetation and this really only happens with charcoal barbecues. The hot south does suffer a lot from forest fires and they don`t need any extra ones.
However, word of warning...it`s still perfectly possible (though unlikely) to set fire to vegetation with a low level gas barbecue. I`ve done it myself....basically the short grass was already quite dry and the heat from the barbecue dried it out more and a stray piece caught fire. One good reason for having a bucket of water to hand while barbecuing, btw! Since that day I`ve taken a section of my old beanstalk with me to put the gas barbecue on, to get it well clear of the grass.
you dont tend to get any sparks from the Cobb as its all enclosed ( you can actually barbecue inside if you ensure plenty of ventilation), but sounds like a no go. I,ll pack my Coleman and use that on a table top I think.
thanks for the advice.
firruk
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I have one of these flat rectangular grill plates that sits across both burners of any double burner stove, and produces remarkably good "barbecued" food. Might be worth thinking about? Mine cost £5 from the Big W a couple of years back, but they`re pretty common.
I'm afraid the no BBQ rule applies to any with a naked flame, including gas BBQ's and I think the rule is probably applied across the board down there. We were down nr St Tropez just last year and to get down to the corniche road from the motorway you come down the D125 into St Maxime and you could still see the burned remains of fires from 3 years previous!! Ater seeing that you can well understand why they have the rule.
I think a good alternative would be an electric griddle type.
------------- Belinda
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Gas BBQ's have always been allowed on the sites I have used and are also allowed on the site we will be using in a couple of weeks time. A lot of sites provide big charcoal BBQ's for campers use in a safe area. Just take along your own charcoal and food.
I bought an electric griddle in France a few years ago when I learned I could not use my Charcoal BBQ. It was far cheaper than any equivelant in the uk. I cut the supplied French plug off and fitted an English one so if you do this take a spare plug with you. The food is excellent and you can cook outdoors of cource.
We're just back from languedoc. We stayed on a site that did allow charcoal bbq's but I didn't feel all that comfortable using one. the pitches are incredibly dry. We used one once well away from the tent and kept a bucket of water nearby. The site was the only on I came across that allowed charcoal bbq's in that area. Claire
We've just returned from France & Spain. The french site had a blanket ban on all BBQs which we took to mean charcoal & lava rock based devices. That way we could use our Cadac like many others were. We'd have explained it was an outdoor grill & not a BBQ if anyone had asked which they didn't.
We have not long returned from Messanges (La Vieux Port) where there is a BBQ ban. The site is in a pine forest and was very dry so seemed quite reasonable to me.
However, there were plenty of communal barbecues you could use if you wanted to, built with bricks and usually in blocks of three.
We didn't bother though and some people did ignore the ban which I thought was a bit selfish, they might not mind risking their caravan/tent going up in flames but I would have objected very strongly if ours had as a result of their carelessness.
We actually managed ok without it but did miss it a bit.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Barbecue Bans in France
Belinda
