Some one told me today that French sites are prone to turn you away if you have a twin axle caravan in tow. Is this just myth? Or are we going to have problems???
L xx
------------- Lynz x
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Its not a bad idea to get hold of a copy of the Caravan Club European Guide Vol 1 which cover France. Sites which do not accept twin axles are invariably mentioned. Some sites that proclaim no twin axles will often relent if the van is towed by and English car. Some sites will require advance notice. The best option is to e-mail your selected sites just to check. I don't think its a massive problem.
Odd one this-you see large groups of travellers-litrally in every corner of France & they all seem to have the same equipment-large twin axle caravans towed by large white vans-all pretty modern & expensive--theres a polite French word for them & also less polite--vagabondos(ie pikeys)I have seen small groups of 'em on camping municipals-how they make their living-I know not-this rumour of French sites not accepting twin axles is obviously due to them so I would have thought if you were English you would be ok--
---I thought tho, that camping municipals originally came about because the French didnt want itinerant workers parked beside the road--
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We have never had a problem but it's always best to advise a site in advance because they may not have a pitch big enough or sometimes their site roads are too narrow for turning. As has already been said, the problem is with groups of French travellers so if you ring in advance and turn up with an English car then you should be ok.
Susie
------------- Live every day as if it's your last - don't waste it
May be it depends on when you go. We have had 2, 3 week holidays in France, in June '06 and June '07. Each time we have stayed at 5 different municipal sites (about 4 nights at each site, touring). we have never pre-booked or contacted the sites before hand. Only once (at Alencon, municipal) did the site manager moan about the length of our van (8m, TA), but he still let us on. Last year at the municipal in St Junien, we read the notice board outside the site office and it said no TA or commercial vehicles. Nothing had been said to us when we arrived at the site or during our stay, so perhaps it is just a clause that gets used against the Travelers as previously said.
Like Billy says above, problem stems from large groups of travellers, and these can be in the 100's. If they descend on a place, they take over. Because the municipals can't be seen to "bar " certain people, they choose to claim that the site or the access is unsuitable on the gounds of safety, for large vans/twin axles. That being so, theoretically it does n't change things if you are English or whatever.
The problem is usually restricted to sites you may use "in transit", and not the 7 night stay type venues, and as has been said , if you are booking, it is wise to indicate the length of your unit anyway, because some sites are tight on manoevring. If you do have a problem in transit, just be prepared to move on to the next, the restrictions are not universal.
FM
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A french site owner told me the ban is indeed to keep out "les gens de voyages _pikeys!). He had had problems with them making a mess and leaving without paying.He accepted non french outfits by pre booking.
On the other hand we have stayed on municipals where there were travellers who were no problem. (The sites had lots of french campers etc as well!).
A site we stayed on last year at Verdun charged 20 euros for twin axles!
The sign will say "Interdit aux caravannes à deux essieu".
The CC european guide does specify if twin axle oufits require prior booking.
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Topic: twin axle caravan abroad.... problem?
