We are planning our first two week stay in South of France with our Cabanon Andorra in July. A bit worried that we may have overlooked something important. Any tips would be great especially about availability of gas for a camping gaz stove/grill as we would prefer not to travel with gas bottle in the car.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
We have travelled with the gas bottle in the car lots of times, I'm sure it's ok! There are lots of places to get a refill/bottle swap. Google the supermarkets in the area you will be staying, most larger ones have a range of camping gear and sell campingaz too. The main supermarket chains are E. Leclerc, Super U, Champion and Carrefour.
Last year after holidaying in gites for the last 10 years or so we decided to take our tent to France for a fortnight. Best decision we ever made. We did find we had forgotten or didnt have the odd item but were able to find all we needed at the shops.
Yep you will learn a lot from your first adventure, we certainly did back in the summer of 1979, when we were just 19 back then me and Mrs Francais were Young Beautiful and Stupid.
We had such a wonderfull time down on the Cote d Azur for our fortnight campings, and everthing back then went in the car, we did not even have a roofrack, and the tent was a large Canvas Marechal.
Of course now we are just stupid, but we still love our fortnight campings in the South East of France during the summer.
Stick your CampingGaz cylinder in the boot of the car, it will be fine, one of the first things we learned was to always carry two cylinders, as I will guarantee that they always run out when the campsite shop is shut lol.
We used to take a 904 for main use, with a little 907 as backup, although both small they are expensive to refill compared to the larger 907, now that we have the Trailer we carry 2 907's.
However in this modern age, we now use EHU as much as we can, and a single CampinGaz Cylinder will last us upto 8 weeks or more!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
If you already have Calor bottle say 4.5kg butane then that will be more than adequate for a fortnight & by far your cheapest way of running cooker, no problem with carrying in your car if you are worried about fire risk but dangerous as a flying object in a crash I admit, so try to secure bottle in car somehow.
Same if you have a Campingaz 907 bottle, these are exchangable in France but expensive to buy there so if you have one take it with you. If your stove runs the disposable Campingaz cartridges then these are available in any supermarket in France so no problem with supply.
We made our first foray onto the continent last September... and let's just say, we'll be going again this September!
'Twas absolutely brilliant!
Ok, we didn't go as far south as you are planning (Dordogne), but with a little presearch, and oodles of advice from the experts on here, everything went smoothly, and we had a whale of a time.
I would spend some time sorting routes etc, and have options for overnight hotels, if that's part of the plan. We avoided Paris, being newbies, and went via Rouen, Chartres, Orleans (From Le Chunnel). A little longer, but a more relaxing drive you could not wish for.
Didn't book a thing bar the tunnel crossing, and just turned up... but it was September, and we did have "options", be it for the camp site itself, or the overnight hotels. Option A turned out to be available on every occasion... but I wouldn't be so cocky in July!!
Make time to stop and picnic en route, at the roadside aires (nice peaceful picnic areas, rather than all singing, all dancing busy motorway services).
We exchanged our empty and tatty 907 bottle for a shiny new one off the shelf at "Mr Bricolage" (Similar to our B&Q). If memory serves, it was about €25.
Spend some time on presearch, and ask away on here, and it will all come to fruition when you get there.
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: First time in tent in France
