Tour De France 2016 wild camping advice needed
My wife & I are off to watch the TDF for the first time this year, we are going for the first 3 days in our new motorhome. So first time in a motorhome in France, we have toured with a caravan for many years, and the first time wild camping and watching the TDF in person. We do like to throw ourselves in the deep end!
So we would welcome any advice from anyone who has done this in their motorhome. Ours is a 6m 2 berth coach-built, so it's not massive and is quite easy to get around, but at 3m tall we might not be able to access all french parking areas.
The main questions we have is how easy is it to wild camp, can this be done at the side of the road where the TDF will pass, ensuring we leave plenty of space of course, what sort of time are you able to park up and how long does it take from them closing the road to openening again?
Any other tips or advice would also be welcome, or if anyone else is going and would you like to meet up?
Thanks, John
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Don't know what the legalities of it are, but when we went to the Provence in 2013 to watch it on the slopes of Ventoux, Motorvans were parking up, in parking bays and off the side of the road from a week before. We were staying in a small site not far from the base, but went onto the mountain a few times and the number of vans gradually incresased through the week, until every available space was filled. Some areas were fenced off by the authorities, so it looked as if this was not done, everywhere was fair game. As far as road closures, most on the morning of the race. Although very busy areas like Ventoux the day before. They were opened up as soon as the race was fully passed.
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Thanks for the info. The Tour is due to go past our house this July so we will have to make sure our parking areas are not 'hijacked'.....
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We've seen motorhomes set up on the road up to Alpe D'Huez a week before the day of the Tour. Don't know what on earth the occupiers find to do all day for all that time, watch the traffic, maybe!
We have a niece, a keen cyclist, who took her motorhome up to one of the cols in the alpe d' huez section. She said that waste disposal was a problem and that some people simply used the the roadside verges.
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We have a niece, a keen cyclist, who took her motorhome up to one of the cols in the alpe d' huez section. She said that waste disposal was a problem and that some people simply used the the roadside verges.
Unfortunately, that happens. We have recently had 6 weeks on a canal narrowboat in the UK and were shocked that people just left rubbish bags in the hedges along the towpath rather than disposing of them properly. I will mention this to the Mayor of our Commune in the hope that maybe rubbish bins can be placed at strategic points along the route here.0 -
If you are going for the first 3 days of the Tour, then being in Normandy there will be no signifcant climbs, but it's still worth trying to find somewhere with a bit of a climb for the riders so that they may be passing at 25mph rather than 35mph plus! Any sizeable layby on the route will start filling with motorhomes the previous afternoon / early evening, and a nice community feel often develops.
Although technically illegal the authorities turn a blind eye when the TdF comes to town.
Much of the fun is watching the publicity caravan (100 plus promotional vehicles of all descriptions) that precede the race.
If you don't already know it, this site will give you route details. From roughly June onwards you can find detailed route schedules on the site, with timings for different projected race speeds.
Enjoy.
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