French Washroom Facilities
Comments
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I wonder if this was a first visit to France because washrom standards vary from site to site, just as they do in the UK.
Our last two visits to British sites put us off completely, and both washrooms were absolutely disgusting. I won't tell you what was left in the ladies, or about the slugs oozing out of the threshold every time you walked over it, or the filthy state of
the toilets and basins, and the stinking washing up area, but these were on sites which get good reviews in England and I tell you I wouldn't go back to them. They weren't Caravan Club sites, by the way, but privately owned as are most French campsites.So I think generalising about 'French washrooms' on the basis of two site visits gives very unfair impression. Standards are different, yes, and some are lacking in what people consider important. Perhaps taking your own loo roll and soap is not acceptable
to some people, but after many French holidays it's what we do until we find out we don't need them. There are plenty of sites which have state f the art facilities, and if not there are always plenty of other sites to try.We are lucky in that we don't book in advance, so if we don't like what we find after a walk around then we will move on and stay elsewhere.
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As an example of good facilities we stayed on a "camping a la ferme" site where the facilities were in a barn. On entering there was four doors that each opened into individual bathrooms. All had a loo and a sink, two had walk in showers and two had bathtubs.
Each day the lady of the farm put freshly washed bath mats on a stand for you to use and a laundry basket for the used ones. The site only took eight vans at a time and cost 12 euros a night.Dave
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We have 1st class International Reduced Rate Cards, we used them once and always take them with us just in case we want to use a train but as we have a car its rare.
...Just think if we could use them on international sleepers with our "outfits"
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We have caravanned in the uk and France for over 20 years. In the uk, mostly at Club sites but nowadays we mostly caravan in France.
The best facilities by far that we have found are at Camping Moulin de l'Eclis near Asserac in Pays de la Loire. This is an excellent site and the facilities are outstanding.
We have no connection to the site other than being well-satisfied customers.
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Seems to me that some people who use Club sites are perhaps rather spoiled but when you are paying nearly the same amount for a pitch as a night in a Travelodge then maybe the expectations are that much higher. I never ever expect loo paper to be provided
on continental sites so the occasional site that provides it is a bonus.0 -
On our very first night everi in France 33 years ago we stopped at a municipal site not far from Langres. The facilities were absolutely awful and enough to put us off going to France forever. We wondered at the time if this was the usual standard. However
since then we have been to well over 100 different French sites and overall the vast majority of the sites have had facilities that were more than acceptable. Two exceptions to these were actually British owned! Probably the best facilities block was at a
municipal site in Luxemburg city followed very closely by the facilities at La Medieval site in Turckheim, Alsace.Yes, at a small number we have had to take our own loo paper and on a couple there have been the giant loo roll outside the cubicles and a few have no loo seats but this is common enough in many public looks in the UK. Turkish style "squatting over Europe"
style loos are not that uncommon but are usually complimented by some "English" style loos.As others have said, the facilities blocks in France are usually cleaned more than once a day even on small municipal sites.
Just as an aside, what did surprise us was that the loos at the new visitor centre at the Millau bridge on the A75 autoroute only have Turkish style squat loos.
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The worst facilities I ever found in france was in a ste owned by an english man who did nothing but moan about the french. I still wonder why the hell he was there
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Even Dave Gilmour, of Pink Floyd, didn't seem to be phased with the toilet paper issue in France, when spotted carrying his own roll to the loo block on a site some years ago!
The facilities on the two British sites I've mentioned were the worst we've ever come across and if I had been licensing the sites I would have insisted on improvements. One shower was just a tray on a rotten wooden floor, inside a flimsy garden shed (literally a garden shed), a hose and shower head above, on a broken holder, and the shed had gaps in the planks that anyone could look in through!
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Whilst I can sympathise with anyone who is faced with dirty facilites it does seem that there it was a case of not being what was expected based on what you can, but not always find here.
My wife dislikes unisex facilities but the main criteria is cleanliness and the only site we have regularly used our facilities was in Devon when attending a rally there for the last 12 years.
In regard to the lack of seats and paper these seem to be something that you get in Europe and like others we take our own on the first visit and go from there-if you know what I mean. We have also seen great facilities in many places including France.
As others have said if the facilities were not acceptable you can always move on but for us this would be only due to cleanliness, not just being different.
One memory we have of shared facilities was on a site in the Vendee. The toilet block had no ceiling and Velux windows in the roof and at night the windows became like mirrors meaning that, if you looked up, you had a view of the people sat on the toilets
on the other side of the block!0 -
Many of the toilets in France which don't have seats are not just toilets without seats they are actually designed to be seatless with a widened rim to offer similar comfort (!!!) to a seated toilet. We have been been on some French sites ( and we have stayed at well over a 100 over the years) where the facilities have been good but it seems that the French don't see the investment in wonderful facility blocks as a priority unlike sites in German/Austria/Spain. I would hardly describe CC site toilet blocks as luxurious but they all tend to meet a common high standard of provision and cleansiness which I suppose many of us get used to. We have been using an increasing number of commercail sites in the UK and they vary as much as French sites do.
David
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I do tend to use the 'Caravan facilities', but my wife and daughter tend to prefer to use the site toilets etc. She tells me that they still provide paper seat covers at Camping Belchenblick in the Black Forest (one of the places we visited this summer).
I remember they did many years ago - they seemed to have kept this up.David
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At our favourite (secret) French family-run campsite on the Cote d'Azur, there are no toilet seats and no toilet paper! However, the entire block - showers, toilets and washing up sinks- is power washed with scented detergent several times a day. The air temperatures ensure that everything dries up quickly.
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Let's face it France is different but in our experience of many years no matter how basic the facilities they are almost always clean. Rarely have we been upset with what we have experienced and if so we move on.
As has been mentioned earlier, it is not the UK and the advantages of living in rural France for a while is what it's all about. There are sites to suit all tastes - and pockets! The alternative is to stay at home on the lovely CC sites that all have the
same corporate facilities and very little character.0 -
"...Probably the best facilities block was at a municipal site in Luxemburg city followed very closely by the facilities at La Medieval site in Turckheim, Alsace".
Totally agree with this, We were there last year & the facilities are excellent.
Generally, all we look for are clean 'sit-on' toilets, seats & providing own loo paper immaterial. The chemical waste areas can be of doubtful quality at times but unfortunately there is little you can do about it as it appears to be fairly standard
practice. Just be careful,play safe and use a lot of commonsense.0 -
At our favourite (secret) French family-run campsite on the Cote d'Azur, there are no toilet seats and no toilet paper! However, the entire block - showers, toilets and washing up sinks- is power washed with scented detergent several times a day. The air
temperatures ensure that everything dries up quickly.What is it about people who seem to take 'delight' in putting things like "our favourite (secret) French site....".By sharing the site name, are they afraid it will get fully booked just at the exact time they want to use it? I was under the impression
that this was a forum where members were happy to share their own good experiences. Obviously not
. 0 -
At our favourite (secret) French family-run campsite on the Cote d'Azur, there are no toilet seats and no toilet paper! However, the entire block - showers, toilets and washing up sinks- is power washed with scented detergent several times a day. The air
temperatures ensure that everything dries up quickly.What is it about people who seem to take 'delight' in putting things like "our favourite (secret) French site....".By sharing the site name, are they afraid it will get fully booked just at the exact time they want to use it? I was under the impression
that this was a forum where members were happy to share their own good experiences. Obviously not. Sorry you saw my use of 'secret' as not being in the spirit of CT. It's been a bit of a running joke among some contributors after I posted a
story
about Caravanning Saint Clair and got into trouble with some of the 'regulars' who wanted it kept a secret
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I'm so upset by Millerman's comment and that 3 others have 'liked' it, that I'm going to post another
link about Caravanning Saint Clair.0 -
I'm so upset by Millerman's comment and that 3 others have 'liked' it, that I'm going to post another
link about Caravanning Saint Clair.Not being 'in' on the 'running joke' i took the comment at face value, so apologies for causing you any 'upset'
. By re-posting the
original 2013 post I suspect you also have an 'impish sense of humour
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Could I ask why you buy a Caravan/Motorhome with toilet and shower included and then don't use them?
And then moan about facilities on sites which you're probably having to pay extra for?
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Could I ask why you buy a Caravan/Motorhome with toilet and shower included and then don't use them?
And then moan about facilities on sites which you're probably having to pay extra for?
...Cannot use our shower as its the "wine celler"
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Could I ask why you buy a Caravan/Motorhome with toilet and shower included and then don't use them?
And then moan about facilities on sites which you're probably having to pay extra for?
I did not see the OP as a moan, more an expression of surprise at the differences and a question is this the norm. I must admit when we first started camping in France some 40 years ago, we were a bit surprised by the differences. Our shower only tends to get used on service pitches. Although we did make an exception in France on one site with barely luke warm showers
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We have been holidaying in france for about 40 years and have witnessed the evolution of French sanitary facilities. Way back in the 70's and early 80's the two daughters used to dash off to the loo blocks when we arrived on a site and come running back
to announce "they're standy-uppies" or not as the case may be. The French don't have some of the hang-ups that the Brits have over toilet facilities, there is far more use of unisex facilites in France. We have seen superb facilites on municipal sites and
appalling one on so-called 4 star sites. You make the first visit to determine the requirement for loo paper and then remember from then on. Regarding the absence of seats, medical opinion is now verring towards the squatting position as being the most natural
for the human shape so the seatless toilet may be the French attempt at a solution halfway between the old Turkish toilet and the type we have become accustomed to.0 -
Even Dave Gilmour, of Pink Floyd, didn't seem to be phased with the toilet paper issue in France, when spotted carrying his own roll to the loo block on a site some years ago!
Was it loo roll or a new contract for Roger Waters to sign
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Even Dave Gilmour, of Pink Floyd, didn't seem to be phased with the toilet paper issue in France, when spotted carrying his own roll to the loo block on a site some years ago!
Was it loo roll or a new contract for Roger Waters to sign
Well it was pink - so could have been either!
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