French aires theft -11/01/17
Last aires on motorway just before it splits to marseilles/barcelona,WATCH OUT I got my door lock forced at 4/30 am ,got woken up and saw the thief running away as I put on the lights ,took me a day to get my lock fixed and had to leave it open on all stops until it was mended
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Hope you're all ok.
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not quite sure where, geographically, you are referring.....which motorway and nr which town/city.....marseilles and barcelona are a long way apart....
however, most MHers who have acess to the whole aires network (generally) wont stay on motorway aries....why?, because its so easy for thieves to get away, theres usually lots of noise with folk all over the place....
so, many will choose to stay on a quiet village aire, away from the hustle and bustle.....
in the UK, would you rather stay on services on the M6 or on a quiet CL a little more in the country?
i realise that caravanners cant use the same network that MHers do, to this end, many will seek out a campsite, though this time of year they can closed.
there is a thread on CT highlighting sites open in the popular winter runs to the sun....
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Even a lot of years ago, when we used to use what we call 'The Rhone Valley route' it was advised not to stay on any motorway aires once you got about as far as Macon, because there were reports of robberies happening on these aires. Obviously this is still happening, and as others have said it's best to find an overnight site or if you're in a motorhome, go off the motorway into a small village Aire de service Camping Car to stay overnight.
Spreadsheets can be downloaded from Archies Camping and is an add on to the all the POI's which can be downloaded for every campsite for those like us who don't rely on smartphones or internet. This part of the website (accessed via the bottom right hand corner of the Home Page) is useful for those looking for overnight sites along all the major routes through Europe. Sites which open all year are generally highlighted in red, though Archie hasn't actually done them all on this section of the sheet. Please use this website to find campsites which are within a short distance of the autoroute, rather than potentially putting yourself at risk staying on autoroute aires in that area.
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It is interesting that there is currently another thread which is advising people of locations of 'aires' to stop at. It may be that some are talking about the motor home only with services type and others the autoroute rest areas.
We have never stopped anywhere other than a campsite apart from one occasion when I pulled over, into a lay by, for a short rest having been delayed disembarking and missing the cut off to access the site.
It is obviously a personal choice but using aires is not for us, for many reasons, but we would be doing that even if we were unaware of the issues mentioned here.
Frinds are now in Spain having traveled through France. They stopped at three motor home aires, two in France and one in Spain, posting pictures on Facebook, and at two were the only ones there.
My wife was quite clear that she would not wish to be parked up overnight in those circumstances.
We are caravaners and that reduces the options and, perhaps, is sometimes the reason that people may use places out of season that they might not in other circumstances.
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town and village aires, along with the France Passion type of rural 'pitch up' are (possibly) the closest thing Europe has to our CL/CS network.
despite the regular comments from some who cant use (or have never used) them, some are truly lovely places to stop.
right next to a river (france and germany has loads along the major waterways), in open grassland, at a farm or outskirts of a village, up in the hills...wherever...
however, the maxim is always the same, if it doesnt feel right (for whatever reason) just pop along to the next town and check it out.
with so many to choose from, MHs are only rarely found among the lorries in a stinky service station....why would you?
now, a Lidl or E LeClerc car park and youre really talking....
the main issue for caravanners is that they will have to plan their stopovers, whereas a MH can just pull in (or not) as the mood takes you....
i am driving down to Spain in a week or so, the proliferation of aires means i can do a bit more (or less) mileage than 'the plan' and still have a safe place to stop...
not at a motorway service station.....
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