Brit Stops/ passion France
Hi,
do any of you motor homers use either of these? Are they worth the subscription?
thsnks.
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Can't speak for French Passion but we did 3 years ago join ' Britstops' however we never used them. Had a good look at quite a few but they didn't appeal to us, spending the night in a noisy pub car park, having to buy a meal which would cost way more than a site or CL seemed daft. There are lots who do use them and if you can get them out in the countryside away from the hub hub they may be ok. There are plenty of wild campers though that would do that and not join.
French Passion I have heard can be ok again no hard and fast rule of buying BUT aren't you expected to? I would feel uncomfortable not, which could again work out more expensive than a site or Aire. I think the passion ones are also more remote.
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my pal visits his daughter in france twice a year and they tour extensively while there, using (pretty well exclusively) France Passion, which they love.
yes, the sites are generally more remote, as most are on farms or vinyards, but the 'purchase goods' thing is something that will sit differently with different people.
i think the rule is to ' make yourself known' to the Patron, but other than that you can come/go as you please.....im sure not everyone buys.
in the UK there is a 'free' pub stopover website, no membership reqd. i have used a couple when the need arose, these are fine for a one-nighter if specifically convenient to your route or destination.
the Motorcaravanners Club also has a list of CLs, and you dont need to be a member to use them....
agree with TG, there are thousands of aires in France to make use of, however gradually more are becoming pay stops, so a one off payment for FP might become more attractive....?
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I have not bothered with either based on the assumption I would not use them enough, especially those in the UK where travel distances are short and living in central England there is not always a need for a night stop and we do have CLs and CSs.
On the Continent there are plenty of alternatives, the Passion sites from what I have heard and experienced tend to be more rurally located. I have stayed on one quite by accident not realising it was a Passion site until I got there. Nevertheless, even though I was not a member, the owner said it was quite ok to stay and we quite liked the peaceful situation on a farm and nut mill. It had a farm shop so I did go and spend about 10 euros on some honey mustard and a bottle of their nut oil. I also thanked the owner for their hospitality on departure.
I think if you want to tour, only night stopping every day, then French Passion or Brit Stops might well be for you.
peedee
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We tried Britstops, but it wasn't successful. If it's a café or something similar, you need to be there early before they close. If it's a pub it can be too busy and noisy. You also end up paying for a meal or something just for the sake of it. One place we went to put us on a piece of scruffy spare land - not pleasant.
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I tried France Passion some years ago and although the places I used were OK they were rather remote along narrow lanes. Meeting large farm tractors and trailers etc was somewhat of a challenge. My personal view if you do not want to use sites is that aires de camping are often in more suitable locations for motorhomes i.e. in or near towns or villages.
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Friends, in their second year of ownng a motorhome, sang the praises of France Passion before setting off on a trip involving lots of vineyards, food producers, and restaurants who were in the scheme. At the end of that holiday they reported that they had felt obliged to buy everywhere they stayed, and that as a result they had spent substantially more on meals, food and wines than they would have spent on campsites.
They also commented on the difficulties of getting their (not very large) Hymer motorhome on to some of the sites. Additionally they had no facilities, no sanitary block, and often nowhere to empty waste so all those things added together made them decide not to subscribe the following year and revert back to municipal campsites, or commercial sites - some of which offer really good tariffs in low season..
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i see your point Val, but users of FP have to develop a thicker skin perhaps.....patrons will realise that folk cant buy food at every stop.
i also guess the owners dont do it for an income, perhaps even for a bit of company...
by the same token, those who use aires or FP to bumble around towns and villages might not be the sort who want to stay at campsites...
not dissimilar to those here who love CLs but wouldnt be seen dead on a CC site...
i also agree with ypu about the potential lack of 'services' on sme FP sites, perhaps visitors pop into a 'service aire' periaodically to replenish water and dump waste. its the toilet that probably restricts stays without services, though some hardened FP advocates might carry two (or even three) cassettes, but also might know where FP with servces are..
its certainly horses for courses, only today my pal was enthusing about his next trip in France and how it will be a mix of aires and FP.....dont see him doing sites, but perhaps the odd small municipal....
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