What is it that draws you to France?
I get the impression that like us many are missing their trips to France and also like us, are hopeful that we can go later in the summer. But we have tried to analyse, (assuming all is sorted insurance wise etc.), what is it that draws us so strongly? The return journey to the south costs us around £1000, ferry, tolls, fuel etc. What would have to be missing this year to make us consider not going? Swimming pools, restaurants, beach bars etc? I feel that there is something much more than those things alone but what?
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Well we have decided to miss out this year. Hopefully we will return next year. For us it is the generally better weather further south in September. The ease of touring without booking, stopping at small municipal sites and now Aires. (Although if more French holiday at home as the President predicts, that might not be the case this year) The food, particularly the fish. The wine particularly those of the southern Rhone. Meeting family and enjoying a 3 hour meal outside at a favourite restaurant.
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The history. So closely tied into our own, yet such different paths leading off and away. We cannot pass a Castle, Abbey Etc.... in our own country, so France has us swooning. And no blasted Oliver Cromwell knocking a lot down!
And the beaches, the food, the sport.............
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I will try and answer your question in two different ways. Firstly we have caravaned in France many times over the years and always enjoyed it for many reasons, but like many others I have worked in France for many years as an International truck driver, so for me the two things were world's apart, but its a great country to be in for what ever reason you may be there. The French people have a great lifestyle and live for life not live for work, and I always felt at ease when coming back through the border from some other country's. Devon and Cornwall are our favourite destination now, but if we were to cross the Channel, we would head to the south of France.
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All the above especially not needing to book. Also the amount of space generally resulting in less traffic (outside large towns), the greater acceptability and catering for motorhomes/caravans, the good motorways (despite the tolls) and N roads............oh and did someone mention the food!
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Convenient, spacious and easy to chase the weather by going South.
I have to disagree on the subject of food though. Restaurants are resting on past laurels and have declined over the last 20 years or so, particularly tourist restaurants. Not just my experience but often stated by people who have far more experience of eating out in France than we do. Supermarkets are well stocked and usually offer good fresh fish but fruit and vegetables suffer from the same as UK - under ripe and tasteless. At this time of year you will see vast piles of apricots which are all hard and don't ripen well. You need to go to the markets to get the best and this is often exceptionally good. Bread shops have become retail outlets for bread warehouses and it can sometimes be difficult to find a good one. As for coffee, go to Italy.
Having said all that, if you are self catering you will eat better in France if you are selective.
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We prefer Northern Europe but if we go South Italy is the country. Returned to France last year after about a 5 year absence and by and large we enjoyed it but that was because we went out of season and off the main tourist trails. The Brenne National Park was brilliant
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As others have said there is no need to book sites in advance - plus the fact that there are no queues at site opening time, no rush for pitches, no restrictions of sites being for members only, no silly CLs with 5 van limits, no requirement to pitch within inches of a peg, no rules about pitching sideways, no decisions on arrival of how long to stay at a site, no payment in advance, no differentiation of awning or non awning pitches, no need to ask permission to wind out a canopy, the existence of ACSI card discounts at hundreds of places - and altogether less regimentation on campsites.
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I agree with everything that the above posters have said.
Almost every major city in the world lies on a major river but no one has mentioned that France seems to have more than its fair share.
The thrill of passing over so many fabulous wide rivers is, to me, mind blowing.
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I like your comment about Cromwell but France had their own destroyers during and just after the Revolution. Most of the historic Chateaux have nothing of value or historical interest inside them as the furniture and artworks etc. were destroyed or purloined by the "Plebs". True, the buildings are still there and some of the historic houses have tried to restore themselves to former"glories". The gardens are usually the most interesting aspects for us.
We've toured all areas of mainland France. We're not as drawn to it as we used to be. Trying to think why, I've decided a lot of it is down to losing my ability to enjoy the food in the same way as I used to having developed a Wheat Allergy about 5 years ago. The basics of landing in France with the caravan in tow and stopping at the first convenient Boulangerie for a freshly made Baguette and buying some Ham and Cheese to have your first lunch of a Ham and Cheese butty followed by a delicious Taste au Citron or Pain au Chocolat was divine. Pulling into a Routierres, the equivalent of our Transport Cafes for something miles better than you would see here. A sort of school dining table springs to mind with just 2 dishes on the menu, one of which was a meal of Mashed potato with Homemade Black Pudding and Bacon, A Tarte au Poire for dessert, a Quarter litre of local Red to wash it down with a coffee, all for the equivalent of a Fiver each person. I'm missing those and the Markets.
Still enjoy the place but not quite a much nowadays. And the cost of food in supermarkets has definitely increased along with Diesel so not as cheap as it used to be.
The campsites, particularly the Municipals still appeal as does the magnificent landscape and variety of Nature and Walks. Everything from flat lands to high mountains to beautiful beaches to stunning countryside.
For those yet to enjoy it then you are in for a wonderful treat. We'll still be back just not as often.
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as one who travels now with children france is ideal because the climate is generally drier and warmer (in the vendee). The french are the masters of camping holidays and their sites offer everything for the familly, they are clean, well kempt and they put a huge effort into the whole camping experience. my sons love the water slides and swimming pools. to travel to the vendee takes about 15h split by an overnight stay, usually on the ferry. my childran seem to cope with this ok. i would like to go furter, perhaps to the rhone alps but i have to consider the children.
we also holiday in andalusia, spain but fly and use rented accomodation. this is a completely different experience. looking at the campsites in spain they are perfectly acceptable but not quite up the the standards of the french. when n spain we keep ourselves to ourselves and anjoy the weather and the scenery. in france we engage more with the animations we stay at predomenantly french campsites also, not british owned.
i used to tour on my motorbike over many parts of europe and took a tent and camped. the campsites in italy are generally dreadful although there probably are exceptions. in spain they are ok but not up to the standards of the fench. i stayed at some shocking campsites in france but these were very much in the minority. my policy of booking nothing and finding something on the evening of arrival probably has something to do with this.
i also visit france with my job and find the locals frendly and curious about visitors quite unlike the stereotypes (possibly of parisienes) we have come to believe.
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my sons love the water slides and swimming pools. to travel to the vendee takes about 15h split by an overnight stay, usually on the ferry. my childran seem to cope with this ok. i would like to go furter, perhaps to the rhone alps but i have to consider the children.
You don't say how old yours sons are. When ours were of primary age we travelled all over France and even as far down Italy as Sorrento. That was with tents and a small camping trailer. They really enjoyed the constantly changing aspect of such holidays. So much to see and do, they were never bored.
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What is it that draws you to France?
I suppose initially it is our closest neighbour and whether we like it or not history has pushed us together and pushed us apart more than any other in Europe. It is natural choice that when embarking of your first foray abroad it is France as its relatively easy to get to. It is a large country with a massive range of scenery from salt marsh to mountain. Curiosity is another thing and it is easy to be seduced by the myth. We have probably spent as much, if not, more time exploring France than the UK since we first went in 1987. To us, now, France is very familiar. However in some ways we have outgrown it and in recent years have been spending more time in Germany/Austria/Italy which all offer as much, if not more, than France. I say that not to put people off but just to illustrate a progression of our own journey.
David
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Someone asked the same question as the OP a few years ago and one members response was very short and to the point - “The bread !”. I often think of this and it always makes me smile. I agree with the majority of the post above. Whilst we much prefer the food and the sites in Italy, its so easy to camp in France and its a beautiful country. I used to be a great fan of the French motorways that enabled us to cover long distances in the minimum time but we tend to travel south via Calais, Belgium and Germany these days now that the road surfaces in Belgium have improved and we have as much time as we need.
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An earlier post summed it up with a word "ambience". Generally, apart from the channel coastal area, the weather tends to be more reliable. The general absence of "you can't stop there" feeling makes it seem much more welcoming than the UK.
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People often talk about “baguettes” in France without mentioning the gradual decline in artisan style bakers that bake on the premises so unfortunately there are a lot of poor baguettes in France. Ditto croissants. Of course, baguettes also go stale and chewy very quickly. In the last couple of years we have tended to buy different loaves, sometimes a larger baguette (called “un pain” in some regions) or even a “complet” which is a consistently good wholemeal loaf.
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I had decided that a picture, being worth a thousand words, would do nicely as my contribution to this thread. Unfortunately, my picture of the Marie at Bernerie en Retz seems to have dissolved into a jumble of letters if not words! Here's the 'picture' again by other means. It's so 'French'
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Curiosity is another thing
Quite right David, surely one of the major reasons for anyone venturing anywhere abroad is to simply see what other countries have to offer in terms of scenery, cultures, architecture etc.
Britain is only a tiny speck on the world map, it cannot satisfy everyone's needs.
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What's not to like
empty roads, quaint villages, wonderful cycles routes (traffic free), lots of rivers and canals, mountains and beaches. The food and wine is not a factor for us, in fact we find the food expensive in the shops compared to UK and other European countries but we can forgive them that as we just like being there.
There is always somewhere to go with the country being so big and so diverse, if its to hot in Provence and the south coast then head to the mountains. Likewise if its wet and cold up north head south.
Not having to plan a route and sites is a big attraction for us as we like to just go with the flow ( or weather)
Still hoping to get over there at some stage this year to get our fix.
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Simple as it may sound one of our main reasons is that its different.
A change is as good as a rest but if that change is to another country, rather that will always be appealing and for us a 35 mile trip to Plymouth soon leads to views over vast fields, artichokes and traffic free travel.
If you add in the generally better weather, the vast choice of sites, the facilities on the sites and the joy of driving on roads where, at times, you seem to be the only ones then its quite appealing.
The differences can of course be had elsewhere, DK mentioned Italy which is our favorite, but landing in France its immediately apparent you are somewhere different and 'on holiday'.
We eat out every few days and that has become more challenging in terms of price and quality but its still possible to get great food at reasonable prices and the supermarkets are generally nicer experience than here in terms of choice especially if you like you fish.
I agree totally with TGs first paragraph above and, as AD says, hope we may even get there this year.
There is thread on another forum asking if 'camping' is good value and in answer to the OP I guess if the things mentioned are missing, swimming pools and restaurants, then we might leave it till next year, but will hope that it may be possible this year.
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Like you David we have travelled a lot round France and generally enjoyed it although I think the food scene is deteriorating.Like you too though, we have sort of out grown it.We have travelled a lot more in the UK recently but when on the continent have enjoyed Germany and Austria a lot.
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