camping in france - taking own tent?

[oldlady40]

Hello

We have booked a holiday for summer but realise we could squeeze in a couple of extra weeks mid August as long as it is cheap! We were thinking of taking our own tent to France - Vendee or Languedoc region. Haven't done this before although do lots of camping UK. Any experienced campers tell me is it an enjoyable experience to take own tent to France and put up in heat!! Do campsites over there rent out mini-fridges?

All help appreciated

[ReligiousBiscuit]

camping in france is fantastic. lots of campsites have trees to provide shade and there is always the pool to cool off in.

oh i am sooo jealous. no idea bout the fridge we just used a coolbox.

[oldlady40]

any suggestions where you have been? How did you manage with just a coolbox - did it keep stuff like butter cold enough? I love a baguette with butter!!

[smee]

Last time we went camping in France in August we had more need of a heater than a fridge..

[smee]

Sorry that was mean of me . France is fab for camping and we're going this year too. We use the Municipal sites - every town has them. Always good and very cheap. We've never bothered with a fridge, we just buy what we want each day and use cafes/ bars for chilled things.

[ReligiousBiscuit]

we used the alan rodgers guide book - there is a web page. v. good guide tells you what you need to know about size of campsite and general vibe.

we can camped on the tarn, the pyrennees, brittany. can recommend good sites in these places but depends what you are after.

[Lucycat]

A lot of sites do offer fridge rental, but they tend to be the bigger ones. if you are heading to the Languedoc then it would be good to have some some of electrical/gas refrigeration. The vendee should be ok though - in fcat go the Languedoc, it's soooo much more interesting and the wine is better!

second Alan Rogers and don't forget good ole ukcamping for reviews.

[Milliways]

Some campsites have fridges/freezers in blocks like locker blocks that you can rent.

The Vendee will be cooler, but Languedoc MUCH nicer (we are going in July). You'll probably need an overnight stop though.

[smee]

lol at conflicting advice. Drink enough wine and you won't care which you choose..

[susanbee]

Have not yet camped abroad but am tempted to do so and would love to go back to Languedoc. However a friend mentioned that some French run campsites have discos till 1am so if that is not your cup of tea choose your campsite carefully! Maybe some one reading this thread can say whether the discos are the norm?

[smee]

oops sorry quick scan read and thought one was advocating the Vendee and other Languedoc. maybe it's me needs more wine..
Discos are very much not the norm in my experience susanbee. In fact I've never even seen one at a French site. Though we do tend to go to small quiet sites rather than the huge ones.

[oldlady40]

thanks for advice. What about the actual putting up your tent - size of pitches - do you get stuck in amongst lots of mobile homes? or do tents tend to have own areas. Does it get too hot? Will we be exhausted ? Should I just book a mobile home for a week!!?

[smee]

We only ever use small sites that aren't very structured. Some have individual designated areas for each pitch with little hedges round, though personally I hate those. Most seem to have plots, so you get alloted one, then have to stick within boundaries. I've never been stuck between mobile homes. + heat, well honestly it's so hard to predict. As I said before last time we camped there in August it was about 10 degrees and monsoon like. Though I have to say that was unlucky..

[bigTillyMint]

We camp in France every year and we have always had good weather, but we do go end July / early August. I don't think it will get too hot, unless there is a major heatwave!

We usually stay in the sites used by Canvas, etc, because they have big swimming pool complexes, but we have stayed on some smaller sites which were fine.

We have a huge tent and have never had any problems with pitch size. Some sites do have lots of mobile homes, but the tents are generally in a different part.

Children staying in mobile homes always seem to want to play in our tent with DC - they seem to think it is much more exciting!

[oldlady40]

Thanks for messages . What do you do about keeping food cool - we only have standard cool box - would we need to buy small travel fridge?

Still undecided !!

[scarletlilybug]

We use an electric coolbox - works fine. Some sites do hire out fridges.

Be careful of the reviews on ukcampsite - I submitted an unfavourable review about a campsite that came highly recommended there, but they wouldn't publish it as it was supposedly "non-representative". (It was certainly representative of my view ).

I think, in general, France is much more friendly towards campers than the UK is - I'm sure you'll have a great time if you do go. Although you should be prepared for the weather being cool (as well as hot), if that makes sense.