Camping nr. Ardeche in August- will we fry? (And more importantly, will the dogs?)

[TheFantasticMrsFox]

Just as above really :)
That is our itinery, spending 6ish days on the banks of the Ardeche. Weather stats suggest that top temps could be 29-30 degrees
However...... Our tent has never seen such temperatures indeed it could well collapse in the mere presence of sunshine so inhale no idea how stuffy it could get. We have a sewn in groundsheet, which I believe that many tents sold to that area don't, to allow free movement of air.
Will it be unbearable? We are all sun lovers, including the two dogs. I'm just slightly concerned though that such heat could get oppressive and in a tent we will have no escape. Our next port of call is likely the Jura which appears to be slightly cooler. If it really will be hard work we may skip the Ardeche for another time :(

Been in that general area quite a lot and last year we treated ourselves to a canvas tent hoping it would help the heat issue! It did but was still baking although last year was exceptionally hot I think. Like you, our old tent was more used to being soaked than baked and it saw us through three summers around France but it does have a back and front door so when we were on pitch we were able to open everything and let the air blow through.
Do you have a carpet? If not the floor will be burningly hot to walk on in the peak of the day. Get a tarp-good thing about that area is trees so you should be able to rig up an outside covered area for the dogs.
It seems to cool down considerably at night so sleeping was never an issue.
Never been to Jura region but last year we went from Troyes to Nimes to Bergerac to Blois and apart from Blois - everywhere was in the 30's most days.

Good luck!

we went to Ardeche at the end of August a few years back but we stayed in one of those ready tent thing. We had extremes of temperature-36 degrees, nearby forest fires, then the most incredible storm; following that it was cool for a few days. Prior to the storm it was cloudy and humid. From what I remember it was pretty cool at night even on the extremely hot days.
So a bit of everything. Beautiful area. We will definitely go back when the kids are older

It sounds lovely

We were down that way in June/July last year and it was 30+ even then. Shade is essential, fortunately most campsites in that area have a lot of trees. A tarp is also a very good thing.

We also found that many sites have stony rather than grassy pitches because of the lack of rain so it's worth putting an extra layer under your groundsheet to save it from punctures and a carpet on top to make it more comfortable under foot.

Try and get a campsite with trees and pitch strategically. Ie morning shade if you lie in or evening shade if you are relaxing then.

Stayed in chalet type things the last 1 years in the Ardeche in August. Around 35 degrees most days - was lovely!

3 years...

Oh.... Our tent is quite old now and doesn't have a footprint or carpet, given that it spent most of its time on muddy fields! I have been lusting over tent porn anyway and By the time I have managed to acquire both of these things I'm sure a new tent would be a more sensible option :o
Great idea about the tarp and all the sites we are looking at so far have river access so easy for cooling off. If it cools off a lot at night then we can do the bulk of our exercising in the evenings and early mornings then just peg them out to soak up the sun and people watch in the day :o
I haven't been to that area for about 15 years and DS will be 11 by then so the perfect age for canoeing, canyoning etc. I cannot wait :) :)