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I was a bit nervous about leaving my bike and trailer combo in a hotel car park last year.I spoke to a few people about it and was told not to worry.I didn't even remove my tent which was strapped to the back of my bike.We had no problems whatsoever.

Hi - I know it is a different country and things are different, but I have read so many stories on here about people camping in France and had there money, passports, phones etc stolen from inside there sleeping pods in the middle of the night whilst they were asleep so thats what makes me weary.

We are not true brits who have to have the british food - yes tea and coffee for on a morning to start the day but other than that give me foreign food from the country I am in (well apart from frogs legs and snails!!!).

Jeff, the frogs legs are actually quite tasty, especially cooked in garlic and a great laugh if they come out on skewers, they remind you of playing table football.

We are also booked onto the site you are going to, but in May in one of the caravans via the Sun Newspaper offer (£38 for Mon-Fri).

Valuables lock inside car in locked glovebox. What you don't always read are the thousands and thousands of holidaymakers who have wonderful holidays with no issues whatsoever which will make up the vast majority of people!

Coffee is generally much stronger than here and much nicer IMO. I would take your own tea though if you like certain brands as we do make that better in general.

Frogs legs taste like chicken and snails you generally have in huge amounts of garlic and such and taste mainly of that. Wouldn't be fussed about having either again - far too many other lovely ffoods available in France, especially their bread s and pastries and cheeses, and that before we start on the wines.........

First trip as others have said keep teh journey as short as possible. We hol;idayed many years ago in Pas de Calais regions around le Touquet and St Omer and had lovely time. Once you've done it you will want to travel further I can assure you!!

We know about locking valuables in the car but don't generally stick to this rule for jewerley and wallets and purses during the night, we normally just leave them in the pocket of the sleeping pod.

We are looking forward to trying the French food - although we will be doing alot of the evening cooking ourselves to keep the cost down as we would love to do the sites and Disney but I have just got back to work this month after a period of 6 months due to redundancy but no doubt we will try alot of there fresh produce - DS looking forward to tomates, Cakes and breads - asked if he could visit to patisserie and boulangerie every morning for his breakfast - so diet starting soon to loose probably half of what we will put on

But once again thank you all for your help - any guidance on eating out in France (good food but not extortionate), shopping (supermarkets etc), decent wines - red, white and rose/white zinfandel for the misses and anything we should do or try (attractions, food, drinks) please let us know we are quite adventerous

Cheers Jeff

what's wrong with frog's legs and snails   they are fine and dandy   just eat the stuff and forget the prejudices      we eat cockles   they don't seem to   

zinfandel wine may not be available, you are france not america     just buy it try and go back for more     if in doubt look at what is going quickly off the shelves into the locals' baskets   as for restaurants   look for the price and dip in at your level   lower end for me  never been disappointed yet    nearest was a nouvelle cuisine place and the french family were of the same opinion as us   when it came to the cheese and the sweet rounds  we just filled our plates up with 4 choices - big - to make up for the skimpy starter and main course   imagine a quarter of a cherry tomato as a section of your veg!

Try and get some local knowledge on the local wines when you get there. Any local vineyards where you can turn up with your own container will be worth trying

Alternatively try the local supermarche and grab a selection of vin de pays for a couple of €'s each and try them

Find out when local farmers markets are on and go there to buy your meat/fish/cheese and fruit and veg. Not always cheaper but likely to be very fresh. Also find out if there is a Lidl near where you are and shop there for money saving. Fresh meat counters often very good at these we have found in France. Some seafood especially moules, are often pretty cheap compared to here

If you have room in car take some staple bits with you like peanut butter/marmite/favoruite cereals/tinned puddings rice etc as helps keep cost down when you are shopping out there

We have a 3 euro rule for wine.

3 euros  there's posh!!!   but you are spot on, there is no need to pay lots for a good wine

Like the sound of 3euro wine - I suppose the extra you spend on food you save on the alcohol.