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Exactly, so why do people keep posting about the dangers in France & Spain, but forget to warn about what is happening on their doorstep. If you wander around with your head in the clouds you will get caught out no matter where you are. Just watch hayseed tourists in London, they may as well have MUG tattoed on their forehead. Life is harsh, get used to it and adapt.

Steve W

Hi

Was planning to go to France without the dog - but after reading this may just take him, Bear Lake tent as well.

Quote: Originally posted by sally12345 on 03/9/2010

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Hi

Was planning to go to France without the dog - but after reading this may just take him, Bear Lake tent as well.

 

 

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Hi Floydfan

Thanks for replying - yes am probably over-reacting OH said same as you.

Just looked at your website - your site looks lovely. Dont really want to take the dog to France, as limits days-out etc.

Have book marked your site to show to OH .

I'm with Stu on this one. A couple of very isolated incidents and within days its suddenly no longer safe to camp in France!!!! I have just returned home from a wonderful two weeks in the Loire Valley and our English hosts told us a story about the only "crime" they have encountered in the thirteen years they have lived there. Two bored 10 year olds borrowed a couple of bikes from an open garage and spent the day cycling the lanes. They were spotted several times so everyone knew who had taken them. At the end of the day they put the bikes back and returned home to a visit from the local bobby. They got a stern lecture from the bobby and were marched through the village to apologise to the owners. It was such a big event the whole village turned out to get a look at the two "criminals"

I wish I lived somewhere that safe.

Carol

Thanks erroutdoors,

I think your reply sums up the intention of my original post perfectly.

Not at any stage have I said that it's unsafe to camp in France or that there is more crime there than in the UK. If I did feel that this was the case I would of promptly returned home as soon as this had happened.

This type of crime is very rare, but if it's never reported then it we will never know how much of an isolated incident it is.

I don't agree with the implication that that it would be easy to spot where these burgalries will occur,  plenty of opportunity, and easy escape routes for the thieves-pretty much sums up campsites (everywhere) in general. What I would say is that large campsites would offer the most opportunity. I certainly didn't think there was a threat of this happening when I booked the campsite, mainly because I had been to the area and knew of it's rural location, but where there's opportunity!

One of my points that appears to have been lost is that, in my case, it wasn't really about the loss but of the level of the effect it had on my children. My immediate initial reaction was 'okay it's happened, it could have been worse and I'm dammed if I'm going to let it spoil our holiday. I then insisted that we carry on as normal, however when your 11 year old son can't sleep at night and after a couple of days is crying that he wants to go home then you have to make concessions and leave your 'comfort zone' or in my case bedroom pod, and for the rest of our holiday I slept in the main part of the tent outside the bedroom pods. This was not an overeaction but a measure to instill a good nights sleep, for everyone. It worked and we all went on to have a great holiday.    

I sincerely hope that this or these type of stories don't put peoople off camping holidays in France, or anywhere else for that matter. This was certainly not my intention, if it was then I would be a hypocrit as I fully intend to return to France to camp, a wiser man. Neither was it the intention of this post to court sympathy, although I would like thank all the people who have posted messages of sympathetic words.

As they say on crimewatch please don't have nightmares!

Lee.