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How about Beamont Sur Sarthe which is north of Le Mans, it is a municiple site situated on the Sarthe river, we use this on route to the Royan. We paid 13 euro a nite for a folding camper with elec 3 adults and 2 children. Lovely site.

Karende

Quote: Originally posted by marnick1953 on 18/3/2010

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Thank you but we thought the route would be going to Rennes, is it quicker and better going Le Mans way, all we wont is the easiest as we are new to this.

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We would go via Rennes too, though you can avoid tolls via Le Mans too.

Site at Neuville sur Sarthe - camping le vieux moulin is nice, also you could use Les Gayeulles if going via Rennes. Site is next to a park to the north of the city centre.

Sorry, I should have read your post about towing a caravan and replied thinking you wanted an Aire de Service (Camping Cars) which are restricted to motorhomes. 

There are two types of 'Aires' on the autoroutes 

1. Smaller picnic type stops with parking, sometimes poorly lit at night and occasionally with a rather dubious toilet block, but often with a play area for children and tables and benches to eat a picnic - which are fine for daytime stops, but generally not considered an option for an overnight stop by most people. 

2. Service Areas or full facility stops, with a restaurant, shop, toilet block usually with shower, better lighting, and fuel station. Most caravanners, if they choose to stay overnight on the autoroute, choose the larger Service Areas - and then generally not near to large towns. 

Although we do overnight on the autoroute and have never had any problems, most people advise against it, especially around large towns, and definitely not on the smaller Aires.  We only do it on our first night because we arrive in France very late - and have thirty years of experience and knowledge of the various options - plus many visits to most Service Stations during the daylight hours when you can better assess any security issues.  If we were able to arrive early enough then I would rather spend my first night on a campsite - especially as you are novices at travelling through France.  I certainly wouldn't want to stay on an unknown Aire for my first visit to France!

If you're arriving in Caen then there are plenty of campsites nearby suitable for an overnight stop, and I'm sure you'll get recommendations of suitable campsites on the way.