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> You make it sound so easy !!! Its a confidence thing, first time I think I'd be more comfortable knowing I had somewhere to go <
To a certain extent it is that easy. There is not a principle difference in going out for a day to e.g. some zoo or fair and going on holiday. You still occupy yourself with the kid, take care that there is something to keep him/her busy on a longer drive etc. We used to buy a number of little books/magazines/colourpencils etc. especially for the holiday. This would be handed to them somewhere during the ride. They would be curuious in advance as it became a tradtion. They had their own special rucksack with their toys/tapes or whatever, they choose to bring along. limited to the volume of that rucksack. of course we would bring along some other stuff ourselves for on the site.
You know what's best for your kid and can trust on that.
Of course we would have some extra spare sleeping bags/blankets for cold nights to wrap around them, as we would go mainly to mountain areas (stay at around 100 mtrs altitude) where nights sometimes may be colder.
I must admit i had experience in camping before and learnt to trust my own feeling. You know the adolescence period, camping with a moped etc, where everyone tells you that youth will be refused on campsites, especially if the with their mopeds like in the UK are considered motorbikes. We expected that, but not one site refuse us, on the contrary we were approached very friendly, got the nicest pitches, were allowed to build a little camp fire otherwise prohibited on a site etc.
We also learnt how to plan the trip and where to arrive a bit earlier (16.00) and where one could arrive late.
In my case the planning for France involves having selected three or four campsites from the guide (paper) within a stretch of about half an hour driving, maybe an hour. Plan for arrival about 17.00 always worked. Only twice in 18 years we had to take the second site, 15 minutes later, due to a retarded journey. Staying away a bit from the nice cities on the coast helps, as those sites will be busy. The problem are the larger sites with many facilities, the more simple sites with good quality are no problem, usuall municipal, which you find everywhere.
If e.g. by a very busy period of work just before holiday we get tired easier when travelling, we stop at 15.00 and pick a site. Lovely, pitch, and visit the nearby village or small town, often being older than you think, having e.g. loads of old waterpits now all with flowers, or some old citywalls or.... and especially having a nice pub with terrace for a cool drink. If the site does not have that itself..
Of course you can book for a few days, as long as you know that you can make that trip in good time. Just take the telephonenumber from your campsite guide and phone directly. i would prefer that to the larger organization, who are tuned for longer periods and start nagging about insurance, annulment etc. Most municipal sites don't charge anything for reservation cost and are very flexible. If you have a GSM, you can phone during the drive. The phonecall is short, so it won't be the cost that troubles you, and you know for sure that there will be a place waiting for you.
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WL
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Topic: Advice Please - Camping in France
