France Ferry & Campsite info (use Search function) mod warning post 1

average_runner

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

Hi AR,

If you don't mind driving or have a bike I'd recommend tipping over to Bonne Anse Plage and running the bike path which goes north (as I've outlined in red on the map below) along the coast and through the Forêt Domaniale de la Coubre la Tremblade for about 20km's IIRC.

Thanks for that, will probably run to Bon la plage actually, want to check that resort out.

Thanks

54and56

average_runner wrote: »

Thanks for that, will probably run to Bon la plage actually, want to check that resort out.

Thanks

You don't need to enter BAP to access the bike path. If you make your way to this junction https://goo.gl/maps/EsbZbVR1GJw you can circle around the back of BAP and join the bike path. It actually runs from La Palmyre north past BAP and all the way north to La Tremblade. It's great for running or cycling, relatively flat and very safe, no cars etc. When we stayed at BAP we'd exit the rear gate to BAP here https://goo.gl/maps/FQzBeTe1WM92 and cycle for 10 mins or so with kids (aged 7/8 at the time) for dinner in La Palmyre and I'd run or cycle the path north each morning. Happy days indeed.

We were very happy with BAP and particularly enjoyed the direct access to the bike path on the coast. We stayed there for three years running and only changed because we wanted to try something new.

average_runner

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

You don't need to enter BAP to access the bike path. If you make your way to this junction https://goo.gl/maps/EsbZbVR1GJw you can circle around the back of BAP and join the bike path. It actually runs from La Palmyre north past BAP and all the way north to La Tremblade. It's great for running or cycling, relatively flat and very safe, no cars etc. When we stayed at BAP we'd exit the rear gate to BAP here https://goo.gl/maps/FQzBeTe1WM92 and cycle for 10 mins or so with kids (aged 7/8 at the time) for dinner in La Palmyre and I'd run or cycle the path north each morning. Happy days indeed.

We were very happy with BAP and particularly enjoyed the direct access to the bike path on the coast. We stayed there for three years running and only changed because we wanted to try something new.

Yeah that could be the reason we might change, its our third year at les charmettes, so maybe a new site be nice.

horslips

Am near St. Nazaire this week and it is not too difficult to get petrol but all the stations have the 20 Litre limit. Many of the smaller independent stations in the town have sold out since last week with some only now getting deliveries. Head for supermarkets which generally operate 24/7 using credit or debit cards.

i would definitely recommend filling-up before leaving Ireland.

A lot of the problem is that the French started panic buying once this started.

Some good news is that the traffic is much lighter.

ECO_Mental

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

We were very happy with BAP and particularly enjoyed the direct access to the bike path on the coast. We stayed there for three years running and only changed because we wanted to try something new.

We did exactly the same, BAP is great park but after three years as well we needed to see something different. My brother has been to the same park in Brittany for six years at least it's the only one he has ever been to. Can't fathom it really.... But each to their own

Stone Deaf 4evr

ECO_Mental wrote: »

We did exactly the same, BAP is great park but after three years as well we needed to see something different. My brother has been to the same park in Brittany for six years at least it's the only one he has ever been to. Can't fathom it really.... But each to their own

3 years seems to be the threshold, we did 3 in Bois dormant and are heading further south this time. a lot of it is down to the kids being able for a longer drive too though.

54and56

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

3 years seems to be the threshold, we did 3 in Bois dormant and are heading further south this time. a lot of it is down to the kids being able for a longer drive too though.

Ha, you and me both SD4E. We've been across the road in Bois Masson for the last three years so time for something different and we've decided to head south also but not as far south as you're going IIRC, we're heading to La Reserve about an hour south west of Bordeaux.

Looking forward to it, early July can't come quick enough!!!

aquarius10

This is all we need.

http://www.thelocal.fr/20160523/strikes-fuel-security-euro-2016-facing-major-headaches

aquarius10

As the Euro 2016 football tournament approaches there are concerns that it could turn into a fiasco given the prospect of rail strikes, street protests, petrol shortages and security "failings" at the national stadium

France launches countdown to 'high-risk' Euro 2016
All you need to know about the mega Paris fan zone
Is it really safe to come to France for Euro 2016?
The organisers of Euro 2016 in France will be fretting even more on Monday.

Already concerned about the heightened threat from terrorism, their anxiety will have increased after a weekend that saw serious concerns about the new security plan at the national stadium, a growing fuel crisis as petrol stations across the country run dry, and threats of ongoing street protests and rail strikes.

While all the focus in the run up to the tournament has been on the threat from terrorists, it appears the biggest risk the tournament being a success comes from the ongoing protests against France labour reforms.

With hundreds of thousands of fans from across Europe set to descend on the country, the French government is facing some major headaches.
The latest militant acts have seen oil refineries and fuel depots blockaded across the country which has provoked panic among drivers fearing a shortage.

Despite pleas to not all rush to the pumps, worried motorists have been desperate to get their hands on fuel and as a result some 1,600 petrol stations across the country had run dry, or almost dry, on Monday.

Thousands of fans will be already gearing up to head to France in their cars and the thought that they may have to queue for hours to get fuel or even worse, risk getting left high and dry on a French motorway, will have them sweating into their replica football shirts.

The government insists all will be fine and say they have plenty of stocks but the crisis is growing before their very eyes and unions have vowed that football is simply not as important as the livelihoods of French workers.

“The European football championships is not sacred. It’s an international competition. What is sacred is the fate of workers in this country and around the world,” former union leader Bernard Thibault told France Info radio.

With over two weeks to go before the start of the tournament there is plenty of time for France to refill its petrol pumps, but as we all know issues are rarely resolved quickly in the country.

Fans will hoping the government fulfills its vow to use all means necessary to break the blockades of fuel depots.

There is of course the alternative to travelling around France by car, with fans also able to use the excellent French train network except…they could strike too

christy02

Hi

We are heading over on Thursday and will be heading down past Bordeaux so will use up a tank just getting there. Usually do quite a bit of touring around as well so expect to use another couple of tanks.

Bit worried that if this escalates we may be unable to get fuel at all next week. Do the supermarkets etc still have supplies and has the price risen drastically due to shortages?

CelticRambler

The price hasn't gone up significantly. You can check prices here: http://prix-carburants.gouv.fr/

The main problem for foreign drivers is probably going to be the 24/7 supermarkets being closed overnight to stop people filling their jerricans after hours. The underlying situation has got worse these last two days, with the government using tear gas and water cannon to "unblock" the refineries, and the main union involved subsequently getting the refinery workers to go on strike, so where there were "only" five out of eight refineries closed, now it's eight out of eight. :rolleyes:

If you're down around Bordeaux, you could always treat yourself to a trip to northern spain where there's no shortage.

SusanC10

So how worried should we be about the Strikes and the Fuel Shortage in France ?

We are leaving Ireland on June 21st (Rosslare - Cherbourg) and driving approx 7.5 hours south without an overnight stopover.

Don't want to worry unduly but as this is our first time doing the Ferry/Campsite thing in France I don't want to be naive either. Realise no-one has a crystal ball but would appreciate opinions from seasoned travellers particularly those who regularly take the Ferry and drive long distances in France.

54and56

SusanC10 wrote: »

So how worried should we be about the Strikes and the Fuel Shortage in France ?

We are leaving Ireland on June 21st (Rosslare - Cherbourg) and driving approx 7.5 hours south without an overnight stopover.

Don't want to worry unduly but as this is our first time doing the Ferry/Campsite thing in France I don't want to be naive either. Realise no-one has a crystal ball but would appreciate opinions from seasoned travellers particularly those who regularly take the Ferry and drive long distances in France.

I have a similar issue although we're not departing Ireland until after the Semi Finals have been played so most fans will have gone home by the time we arrive which I'm hoping will ease pressure on fuel shortages.

We have a similar drive to you so the first and most important thing I'm going to do is make sure we're absolutely fully fuelled just before we hit the ferry. I usually fill up in Topaz Drinagh which is about 10 minutes from Rosslare.

The next thing I'm going to do if there are still fuel shortages in France when we arrive is to make sure as soon as my tank drops below 50% full (which means I should still have 400km's left in it) to fill up at the next available opportunity.

Once we get to the campsite I won't be too worried as we tend to ditch the car for the first few days (bar the initial "big" shop to stock up) and suss out from others staying onsite or at reception what the story is locally ref filling up. If I can get one fill whilst there that will do me for the holiday (we never do much touring around in the car) and then one more top up to get us all or certainly most of the way back to Roscoff whilst keeping an eye out along the way for opportunities to top up again to be sure we've enough to get us home.

That's basically my plan anyway.

Thing is it's all part of an adventure so even if we do have to queue for fuel for a few hours or are stranded overnight it's not the end of the world.

munchkin_utd

youre travelling in 4 weeks. The crystal ball would want to be very well calibrated to see that far in the future, but you cant imagine the current strike lasting that long.
Its already the top news on french news. The government cannot allow that to last another 4 weeks !
http://www.lefigaro.fr/

just note, spare fuel is not allowed to be carried on ferries so you are reliant on what you can get in France.
http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/faq/prohibited-items/

munchkin_utd

some of the supermarkets are now requiring a €60 shop before being allowed to fill up with them.
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lefigaro.fr%2Feconomie%2F2016%2F05%2F25%2F20003-20160525LIVWWW00011-en-direct-greve-raffinerie-depot-carburant-penurie-loi-travail-valls-hollande-force-de-l-ordre.php%23739149&edit-text=&act=url

average_runner

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I have a similar issue although we're not departing Ireland until after the Semi Finals have been played so most fans will have gone home by the time we arrive which I'm hoping will ease pressure on fuel shortages.

We have a similar drive to you so the first and most important thing I'm going to do is make sure we're absolutely fully fuelled just before we hit the ferry. I usually fill up in Topaz Drinagh which is about 10 minutes from Rosslare.

The next thing I'm going to do if there are still fuel shortages in France when we arrive is to make sure as soon as my tank drops below 50% full (which means I should still have 400km's left in it) to fill up at the next available opportunity.

Once we get to the campsite I won't be too worried as we tend to ditch the car for the first few days (bar the initial "big" shop to stock up) and suss out from others staying onsite or at reception what the story is locally ref filling up. If I can get one fill whilst there that will do me for the holiday (we never do much touring around in the car) and then one more top up to get us all or certainly most of the way back to Roscoff whilst keeping an eye out along the way for opportunities to top up again to be sure we've enough to get us home.

That's basically my plan anyway.

Thing is it's all part of an adventure so even if we do have to queue for fuel for a few hours or are stranded overnight it's not the end of the world.

I will use the over night super u beside us.

54and56

average_runner wrote: »

I will use the over night super u beside us.

How does that work? Is it a secure car (campervan) carpark with toilet facilities etc?

Stone Deaf 4evr

No point in being overly worried, as others have said, its a fair bit off yet and surely will be under control by the time we get there (i'm off at the start of july). fill the tank before hitting the road and top up when possible. If all comes to all, I'll only be 20k from the spanish border so I can alway hop over there for a tank (provided I have enough fuel to get me there :pac:)

CelticRambler

This dispute has been going on since before Christmas, so 4 weeks is nothing. The "problem" as the union sees it is that the government isn't giving in to their demands, so they've escalated their actions progressively since the start of the year. Now that fuel supplies have been hobbled, they've started on the power stations, with a few shopping centres and other locations being subject to blackouts yesterday.

The union behind this is particularly aggressive, and will (has already) sacrifice anyone and everyone to get what it wants. As our current government would make a lame duck look like an olympic athlete, and is utterly incapable of making meaningful decisions, no-one expects the situation to improve, especially as (somewhat paradoxically) the ordinary people support the strikers - even though they risk losing their own jobs/businesses because of them. :rolleyes:

However, by the 21st June, most strikers will be looking forward to their summer holidays, so most industrial action will fizzle out in the following week - same as every year!

SusanC10

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

I have a similar issue although we're not departing Ireland until after the Semi Finals have been played so most fans will have gone home by the time we arrive which I'm hoping will ease pressure on fuel shortages.

We have a similar drive to you so the first and most important thing I'm going to do is make sure we're absolutely fully fuelled just before we hit the ferry. I usually fill up in Topaz Drinagh which is about 10 minutes from Rosslare.

The next thing I'm going to do if there are still fuel shortages in France when we arrive is to make sure as soon as my tank drops below 50% full (which means I should still have 400km's left in it) to fill up at the next available opportunity.

Once we get to the campsite I won't be too worried as we tend to ditch the car for the first few days (bar the initial "big" shop to stock up) and suss out from others staying onsite or at reception what the story is locally ref filling up. If I can get one fill whilst there that will do me for the holiday (we never do much touring around in the car) and then one more top up to get us all or certainly most of the way back to Roscoff whilst keeping an eye out along the way for opportunities to top up again to be sure we've enough to get us home.

That's basically my plan anyway.

Thing is it's all part of an adventure so even if we do have to queue for fuel for a few hours or are stranded overnight it's not the end of the world.

Thanks for that. That all sounds like a sensible plan.

@ munchkin - didn't know spare fuel prohibited but makes sense.

Found this link on another site.
http://www.thelocal.fr/20160525/heres-how-youll-be-affected-by-frances-upcoming-strikes

munchkin_utd

SusanC10 wrote: »

Thanks for that. That all sounds like a sensible plan.

@ munchkin - didn't know spare fuel prohibited but makes sense.

Found this link on another site.
http://www.thelocal.fr/20160525/heres-how-youll-be-affected-by-frances-upcoming-strikes

fueling a fire at sea is not what ferry companies want people to be doing with petrol in the boot!!

Only recently people were killed in a ferry which had operated to Rosslare till very shortly beforehand (is also of almost identical design to the Stena ferry to France and the irish ferries ship from Dublin to France) so the idea of a ferry fire is not an abstract one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Norman_Atlantic

webpal

Very dangerous to transport fuel in the car anyway. Imagine if it exploded inside your car! Doesn't bare thinking about

Seth Brundle

webpal wrote: »

Very dangerous to transport fuel in the car anyway. Imagine if it exploded inside your car! Doesn't bare thinking about

With the amount of stuff my wife packs, we'd be well protected from any blast

SusanC10

munchkin_utd wrote: »

fueling a fire at sea is not what ferry companies want people to be doing with petrol in the boot!!

Only recently people were killed in a ferry which had operated to Rosslare till very shortly beforehand (is also of almost identical design to the Stena ferry to France and the irish ferries ship from Dublin to France) so the idea of a ferry fire is not an abstract one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Norman_Atlantic

Didn't even enter my head to try to carry spare fuel in the car on the ferry. But now thinking that there may be other lunatics who may try it :eek:

Fingers crossed for a resolution soon.

whiskeyman

^^ Have to admit, I would have thought about it myself!

I reckon lots more will do it regardless but just have the gerrycan buried under something else so it's not easily found.

average_runner

Je_suis_Jean wrote: »

How does that work? Is it a secure car (campervan) carpark with toilet facilities etc?

Sorry, i might of given the wrong impression, its just a petrol station thats cheap and pay by credit card at night time for fuel

oinkely

Heading on the 4th in the van, towing the caravan. Hope its sorted by then. I'll be brimming the tank in rosslare though, should be good for close to 1000km at that so will get us to the first of our planned stops anwau, and back again.

Munsterbhoy

Jesus fuel shortages is all I need, leaving Roscoff this Sunday morning for a 11hr drive to Argeles near Perpignan in one day. Was going to go the normal way south from Nantes to Bordeaux then across but the fuel strikes are mainly in Brittany, Normandy and Charentes which is my direct route. Would I be better of going thru Tours Clermont Millau?

munchkin_utd

average_runner wrote: »

Sorry, i might of given the wrong impression, its just a petrol station thats cheap and pay by credit card at night time for fuel

well, they are closing the supermarket stations at night and some are insisting on €60 of shopping before getting any fuel during the day.

Id say you should get the petrol wherever you see it and be happy to see a queue as at least that means theres fuel to be had !

average_runner

munchkin_utd wrote: »

well, they are closing the supermarket stations at night and some are insisting on €60 of shopping before getting any fuel during the day.

Id say you should get the petrol wherever you see it and be happy to see a queue as at least that means theres fuel to be had !

Thanks for that, we would easily spend 60 euro in a supermarket, as will do a weekly shop per week we are there.