Our view of camping in France

We spent the last part of our tour in France along the Mediterranean coast to Spain with lots of sun, sea and sand, according to the cliché of summer holidays. We took two planned break days at the beach of Espinguette at the edge of the Camarque and another unplanned one in Valras-Plage, because we had got ourselves a stomach upset and Katharina had the feeling to have a spitting heron and not Matthias sitting behind her. Correspondingly, the mileage average in these days was lower.

Cycling along the French Mediterranean coast is a relatively flat affair, which partly runs very pleasantly on cycle paths. So we could follow the Via Rhona to Sète; the seven kilometres long sandy beach we pedaled along a nicely guided cycle path, also along the Canal de la Robine. From Port-la-Nouvelle to Argelés-dur-Mer, we followed the Eurovelo Route 8, where we met a couple riding a Tandem who had their little daughter in tow. The bridging parts between the bike paths are tedious, as cycling is mostly forbidden on the normal national roads and the small side roads are hardly signposted at all. Several times we get lost - a frustrating affair with the hot temperatures in the middle of August.

The landscape is Mediterranean with pine trees, low bushes, small canals. Quite lonely stretches alternate with the heavily frequented seaside resorts. These are characterised by a myriad of camping sites and an almost unbelievable number of amusement sites such as aquaparks, go-kart tracks, paintball facilities and amusement parks. Every second town has a so-called Euro- or Lunapark. The beaches are clean, free accessible; the sea pleasant (Katharina’s definition)/cold (Matthias definition) and very quiet. Especially impressive for us was the beach of Espinguette. It is about one kilometre deep and several kilometres long, so it takes about 15 minutes to walk from the campsite to the sea. We experienced this on the first day of the break in a foggy mood in the morning - an almost spooky experience and on the 2nd day in bright sunshine. What a difference! Also impressive are the seven kilometres of sandy beach at Sète.

The French Mediterranean coast is a good place to think about camping sites and their advantages and disadvantages for female cyclists, since in France one third of the population feels like going on holiday in a camper, one third spends the summer in mobile houses on camping sites and the last third takes care of the other two ;-) On our trip we had stopped in Germany, Switzerland and France at various campsites. Here is our list of criteria

• Noise: Cyclists need sleep. Noisy neighbours are therefore unpopular, and so are campsites that do not provide a good night’s sleep or are located close to the next Euro Park or Luna Park.

• Brightness: Katharina sleeps much better when it’s dark. Accordingly, we prefer places with discreet floor lighting. Especially during the day, when pitching tents, it’s not so easy to discover all the spotlights and assess them correctly. Our tip: Do not fix the tent pegs until it is dark and you have moved the tent to the darkest part of the pitch.

• Sanitary facilities: They are a science in themselves. So a bad location of the access or even just an access and a lack of cleanliness can spoil the use of it. Also not very popular was the lack of toilet paper. Also missing unisex areas for common tooth brushing met with our displeasure.

• Size: There are campsites in all sizes. So we came across places with only about 50 pitches and free running chickens as well as huge ones with several 100 pitches, on which one can no longer orient oneself without a plan. Basically, we are friends of small places due to the short distances; but big ones usually have more infrastructure as shops, restaurants and swimming pools. Sometimes we got really nice swimming pools with great slides as in Valras-Plage.

• Price: There are campsites in all price ranges. We slept cheapest in Port de Murs for 15€, most expensive in Torreilles Plage for 45€ (no, this is not in Switzerland, but in France).

• Neighbours: As a touring cyclist you are - even if you have as much luggage as we do - restricted in taking along objects that serve the comfort. All the more one is pleased about dear neighbours at the camping site, who lend something to one. We had an extraordinarily positive experience in Valras-Plage. We were worn out by the heat, the multiple procedures and the stomach upset and arrived and started to set up our tent. A neighbour approached us with two chairs in his hand. He lent them to us just like that and shortly afterwards also a camping table. A few minutes later the neighbour came from the other side and lent us the air pump to inflate our air mattresses. We felt much fitter and really much better. Thank you very much! The next day, when we were supposed to move far away from our pitch for the extra break day, the neighbour took us in diagonally opposite on his pitch for one night. Thank you very much for that as well! The camping site of Valras-Plage also has direct access to the beach, great slides and a restaurant with table grill.

• Comfort: Cyclists also appreciate it when the campsite provides small amenities such as tables, chairs or laundry stands.

We would like to conclude today’s report with a few words on cycling in France;

• In France, there are a number of “Voies Verdes”, reserved for cyclists and pedestrians, on which it is easy to cycle. Unfortunately, there are often no links between them and it is difficult to get an overview of how this is possible in Switzerland thanks to the Internet portal.

• Staying overnight is usually not a problem, as there are many campsites. However some are to be enjoyed with caution, since not all tent meadows have planned for “one-night flies”. Once we were rejected even with the comment that basically no tents would be taken. On a campsite??!

• As a cyclist you need proper catering. We have learned to love the Boulangerien (bakeries) in France. There you get great filled baguettes, quiches, pizzas, desserts and that at very reasonable prices. Also the locals visit the bakeries daily. It is really no prejudice that the Frenchman buys his baguette fresh every day. We also saw different creative ways of transporting up to 3 of them on a handlebar.

• It is not a preconception that France is the land of wine. You can get good cheap wine almost everywhere. There are campsite shops where you can have canisters filled with wine straight from the barrel.

• The Mediterranean desert has a very nice animal like Salamender and Geckos - but also two snakes have been romping around with us on the cycle path.