From experience we find that it is very useful to have recommended sites and Aires de Service when travelling around France so I thought that I would put together a report on our stop-overs and night halts on our “Full Circle” Tour of France
Day 1 Travelling from Calais our 1st night stopover was just off the A26/E17 at Cambrai an interesting small town. The site was quiet, clean and a 20 min walk to the town centre. Les 3 Cloches Municipal Site.
Day 2 Beaune. Camping Municipal Les Cent Vignes. Medium sized site and easy walk into town. Quite busy possibly due to a 24 hour Whacky Bike Race but not of the two wheeled variety some had six or eight wheels and teams of riders in fancy dress! Beaune is a beautiful walled town and the heart of the Burgundy wine region.
Day 3 On Route de Napoleon (N83) camped on Aire Exterieur at Camping Ser Sirant Lac de Laffrey. Only suitable for night halt. Isolated. Good scenery around lake. Centre for watersports. Lots of young people on campsite.
Day 4 Route de Napoleon. Sisteron Aire on entrance to town would be OK for night halt. Road twisty and narrow at times but good scenery, with snow-capped mountains. Arrived Castellane in middle of the Festival of the Castanets! Decorated tractors, Spanish dancers, town band, children on decorated bikes, very colourful. Delightful small town. Campsite Frederick Mistral right in town, med size and quiet. 
We stayed two nights to enable us to tour the Gorge du Verdon on our motorbike.
(Well recommended, would be possible in small/medium motor-home if you don’t mind twisty narrow roads and heights!)
There was an excellent Aire in the town but taken over by the Carnival Fair whilst we were there.
Day 6 La Route Napoleon. End of Very scenic historic route. Some monuments to Napoleon who marched his 1,200 men 200 miles from the Golfe Juan nr Antibes to Grenoble in just 7 days. Mountain air heavy with the scent of yellow broom, wild sage and rosemary. Arrive Golfe Juan. Very busy. We found a small campsite inland of Nice near Piellon one of the famous perched villages.
Camping La Laune Moulin de Piellon. Piellon well worth a visit as it is a fascinating place very original and not touristy (no cars, steep cobbled streets lots of steps). The campsite was small and basic but with very clean facilities. We were entertained in the evening by dancing fireflies! Really only suitable if you have a car/scooter/motorbike. We used this as a base for 3 days and toured the Riviera travelling along the 3 “Corniches” between Menton and Cannes, dodging in and out of the traffic on our motorbike! We managed to drive through the Monaco Grand Prix Tunnel twice! The Grande Corniche offers the most spectacular scenery from Menton to Cannes.
Day 9 Took A8 motorway to get around Nice but very busy/boring. Back onto the coastal route N98. Extremely beautiful coast red cliffs azure blue sea towards St Tropez
Large Aire at Ramatoule right by beach. Guarded site. Very busy at weekends. Open all year. Lovely beach with restaurant. Good for swimming and viewing the very expensive luxury yachts and of course the beautiful people! Recommended night emptying facilities water and even a basic shower/toilette No charge off season.
Day 10 Arrived St. Remy for Pilote Rally. Camping Pegomas. Loved the Camp Site. Med size with large, shaded pitches, heated swimming pool, helpful reception and an easy walk into the delightful town of St Remy.
We spent a week here below some of the interesting places we visited on the rally
St Remy
Chateau de Baux
Pont de Gard
Avignon Bridge
Palais de Papes
Day 17 Arrived Canet Plage for 2nd Pilote Rally. Le Brasilia 5 star Site. Beautiful facilities. Very Clean. Large Pitches some shade. Good Shops. Excellent Restaurant. Bar and Clubhouse with evening entertainment. Superb swimming pool. Large site so quite a walk to get around it all. Bikes a big bonus. Beautiful beach adjacent to the site. Expensive in high season. Good rates in low season.Group visits included visits to medieval Collioure and Carcassonne. Both well worth visiting.
Canet Plage and Collioure
Day 24 Sad to leave friends and Canet Plage. Took route to view Cathar Castles, Queribus and Peyrepertuse. Extremely steep narrow twisty roads to parking points but well worth drive. Hard walk to reach the castles perched high on rocks. Spectacular views down to the Med. Hoped to stay the night on Aire at Quillan in centre of village but closed so stayed on small municipal campsite La Sapinette. Very sloping pitches, pool closed at 6pm. Facilities ok.
Day 25 On Route to the French Pyrenees. Very scenic mountain roads, beautiful wild flowers, the lovely sound of bells from cows and sheep grazing in the high pastures, Snow-capped mountains, lots of mountain passes, steep windy roads up and over the cols and down! We arrive at Bagneres in the heart of the mountains a winter ski resort. We stay on the Aire adjacent to the gliding club. It is a large carpark with marked pitches and a Bourne de Services . There is a very pleasant walk from the Aire around a nearby lake. 
Day 26 Low cloud so unable to do the high passes. Change of plans. Go to Lourdes. Visit the Grotte. Lots of pilgrims. Find excellent small campsite few mins. from the Sanctuaires. Fairly basic facilities. Warning! Lourdes is a very busy place with very narrow busy streets and is not an easy place to navigate around!
Day 27 Clearer day. Back to the mountains. Amazing drive over the Col du Salour and the Col d’Aubisque. The road just clings to the side of the mountain! Low cloud at top of passes so a bit scary! Lots of eagles. Native horses.
Lunchtime we arrive at Artouste Fabrouse near the Spanish border. Excursion via cable car to the start of what is reputed to be the highest railway in Europe. 50 mins ride in a tiny open train literally clinging to the side of the mountain to the shimmering blue Lake Artouse at 6000ft. We saw griffon vultures and marmots together with a staggering display of wild azaleas and masses of wild flowers. Spent the night on the car-park Lots of camper vans. No problem. Highly recommended if you don’t mind heights. 
Day 28 Cross over to Spain via the Col du Portalet to Jacca. Route North of Pamplona and back into France to St Jean du Luz. Camping Juantcho at Socoa on Corniche de Breton. Book in for 2 days so that we can tour the area on motorbike. Large Campsite mostly statics. Fair facilities. Walk along cliffs into Socoa a small town with nice beach. Would need a car/ motorbike/scooter for getting about. We toured all along coast to Bayonne on motorbike. Biarritz beautiful beach, very clean smart shops/hotels/restaurants nice walk around headland. There is an Aire south of Biarritz but it can get very crowded. 
Day 30 Arrive at Capbreton N of Biarritz. Large Aire in sand dunes adjacent to a long sandy beach. Guarded site. Electric h/u. Portaloo. Water and emptying points. . Decide to stay two nights as weather very hot and sunny. Lots of surfers. Reduced charge low season.
Day 32 Following coastal route arrive Biscarrosse and stop to visit the Seaplane Museum. Good museum well worth visiting. After lunch arrive at Dune de Pilate nr the Arcachon Basin the highest sand dune in Europe. Climb to the top! 300ft . Very Touristy. Arrive at Andernos les Bains. Find Aire bit confusing as two areas to park but both ok. Close to town near small harbour on grassy area with some trees. Nice walks from Aire site. Lots of seafood restaurants specialising in oysters. 
Day 33 Arrived La Rochelle. Head for the Marina and a parking area used by campers but now signs “Camping Cars Interdits”! Follow directions to new Aire. Half a carpark very crowded no facilities not recommended. Take water taxi into La Rochelle. Very busy as music festival about to start.
La Rochelle
Day 35 Rain/wind in night. Wet morning take peage N of Bordeaux and then head towards Sables d’Oleron. Stopped at Motor Museum. Arrived St Philbert du Grand Lieu, Camping Boulogne. Meet up with other POA members going to Pilote45. Two nights. Nice campsite, level pitches, refurbished facilities, small bar, easy walk into little town. 6km from La Limouziniere (Pilote Factory) with h/u. There is an Aire just near the campsite.
Day 36 Nantes Le Hippodrome for the Pilote 45 Celebration 300 + Pilote motorhomes from all over Europe
Pilote 45 Celebration
Day 39 Heading for Calais. Arrive Honfleur. Large Aire on open ground by inlet and within a short walk to the very pretty small town. Lots of restaurants, good shops and wooden churches. Water and Emptying facilities.
Day 40 Le Touquet. Two large Aires. We stop at the Aire near the Ecole de Nautique. It is a large marked car-park area dedicated to motor-homes. Bourne de Services. Short walk to sand dunes, estuary and very long sandy beach into Le Touquet. Recommended.
Le Touquet
Day 42 Back at Calais and we have completed our “Full Circle” Tour of France.
Details for our campsites /Aires can be found in the Caravan Club Europe 1 Book or the Vicarious Books ‘ All the Aires France’ .
NB, If you are interested in this route then please check that the sites/Aires still exist!
