Towing to South of France

sullivan · 11 July 2011, 10:50

Hi there, we are a family of 4 and are looking to tow our 6.5m Zodiac Rib to the South of France this August. We would love any assistance from anyone heading down there or been there before regarding travel and accommodation details.
Not sure if we want to be trying for Camp Site / Villa or All Inclusive type holiday but obviously launching and mooring facility details a must.
Any assistance for varied budgets would be fantastic also thinking of planning a half way stop if anyone knows of any?

Many thanks in advance!

Phil · 11 July 2011, 13:54

Beaune is a good stopping point; there are some hotels on the outside of town with enough room to park and only minutes off the motorway

as for moorings etc where are you planning as a base?

sullivan · 11 July 2011, 15:27

Phil

Honestly don't know. Have heard St Tropez might be a nice place to head for but don't know if the area is excessively expensive or not. Budget is reasonable I guess but we are no millionaires!!! Just not sure what's out there suitable for famalies with Ribs i.e. Camping on / near to beach (with pool for kids I guess) Villas on beach, etc. Want to try and make sure the kids enjoy as well.
Not sure how tidal it is there either so wondered if it would be pontoons or swinging moorings. Either way would be suitable I guess.

Many thanks for responding so quickly.

Carl · 11 July 2011, 15:35

lots of camp sites next to st.trop,the area is plage de pampelonne,mobile homes and tenting,no idea about launching though,and very small tides,few feet at most really

sullivan · 11 July 2011, 16:00

Carl

Thanks for that info.

Anyone else who can help its greatly appreciated, want to make this one for the kids to remember.

sullivan · 11 July 2011, 21:07

Carl

Wife and I just going through bits and checking Threads. She has mentioned my reply to you looked rude. Hope there was no offence taken (manic at work today). Anything else you could add would be of great help and we are looking into plage de pampelonne.

Regards

Sullivan

Carl · 11 July 2011, 22:27

Not rude at all, can't really help much more, but the camp sites are big and plenty of room to park car and boat next to your pitch or mobile home. When I was staying loads of campers and boats

sullivan · 11 July 2011, 22:42

Cheers for that. Bit of a night mare this whole not knowing much about an area. Sure we will get there in the end.

BumbleAbout · 12 July 2011, 08:46

I have had some good suggestions from the "Ribnet Europe" forum here RIBnet Europe - RIBnet Forums in the past.

sullivan · 12 July 2011, 09:21

Many thanks, I will give it a try

Superjetjim · 16 July 2011, 19:52

Sullivan,

We're going down again this August, its a mecca, you'll love it!

This site we go to is ace and has private moorings, pools, bar, nightclub, restuarant etc.. All static caravans have been replaced this season. The launch from private slip into a fresh water river, runs half a mile and straight onto the Med - I was speachless when we found it by accident back in 2002.

Site details are here:

http://www.etoiledargens.com/indexuk.htm

Location map here:

L'etoile de argens - Google Maps

Cheers,

James

jezza2011 · 17 July 2011, 18:44

That camp site looks very good. How good is the slipway?
We are tinking of going down that way next summer holiday time with our rib.
Any suggestions on the route down there/stops/overnight accomodation

Superjetjim · 17 July 2011, 22:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by jezza2011

That camp site looks very good. How good is the slipway?
We are tinking of going down that way next summer holiday time with our rib.
Any suggestions on the route down there/stops/overnight accomodation

Slipway is concrete, easy access, straight in from middle of the site. Moorings are either side and are for residents only. Leave your boat in for a couple of weeks.

Ref the journey we have 2 x small children (one only 6 x weeks) so will make a few more stops than most - I used to do it none stop in my youth, road trip style!

Our (relaxed) plan is:

Friday - Amble down to Dover from Midlands and stay over at the Ramada in Dover (£85 for family room) - secure parking with cameras, 10 mins from ferry port etc.
Saturday 08:00 Ferry - Calais at about 09:30 - Amble down to Lyon (Etap Hotel Macon Sud) for about 16:00 stay over - newly refurbished, modern rooms, cheap as chips, no idea on security of parking, taking chains/clamps etc
Sunday - 10:00 Amble on down to Frejus/site for about lunchtime.

You could easily do one stop at the Etap in Lyon, but its a holiday and we're chillin.

Might take some pictures and post them up here to help other out?

One good tip is to pick up a 'Toll charge card' so you dont have to stop/dick about with change etc. Surprising how much fuel it saves not having to stop/start a 3.5 ton boat/trailer/4x4 combination every few miles.

Cheers,

Jim

Superjetjim · 17 July 2011, 22:51

Eurocamp resell the same site, the URL below has some additional details:

L'Etoile d'Argens Campsite | St Aygulf | Riviera | France | Eurocamp.co.uk

Click on the video link for some better shots of the slip/moorings/beach etc.

If you do go book it direct with the site, Eurocamp stick a wedge on top for the same thing.

Jim

sullivan · 18 July 2011, 06:55

James

That is fantastic of you to come back to us. Looks really nice. We nearly booked a Static in a Camp Site just behind Port Grimaud (Camping Club Holiday Marina, RD 559 – Le Ginestel, 83310 Port-Grimaud) but this one just looks and sounds that bit better. The other place seemed to be quite expensive as well so it will be good to see how these turn out. Any hints on where best on the site to be staying?

Superjetjim · 18 July 2011, 10:38

Sullivan,

Your welcome.

There's a plan on their web site: http://www.etoiledargens.com/2009/plan.pdf

Where to go depends on what's important to you:

Look for 324/323/322 - these are 4 x bed Statics that overlook the moorings, we're going here to avoid carrying stuff to and from the boat for the beach.
Or 401/402 etc if you want to be near the pool/food/music etc.

The prices are on their site, if you can do the first week in Sept instead of August the prices plummet and the weathers the same - guess it depends on kids/school hols etc. We're doing last week August and first week Sept.

Jim

m chappelow · 18 July 2011, 11:10

[QUOTE=Superjetjim;

One good tip is to pick up a 'Toll charge card' so you dont have to stop/dick about with change etc. Surprising how much fuel it saves not having to stop/start a 3.5 ton boat/trailer/4x4 combination every few miles.

Cheers,

Jim[/QUOTE]

Good tip , i once got pushed through a toll booth in Northern France in 1996 by an impatiant truck driver behind me because i was fumbling with change ,dont worry the bar opens before you smash through but the alarm bells start and bring the security guys out ,

sullivan · 18 July 2011, 13:09

Thanks for all this help guys.
Would love to have gone for the cheaper but have a daughter in secondary school and cant see the wife letting us take her out of school, might give it a try though!!! It will be the only way to get out to that site anyway as the dates we preferably wanted are booked which is a nightmare so we may have to go back to original planned site. Thanks for all the help. Anything else please feel free to let me know. If things change I will keep you posted and maybe we will see you out there?

Superjetjim · 18 July 2011, 14:07

This is useful for routes/hotels

Avoiding Paris - Routes from Calais to the south and west - About-France.com -

BumbleAbout · 19 July 2011, 13:39

The French motorway toll transponder is very good - I have used one for a few years now and you get to use the "no stopping" lanes.

There is now a UK website https://www.saneftolling.co.uk/ which seems a lot more expensive than the French one (which charges a 2 Euro per month charge on top of your toll charges - but only for the months used). If you use the French website then the Liber T Balade is the tourist one.