France - Next Year

Sorry Freddy, I misled you - it was June - but hopefully the sun is still shining there.

June is when we’re going 👍

Overnight Brittany Ferries is my idea of hell but each to their own. 

Just thinking out loud...

Satellite tv. What could I expect to pay for a half-decent, nothing fancy system? I realise that the further south you go, the weaker the signal is. Just a ball-park figure please 🙂

Depends on the size of dish but if your intention was to visit France on a regular basis and head further south it would be worth considering at least an 80/85cms automatic dish. There are a other things you can add into the mix like autoskew which helps a bit on the edges of the reception area. Cost wise probably somewhere between £1400 and £2500 for an automatic system. The Mecatronic 85 cms dish on our last motorhome cost £1866 fitted so not cheap but a lot easier than a manual dish. 

David

Or on the other hand you can buy a an 85cm dish, tripod, LNB and receiver for about £100 - £150 you might even get a secondhand one for less. 

We had a fixed autoskew 85cm all singing and dancing one on our MH, fantastic all the way down to the south of France, as long as you didn't want to pitch under trees in the shade. 

We now have gone back to a caravan and also back to a manual 85cm dish with a good satellite finder. It takes OH minutes to set up and we still get a good signal down at the south of France. Best is we can pitch under trees in the shade but the dish can sit out in the open 

Given the poor weight allowance on caravans I wouldn't go down the route of a fixed 85cm automatic dish or the associated cost. 

Hiya folks.

As said earlier, the plan is/was to take a month in France, next June. I’m minded to visit the Dordogne region. With that in mind, I’m wondering if I could actually go a bit earlier, maybe mid May - mid June. I’m assuming that the weather should be ok that far south? Also, could someone recommend a site in the region? A good location is a ‘must’ (views, maybe beside a river, with places to visit not too far away). Not looking for lots of amusements but a bar would work 

BTW, I probably won’t worry too much about tv, I’ll just take a few dvd’s, but thanks for the suggestions 👍

Hi Freddy, I presume you will be trying to get on the BF website to look at the available ferry's?!

I can only say what we do and like as a guide for you but the bulk of our overseas trips have been mid May to Mid June. When we use BF we almost always travel out on a Thursday night and back on a Sunday morning so that we are on the Pont Aven.

If you want more details on routes please say but using Google Maps, viaMichelin and Streetview should help in narrowing down the options.

We had one overnight in Couhe which is app 330 miles,on a toll free route, from Roscoff.

The weather has always suited us and unless you are after higher tems should be fine.

Re sites there are many CT users who have more experience but we stayed at Camping Soleil Plage, south of Sarlat, near to Vitrac.

The site suited us as it has a great pool area, very good restaurant and is on the river. I think euror may mention/recommend the site next door.

There are many lovely places to see nearby, we had a great time and would go back . One point on pitches, there are some by the river but theses are at a supplement and we preferred the area we were in as its more convenient for the facilities.

Freddy we booked quite early through the club to go Portsmouth to Caen and back, in September this year, (we had booked originally for a March sailing but circumstances forced postponement and fare was transferred to September) and it cost just over £220. OK we only had a 5.80 metres caravan and weren't going overnight but I think if you are definitely going then ask the club as soon as they open up for bookings as you might be surprised. 

In addition the extra cost of travelling to Dover and the back again to Brittany shouldn't be underestimated plus the time it takes out your holiday. Admittedly there are plenty of places of interest that you could stop en route but bear this in mind when making a decision.

A couple of years ago we stayed at Camping Perpetuum, near Domme and not that far from Sarlat. It's on the river, in a walnut orchard, has a small bar and pool but not huge, is near all of the main tourist spots in the south of Dordogne region and is in the ASCI scheme. We paid €13 per night, probably a tad dearer now but won't be by much. Owners were very friendly and decent sized pitches.

Only caveat is to be aware of the branches of the walnut trees.