EHU First Time in France with Nuevo

Vicarious Books sell "All the Aires in France" which is well worth getting - though time is a bit short to order it by post. I don't know if bookshops sell it.

France Passion is good but there are very few of those in comparison with Aires. If you find a likely looking place to stay the night, say on a big car park in town, it's always worth asking in a nearby shop if it's OK to overnight. You may be surprised at how often the answer is, "But of course Monsieur. You have money in your pocket and we want some of it."

That is quite literally the reply I had in one small town!

En avant, et bon voyage!

Dave

I love the French, their sense of humour is very similar to ours, and they love it if you speak a few words.

My experience needing help from the man at a Leclerc Auto, with about 20 Frenchmen watching:

Me: Parlez yous Anglais Monsieur?

He: Non (looks down at counter)

Me: OK, je parle un petit peux Francais

He: Looks up expectantly and makes eye contact with the other 20 Frenchmen behind me.

Me: Nous avons un problème avec une petite fuite du radiateur dans notre camping-car, avez vous Radweld?

He: (in very good English) One moment Monsieur, I will come an' 'elp you find eet.

There ensued a lengthy discussion in Franglais, on the relative merits of Radweld vs Wynn's, with assistance and much nodding/shaking of heads among the assembled French customers.

His assistant asked (in English) Is everything OK

He: Oui, mon ami le Englishman parle très bien français.

Sorted 

I do speak some French, even though I last learned it pre 'O' Level, but I must admit to taking the full downloaded Google Translate French Dictionary with me on my Android phone, for those awkward moments.

Best to do this before you leave, and only available for Android phones/tablets.

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Have you tried Duolingo on your phone or tablet ? It's a free app that makes learning a language quite compulsive. You can set yourself targets, earn points ( and points mean prizes...) and, if you wish, contact and discuss with other learners or native speakers.

We started learning Spanish this way and it helped no end. Quite addictive !

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Edit to add: One thing we found useful is that it can listen to your answers and not let them through until you have pronounced them correctly.

meanchris wrote:

bikeralw wrote:I'm sure there's a market for a dual fuel kettle... Not so far fetched, I recently bought a low wattage hairdryer that converts into an iron..., although what I'd use an iron for in the van I've no idea...
Back to the thread, I've been to Dieppe several times, lovely town. While in the area try and visit Saint-Valery-en-Caux. Lovely town with plenty to see and do. There's a nice aire across the bridge and turn right, N49.872 E0.709, where you can park the van for the day or spend the night for a small charge.
Al.

Just had a look at that on street view Al, it looks pretty good, doesn't it just shame our British attitude to accommodating motorhomes, as usual?

Yes, the aire is in a lovely position, really does put us to shame here in the UK. We've stopped there several times over the years, with having a small van we usually manage to get the end spot which is a bit tight, superb sunsets. From the pic it looks like you can go further, but the track has a height restriction and is reserved for fishermen.
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FOA wrote:Watts= volts x amps. So multiply 10A x 230v and you get 2300 watts. 6A x 230v and you get 1380 watts and so on.

For simplicity if you just say that 1000W  (= 1kW) is 4 A and multiply up from that you will be OK.  There is no point in exact calculations because the voltage will not be 230V and different appliances may use more or less current to compensate.

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