Super Besse

PARKING AT SUPER BESSE

The ski resort of Super Besse in the Auvergne has now decided to impose parking charges for motorhomes staying on the large aire de service (172 places). Charges start at 10.4€ for the first 24 hours but reduce on a sliding scale for longer stays, payment is by credit card. The charge for services remains at 3€.

NEW AIRE IN BRITTANY

The small town of Moustoir in Morbihan, Brittany has recently opened a new aire de service in the town, parking & services are free.

LORRAINE

Sierk-les-Bains in the Moselle has decided to convert its municipal campsite into an aire de services -- these facilities are available as from the start of this year.

PACA

The communes of Cavalaire-sur-Mer & La Croix-Valmer in Var have just installed an aire de service close to the cemetery in Cavalaire where drainage facilities & water are available for 2€. The aire is located at GPS N43-11'44" E06-32'52" but overnight parking is not allowed here.

& RHONE-ALPES

Colombier-le-Vieux in the Ardeche has recently opened an aire de service close to the village centre where one can find shops & a restaurant.

St Etienne la Varenne in the Rhone department has also opened a small aire in the village centre with water, electric & drainage -- all services are free but there is limited parking space. Details in the Aires directory.

LIMOUSIN EN CAMPING-CAR

The offices of tourism for the region of Limousin has produced an informative guide for visiting the area in a motorhome. The guide which has more than 40 pages has details of all the 107 aires in the region, motorhome tours in each of the 3 departments, places to visit, things to do & other useful information. The guide is available in the regions tourism offices or can be downloaded online at: http://www.tourismelimousin.net/destinationcampingcar/index.php

FERRY WITHDRAWN

Brittany Ferries has announced that the Barfleur ferry between Poole and Cherbourg, which has been losing money since 2003, would be taken out of service in the spring, but the firm revealed it had bought a new £75m ferry to increase sailings from Portsmouth to northern Spain. This means that the Poole to Cherbourg route will only have the high speed Normandie Vitesse ferry operating this summer.

"MOST UNWELCOMING COUNTRY"

They are known for their Gallic froideur but now France has been voted "the most unwelcoming country in Europe" in a recent poll of 3,000 British tourists. Germany emerged as the second most unfriendly country and Belgium was third  with Spain and Turkey taking fourth and fifth place. Three quarters of those polled said they had been subjected to rudeness in France while two thirds said they had experienced the same thing in Germany. A spokesman for www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the research, said: "A surprising number of people have experienced rudeness from French people.

'But this could be for a number of reasons. The language barrier is still a major problem as the majority of people who travel to France can't speak the language." The study also revealed one in five Brits believe the French to be generally grumpy while 19 per cent levelled a similar accusation against the Germans.

One in ten said they thought the French didn't smile very often and a similar amount described the French as 'miserable'.

PARIS PARKING

If you are visiting Paris this year, you may be interested to learn of a private parking area for motorhomes that has recently opened at 10 Rue Wurtz, Paris 13 (just off the Peripherique). The parking is also used by commercial vehicles, has no height barriers & is in a large (80 space) tarmac area controlled by an automatic barrier (open 24/7) -- there are no services available although ehu's are available for an additional fee. Parking charges are 12€ for 12 hours, shops, services & the Metro are within walking distance. Details in the Aires Directory.

WAR EXHIBITION AT CHATEAU CHAMBORD
Through archive documents, photos from a private collection never exhibited before, and an attractive layout, the "War Hostages" exhibition presents Domaine de Chambord from 1939 to 1945. It also reveals how the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley became one of France's largest museums - the Mona Lisa has "visited" three times, but also hundreds of other masterpieces such as the Retable of Basel, the Lady and the Unicorn, drawings by Leonardo da Vinci... A little-known episode in this period of the history of France to be discovered.

AUDIO TOUR OF TOURS

The tourist office of Tours now has iPods available which offer an audio guided tour of the city in both French and English. The excursion takes approximately two hours and will lead you from the highly contemporary Vinci convention centre designed by Jean Nouvel to Place Plumereau in the heart of the old town, to Saint-Gatien cathedral and the distinct regional style of the façades of rue Colbert. A dynamic and interactive way to discover the city and the pleasant lifestyle of the Loire Valley.