How would we get from the French/ German border in Alsace, northern France, to the south coast of France? How many days would it take? And where would we stay overnight in the motorhome?
We’re making our way down to the south coast of France, to the Parc naturel régional de Camargue after our stay in the Black Forest. I picked Camargue because they have flamingos and I thought we’d be ready to see the sea after around 3 weeks on the road! We didn’t want to go too far towards the French Riviera (this time anyway) and knew we’d want a base to chill for a few days once down there. So I found a 4 star campsite online, worked out our itinerary for the next handful of days and booked our pitch.
So how would we get down to the south of France? We’re taking advantage of the amazing French toll roads (the cost is worth it for us) and hit up all of the A roads we could find… A36 away from Germany, the A39 down towards Lyon, the A6 into and past Lyon, the A7 down to Orange and then finally the A9 to Nimes. From here, we jumped on the still brilliant D roads for the last 45 mins or so of our epic blast to the south.
How long would it take? Well, when we first mapped out this motorhome adventure, we left some chunks of time unplanned, so we could travel slowly if we wished, or plan something entirely different. I had thought that we’d take a slow burn down to the south of France originally, but when we arrived back in France from Germany, it was so hot that we just wanted to be close to the sea as quickly as possible!
We plotted out a 3 day, 2 night blitz to Camargue, stopping in 2 Camping Car Park sites on our way.
Now, where would we stay?
On day 1, we travelled for 4 hours Google maps time (which in a motorhome, where you physically cannot crack the top speed limit of 130km per hour, takes at least an extra hour). This brought us to a picturesque medieval town called Châtillon-sur-Charalonne and as an added bonus for us, the site was right next to the local indoor swimming pool. So the kids and the husband got a good swim in after a boiling hot day, and it saved us having to use our own water tank for their showers!
It was a bloody brilliant stopover. With the site full by 6pm, most of the other motorhomes here were owned by older French couples also visiting the town. The town itself is lovely to walk or bike through, has a great comic store, is full of lovely little shops and has a vibey, lively and bijou atmosphere. We stopped for beers and ice creams as we couldn’t resist, and loved seeing the old outdoor market hall (apparently the 3rd prettiest one in France, says Google). It also had a small B&Q style garden and home store, where we topped up on water hose attachments. We had lost our first one – I’m sure something that will happen again!
After a peaceful nights sleep in really hot weather (and despite there being a billion mosquitos around!) we set off on day 2. Day 2 was another long journey day, with Google maps suggesting 3.5 hrs of drive time. We added the extra hour it would take us for moving slower and a stop for a lunch at an aire, and planned to stop off at Remoulins that evening, pretty close to the coast.
We picked this stop at the Camping Car Park is the closest one to the Pont du Gard, and I was desperate to see it. The husband and kids hadn’t heard about it so were humouring me by coming along for the ride! But boy, were we glad we went.
We levelled up at our pitch and hopped on our bikes, hoping to have a look at the famous Roman structure, take some pics and stretch our legs after the long drive. We ended up staying for hours!
The kids and husband had brought their swim kits and so went straight into the cold, clear and sparkling river Gardon. We pinched ourselves and couldn’t believe we got to sit and swim and enjoy this gorgeous place right in front of us.
The sun was hot, I got to sunbathe, they got to swim and hunt for little frogs, and we had ice cream from the great little cafe there. What is there more to say other than it was a wonderful little tonic for the soul and body.
The Camping Car Park was full by around 5pm, not surprisingly, and again it was mostly older motorhomers. We pitched up next to another English couple (a rarity for us so far!) and got to meet their awesome dog Bertie. The kids enjoyed the cuddles.
The next morning we set off for the last 2 hours of our journey to the Camargue and a proper campsite near to Saintes Maries de la Mer. We had slept really well again but were looking forward to getting to a fixed location for 4 nights at the beach!
After getting food and driving to the campsite, we arrived ready to relax, go on the water slides, sit on the beach and swim in the sea.
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