Free Camping Five Best Spots - French and Italian Riviera

Bandol, France is one of my favorites.  Our parking is right beside a park where the senior citizens of Bandol play the popular sport called Petanque and where the flea market is set up once a week, which is right beside the marina and is just on the right of the main street's restaurants and shops.    We stayed 3 nights.  GPS 43.13334 5.75185

Outside of the town of Saint-Maxime is a restaurant called Mario Plage.  We think the parking lot beside the sea is for the customers of the restaurants but when we arrived at around 9pm the restaurant is already closed so we thought we can park for the night and leave in the morning.  We stayed one night.  GPS 43.31783 6.66591

After leaving our parking spot in Mario Plage early morning, we drove a short distance and found this huge parking at a commune of Saint-Maxime called Les Issambres.  We stayed here all day and found the place to be very relaxing and we felt we can stay there a long time and nobody would bother us.  We saw two men who set up a tent and hammock in a not very well hidden spot in the bushes/woods.  GPS 43.36172 6.71593

  
Next is a commune of Saint-Raphael called Agay.  We left a McDonalds location around 1130pm because we did not felt safe there so we drove and found this very well lighted street parking across from a hotel with no sign of business (doesn't look like a haunted place though).  We stayed one night GPS 43.42683 6.87630

Our last favorite came unexpectedly.  We have given up on the Italian Riviera because every towns and cities have NO PARKING sign for campers - then came this parking right beside the sea, our closest to the sea parking ever.  On the entrance of the parking grassy lot is a machine meant to collect parking payments but when we came it was not functional.  My husband talked to people from another camper and they informed him they have not paid any amount of money for their 5 nights stay mainly due to the machine being out of order.  The town is called Noli. We stayed one night here.  GPS 44.21582 8.41602


We have an idea of staying "forever" in France in these free camping spots, moving from one spot to the other, enjoying the beauty of nature and living happily ever after.

What's Life On the Road Like in a Camper

 What is this lifestyle like?  What does rving means?  What's life on the road like?  
 You must have a ton of money to be able to tour Europe? 

What is this lifestyle called?  Some call it motorhoming (British), RVing (Americans) and possibly campering (my word) since Italians call this vehicle camper.  So basically, the vehicle is called
a.  motorhonme
b. RV - Recreational Vehicle
c. camper
d. etc.

First, let me discuss money matters.  We bought our camper in Italy.  Actually, my niece, who is Italian bought the camper for us, registered under her name.  Based on research, we Canadians, can not buy a vehicle in Italy or anywhere in Europe.  In 2007, we bought a 1990 Fiat Ducato camper for Euros 7200 which we used for 5 months and which we later sold for Euros 4000.  This year we bought a 2002 Fiat Ducato camper worth Euros14700 which we hope to sell for Euros 15000 when were done touring Europe.  The point is, save enough money to buy yourself a camper which cost from Euros 7000 - really, really old model - to Euros 45,000 and up brand new one.

Once done with the matter of buying your home on wheels, everything else regarding expenses becomes as normal or predictable as you want it to be.  This means if at home (Canada or USA or anywhere else in the world)  you are spending $2000 (Euros1400) a month to live "your normal life", in this lifestyle here in Europe you can budget the same, control your expenses, live your life as it was before while touring Europe in your now very small home, your camper.

This lifestyle includes doing normal activities like cooking, doing the dishes, cleaning, food shopping and laundry.
Your budget dictates how often you eat in restaurants.  When you are not eating in restaurants, you are preparing and cooking your own meals.  You can do your laundry or you can use Laverie (French coin-operated laundry shops).  You can free-camp or you can go to a municipal or private campsite and pay an average of Euros20 a night. You can live as frugally as needed or you can spend as much as you want.  A couple can live on Euros800 per month frugally in our experience.

Water can be had from municipal or private campsites and is used sparingly.

Light and computer is powered by car battery while the battery is powered by solar panel.

C'est la vie.  Bonjour.

It's Been a Month RVing in Europe

My husband and I had been to a lot of communes, towns, cities and countries in Europe this past month which began April 25, 2011.

I thought it would be nice to do a recap of our one month experience rving in Europe 2011.  (In 2007, we did our very first RVing ever - also in Europe).

So, we referred to our list and counted 39 communes/towns/cites and 6 countries we visited namely:
Italy
Switzerland
Liechtenstein
Austria
Germany
France

We travelled 2149 kms and spent Euros 337 in diesel.  Our diesel usage is 9.2 kms per liter.

We spent Euros 340 on food including laundry, dish, bath soaps, shampoo, toilet paper, paper towel.

We only ate at a restaurant once and the occassional hamburger cost Euro 66.

We did not spend money on campsites because we all we did was free camping - meaning we slept on municipal camping all free of charge, mcdonals parking lot, mall parking lot, street parking,  and once in an aire. (aire is rest stop used by trucks and all motor vehicles to rest or pass the night usually located in highways).

Our cellphone usage is very limited to texting so we spent very little like Euros 5.

Our internet usage is always free - free wifi usually from mcdonalds.  It is useful information to mention that we enjoy free wifi almost everyday the past month.

We probably have used half of the LPG which cost Euro 30 full tank.

We have not paid on hooking up with electricity because our batteries are charged by solar panel.

We spent some money on rv wax and cleaning supplies, floor covers, plates, pots and pans which are one time expenses so I decided are not included in this summary because they are not regular monthly expenses.

We love driving on secondary roads and the country side so we spent little on toll fees.  Euros 19.

Entrance fee to attractions and parking fees is Euros 50.

Total spent for the past month Euros 840.

C'est la vie!

Apologies and Bonjour from Acheres-la-Foret, Ile de France

I have been uninspired and sort of busy - my lousy excuse for not updating my blog with my travels, cooking and life in Canada.

I also thought I would be motivated with a new blog.  I created one with another free-blogging site but still uninspired, I did not follow through with posts even if a lot of new and wonderful events are happening in my life.

In April 1, 2011, we started our 2nd RVing in Europe.  I hope to update this blog with pictures of wonderful and beautiful places we have been to hopefully with lovely stories to go with it.

We are now in Aire d Acheres la Foret in France.  We arrived here last night.  Parking lot was huge, well lighted and as in most "aires" in highways in Europe, there is a gasoline station and a convenience store with washroom and bath.  To park here is free of charge and this is what is called "free camping" or "wild camping."  Bath is Euro1.50.

We have been wild camping since April 25, 2011 and tomorrow is exactly one month since we started our RVing in Europe 2011.  Above is our 2002 model Fiat Ducato camper we bought in Italy.

Au revoir et merci.

RVing in Europe - Rotterdam, The Netherlands

July 2, 2007

It was only about 100kms to reach Rotterdam from Antwerp, Brussels.   The night before, we actually arrived in Netherlands but it was late to go anywhere so we stayed the night in an aire beside Mc Donalds.   We had an unhealthy late night snack of McDonalds french fries before going to bed.

When we arrived in Rotterdam, we found a paid parking beside a small supermarket.  Did I mention, one of our favorite things to do in Europe is food shopping at supermarkets?  We liked finding things/food one can only find in Europe.  Every country in Europe has a different thing to offer so it is always interesting to look, buy and try.  For example:  I liked the pancetta from supermarkets in Italy and they're cheap.  It goes absolutely perfect with pasta and vegies.  We liked parmegiano reggiano and prosciutto from Parma, Italy.  I liked the spices I found from Spain and can't find it anywhere else.   My husband so much enjoyed different kinds of tetra packed multi-flavored fruit juices from Germany.  We ate a lot of chocolate croissants in France - it became our breakfast every morning.  We've tasted different kinds of sausages and they were all ok but nothing comes to mind as my favorite.  Eggplants looked perfect and individually wrapped in plastic in Netherlands - we wonder how they grow such perfect eggplants.  Our eggplants in Canada are normal looking.  Normal to me is what I had seen and enjoyed in the Philippines.

We were always excited to enter and explore any supermarket in any country in Europe.  I'd like to do it again - maybe next year - just thinking and writing about it makes me happy.

We drove around  and found a perfect place just outside the city - beautiful trees, a huge pond where there were mating ducks and their small ducks, in a quiet and peaceful looking neighborhood, free street parking and free wifi connection.  We parked there and stayed the night.  Nobody bothered us, so we stayed 2 more nights.

The days we were in Rotterdam were rainy.  We did not want to go doing tourist stuff when it was raining.  So we relaxed in our perfect parking in a perfect neighborhood enjoying my free wifi connection and enjoying good food.  We went to a small mall and did some more food shopping.  There was a chocolate shop and we sampled their various chocolate concoctions.  We also bought a vegetable peeler.

On July 4, we finally were able to tour the city. We did a tram tour of the outskirts too. Rotterdam is known for the Erasmus Bridge, the Euromast and the Port of Rotterdam being the largest port in Europe. We were in Rotterdam's Museum at the right time - free entrance day - so we went.

RVing in Europe - Paris, France, Day 3 Eiffel Tower

June 15 - 17, 2007

The line to go up the tower was a lot - it was a very long line.  We wanted to go up despite the long line so we queued up. We paid an entrance fee of Euros 23.40 for 3 persons to go up the tower.  One can choose between going up using the elevator or the stairs.  Going up using the stairs cost less.  It was a wonderful view of the city of Paris from high up there.  It was worth it paying the entrance fee.

Up in the tower, there was a restaurant/food and drinks shop.  We purchased french fries from a french man on the top of Eiffel Tower in Paris, France and ate it too.  It is just funny stating the obvious, bear with me.

We were kind of tired and it was raining, we went back to camp after our unsuccessful try to go malling outside of Paris.  The mall was closed as it was Sunday.

I haven't written about how scaldingly hot - hot showers are in most Europe's camps.  It was pre-set so there is no way one can adjust the temp while in the shower.  Maybe some people like it that hot but we don't. 

Our bill for 3 nights camping at Bois du Boulogne was Euros 94.50.

RVing in Europe - Paris, France, Day 2 Arc de Triomphe

 June 15 - 17, 2007

After getting off the metro/subway, we first headed to the Arc de Triomphe, which was at the farther end of Champs Elysee then we walked the whole stretch of Champs Elysee while alternately visiting some shops, buying some souvenirs, people watching, food-on-display watching, eating, window shopping, resting, taking photos and I'm sure we did a lot of complaining too - about doing too much walking, about how difficult travelling was. LOL.

We decided we would see Eiffel Tower on day 3.