Motorhome, RV, Camper Friendly Dunkerque, France

My husband found from motorhomers' forums two free camper parking in Dunkerque. We went to the first but because there were about 5 static caravans with children and about 6 men clustered, talking, we thought they were Romanians, we left to check out the 2nd free camper parking hoping to find a more peaceful and quieter surroundings.

It was a very pleasant surprise - this free camper parking is huge with two sections with a total of about 40 parking spaces, just steps to the sea, there is free water, a shower and free washroom/toilette on the sea walk/promenade. We were happy campers.

Our first try with Free Wifi from this location (we were given a log-in and password by a friend from Paris) was unsuccessful so to use the internet we had to go to McDonalds which was about 3 kms. On the third day of trying with Free Wifi, we connected and so we enjoyed all our needs and wants all from one location everyday.

Dunkerque is (also spelled Dunkirk) a stress free city, camper friendly, beautiful with both old and new buildings and condos and the sea is beautiful, the sea walk/promenade which was several kilometers long was very clean. Fresh seafood is cheap and parking is free near the fresh fish market.

The sunset was great, changing colors as the sun fades, from several hues of purple to several hues of orange and finally to an exquisite deep red orange.

One more thing we liked was the fact that Policie do a lot of roving in our free parking site; we see them several times a day in their police car.

Mackerel was an unbelievable Euros 4 for two kgs. one day and because I still have fish marinated in vinegar, I did not buy. The next day it was Euros 3 per kg. and because I thought it is still very cheap and besides I did not need two kilograms of mackerel, I bought 1 kg and another half kg. of an unnamed fish which was very fresh and white priced at Euros 6 per kg. The unnamed fish was indeed fresh and delicious and the mackerel as always was very good.  A few days ago, mackerel was Euros 9 per kilogram in Oostende, Belgium.  From E.Leclerc my husband bought already cooked big shrimps at Euros 9 per kilogram, which was also very cheap from our experience in our already 4 months rving this year in Europe.

We liked Dunkerque so much we did not want to leave, but we had to move on and see other places. It is the first town/city/commune where everything we needed and wanted was all in there in our free camper parking. We stayed 6 nights.

Help from Stangers in Europe

Europeans are kind and helpful when a foreigner/tourist needs help, an observation derived from first hand experiences while we we RVing this year in Europe.

The first time we were helped was in Austria when we were out of LPG and our GPS led us to a place where no LPG station existed as confirmed by a man whom my husband approached to ask.  He told us to follow him in his car which we did and he brought us to the right place which unfortunately is out of a proper gasket to make the LPG tank work so he called another shop to confirm we can be helped there.  He gave us the adress and so we went and finally we were able to buy an LPG tank and a fitting.

The next was when we were out again of LPG in France.  We went to a lot of shops and gasoline stations but they would not accept our tank from Italy and Austria.  So we were ready to again put a deposit on a new tank to be able to have LPG.  Now, the problem is communication.  The lady cashier does not speak nor understand English.  A gentleman behind my husband helped with the translation and offered to take us to where we can buy LPG and make a deposit on a tank/bottle.  We drove not quite a short distance, he even got out of his car to talk to the cashier to discuss our requirement.  He left only when  he was sure we were fine with the purchase.

The third time was when I needed a pharmacy to buy something for my painful arm but it was a Sunday and the pharmacy was closed.  A gentleman noticed we were having a problem and approached us in our camper.  We told him what we needed and he told us where to go to buy the med which was a gasoline station which he said sells paracetamol.  He changed his mind later, got into his car and asked us to follow him.  Once we were at the gasoline station, he even got out of his car to accompany my husband inside to make sure the shop has the med, only then he left.

We have good experiences aside from the above examples like people smiling at us, talking to us, waving at us which are small things but means a lot when one is a stranger in Europe.