After those long months of lockdowns, curfews and Covid-19 restrictions, May 2021 felt like a breath of fresh air, with a semblance of normal life returning. With friends, we rented a campervan for a week and hit the roads of France — five of us, including a two-year-old.
✓ Trip in May 2021
+Planning the trip
Choose a model that fits your needs and budget, ideally from a rental agency close to home.
Sketch out a rough route so you don't waste time on the road — we knew we wanted to start with the Provençal Colorado and reach the coast three days later; the rest stayed open.
We used Park4night to find campsites, aires and legal overnight spots, and iOverlander for fuel stations and waste-disposal points.
01Leaving Nancy
We picked up the van at 10am at the agency, with a walkthrough of the water, gas and waste systems. Plenty of storage — on the walls, under the seats, in the outside locker: we weren't short of space with five of us, including a two-year-old. Heading south-east, and thanks to Park4night, a quiet spot found at Crozes-Hermitage, in the heart of the Rhône valley vineyards.
02Provençal Colorado & Cassis
Off to Rustrel for the Colorado provençal, old ochre quarries with red, orange and yellow cliffs. Two marked trails: the Sahara circuit, in blue (40 min, 2.1 km, easy), and the Belvédères circuit, in red (1h45, 3.9 km, easy to moderate), which we chose for the views from the top. Not pushchair-friendly with young children.
Then on to Cassis for the night, with a spot found on avenue Notre-Dame — go for the start of the street, which is flatter, rather than the sloping end the app suggests. Paths lead straight down to the calanques from there. A look round the harbour and town centre, dinner at La Voûte — everywhere was packed, between terraces reopening and the 9pm curfew.
03Calanques & Aubagne
Cycling towards the calanques in the morning, then hiking on foot to those of Port-Miou — the view all along the path is incredible. Night at the Garlaban campsite, in Aubagne.
04Le Grau-du-Roi
After a rainy night, back to sunshine and off to Le Grau-du-Roi — two nights at the Espiguette campsite, a proper holiday village with direct beach access, a pool with slides, a mini-market, bakery and pizzeria. A birthday was celebrated that day, with a surprise picnic tea on the beach. In the evening, a bike ride to the L'Estuaire Plage restaurant on the seafront — the local speciality is bull.
05The ramparts of Aigues-Mortes
About 12 km by bike along the cycle paths, crossing the Aigues-Mortes salt flats, whose water turns a startling pink — thanks to a micro-alga that thrives in the very salty water.
The town exists because Saint Louis wanted to give the kingdom of France a port on the Mediterranean: he set off from here on both his crusades. But he died in 1270 without ever seeing the ramparts. It was his successors, Philip III the Bold and then Philip IV the Fair, who built the walls, completed around 1300. At 1,640 metres long and 11 metres high, it's one of the best-preserved medieval town walls in Europe.
06Vallon-Pont-d'Arc
After the beach and the campsite pool, on to Vallon-Pont-d'Arc. Again via Park4night, we found Aigue-Vive, a canoe and kayak hire company that lets customers spend the night in its car park — toilets available, gate locked overnight.
A little like the Verdon Gorge, canoeing is a brilliant way to discover the Ardèche gorges — and to pass beneath the Pont d'Arc, a natural stone arch around fifty metres high, carved out by the river. The owner, a campervan enthusiast himself, even let us fire up our charcoal barbecue.
07Vallon-Pont-d'Arc market & Juliénas
The village market runs every Thursday — perfect for stocking up on local produce. Late in the day, we headed for Juliénas, one of the ten Beaujolais crus, for a wine tasting and a night among the vines at Domaine Matray — another gem found via Park4night. This passionate grower offers a tasting and an overnight pitch, now with a shower and toilets set up for travellers.
08Back to Lorraine
After a peaceful night in the vineyards, we headed back to Lorraine for one last sunny drive, full of good memories, and returned the van.
+Practical tips
On a short trip covering several regions, it's best to break up the driving — especially with a child. We drove in stretches of 3h30 at most. Waste-disposal points are marked by dedicated signs.
On French toll roads, an over-cab campervan at 3.10 m high falls into class 3 — and your car's electronic toll tag won't work in the van.
- Sleeping somewhere different every night — that's the whole joy of a campervan
- Vallon-Pont-d'Arc and canoeing down the Ardèche
- The night among the vines at Juliénas
- Not that hard: the routine stays the same as at home
- They have their own bed, the bathroom is right there — genuinely practical
- The real challenge is the hours on the road, strapped in: a child gets restless fast
- Break up the driving: never more than 3h30 in one go
- Build the route around the stops, not the other way round
Would I do it again? Yes, without a second thought.
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Comments
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Merci pour tous ces conseils ca donne envie de prendre le route et un grand bol d'air...En effet, c'est un bon dépaysement !
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Merci pour tous ces conseils ca donne envie de prendre le route et un grand bol d'air...
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