The summer 2026 adventure is the return to Sarlat after many years. Plan is 2 weeks in the same spot, give or take a couple of stop offs. Pool for the kids, bar for the grown ups, walk in to town, minimal movement in the hot weather.

800ks from Calais, realistically means stopping off half way down, which we did just south of Orléans.

I booked us in to a camping car park, and they have updated things since the last time.

I still have the card which I used last time, and added money to my account to be able to book ahead, but now you access the area with an activation code, so don’t really need the card. Or so you would think.

There were 12 pogs, and only 5 of them occupied when we arrived. I wanted to book ahead for piece of mind, and also because of the situation at Mont St Michel when we went there.

The area was flat and open, and as the temperature was still above 30°C when we got there we looked for shade, but nothing doing.

It was mostly flat, but we did use the ramps, lots of room to manoeuvre,  and room to put chairs out within our bay, which we did and enjoyed the evening as it cooled down.

When you book, you have to estimate an arrival and check out time. We arrived 20 mins before our booked time, and looking at the app, it seemed that we were being charged the 6 euro rate for parking and service use, but that rectified itself. We left within our window and were only charged what was expected in the end.

The services were another matter. Getting the water/john emptying to work was not straightforward. The app told me it was out of service and wouldn’t give me a code, but on the 2nd try, swiping my card did work.

The aire was opposite a lake and a 7 min walk to the village, which I took to head to the boulangerie,  but mother would weep if she saw the sign which greeted me as the local boulangerie had literally just packed up for congé the day before!

We spent a quiet night and would definitely use this aire again, as long as bread can be procured!

Next stop, the Dordogne!