Just another reason I like France, thoughtful Aires around the major roads unlike the payolla UK ultra processed garbage stops.
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The provision of ‘aires’ everywhere in FR is part of the appeal for my latest van, a LWB Vivaro/Trafic. It won’t be a full-on DIY camper. That would not pass the C.T. [the downside of FR camper regs] but a ‘day van’. A sofa/bed, some storage, a Porta-Potti and a Camping Gaz stove will do.
The idea is being able to go to events, esp music, which would otherwise involve a return trip home late night, in the dark but an o/n in an aire makes these trips possible.
I established, with my incomplete Master build, that ‘shore facilities’ make a complete water/ablution setup unnecessary.
It’s a pity that in FR, places to stay are ubiquitous but a DIY vehicle is unacceptable at the C.T. whereas in GB [and DE amongst others] one can put together whatever you fancy - DVLA/MoT has no interest in what’s inside. They just want to check that the vehicle is safe on the road.
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Yes, when we were new to France, it was a sheer delight to find so many well organised stops along the way… with all facilities… and also the picnic stops (where one “went” in the undergrowth 
Places have changed a little over time, but there’s still a good selection!
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The rest areas on British motorways are not good. Major food providers only - KFC, McDo etc. I think the food I’ve had on French ones has been pretty poor. The best are, in my opinion, in Spain. There you have, almost always (there are some chains) independent restaurants serving good value Menú del día.
Your link is specifically linking sleeping in car because you have had too much alcohol. In this case you need to make it very apparent that you have no plan to drive. Go to passenger seat and put keys in the back of the car etc
Ours is a very small one too, less than 500 population I think, but we have a sizeable aire with a very large field alongside bordering the river on 2 sides, A very pleasant spot and when the grass gets too long in our normal field behind the forest, I often take my dogs for a run there.
It is officially open from March to October but is not gated. It has free water and electricity points available in those months.
But it is for campervans not caravans, I think to discourage gens de voyage but not policed and is supported by the nearest half dozen communes but maintained by ours. A really nice facility, there is supposed to be a limit on visits to 3 days I think.
There is a young man, forget his name, who lives in his van with his ageing Collie dog and he usually keeps to the restriction coming back from time to time for another stay. We have become quite friendly as our dogs run together and once when Jules was accidentally unclipped and disappeared he searched with me up to a km away.
There is a paid stop attached to the supermarket in the next village too.
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Yes, I was making the point that it is compulsory for communes over a certain size to provide full-blown facilities.
Your aire+ meadow-site sounds lovely. 
Small communes (such as yours and mine) are allowed (but not obliged) to provide for campers if they so wish, so long as they have the land available and their roads are suitable for such traffic. Amenities provided by these smaller communes (such as yours) will vary: WC, drinking water, washing facilities, leccy, waste collection etc etc etc. Some communes will make a charge and some don’t.
Presumably your commune of communes sees the camper-folk as bringing money to the area and thus making the costs worthwhile
We are very small, with no space for an Aire. Our meadows are privately owned and home to sheep, goats, horses, chickens, ducks, cows etc plus thriving “market gardening” activities. and further on it’s agricultural.
I agree. Beware arriving at a Spanish services at lunchtime. The place is packed and everyone is having the full 3-course Menú.
I can’t drive on a full stomach. I would be 
in 5 mins.
Mostly, yes but there are some which have a branch of M & S or Waitrose. Something wholesome can be had from them.
Once upon a time, I was involved in vehicle conversions/uplifts for mobile telecoms testing.
For the French team’s vehicles, we had to get them approved by DREAL after the conversion before we could use them. The conversions were done to French registered vehicles purchased from French dealers and the UK firm doing the conversions used EU approved parts and had every UK and EU certificate going as well as being a highly respected company.
DREAL still conducted a full inspection of every converted vehicle because they weren’t converted in France.
Yes that’s such a pity - given the price of “proper” camper vans.
Lookers VW near me have a couple of nice new camper vans for sale.
One is £69,000 the other is £71,100!!
I was in on a forum for a bit with the silly name of Motorhome Fun! The great majority of members’ vehicles are what I call ‘plastic 6-wheel cottages’. They start at about £250k.
One chap was having trouble with his electric beds … 
There’s always threads about the legality in various countries of towing a car. A-frame/spec lift? .. 
Most do.
There was an amusing photo of one of these monstrosities stuck on a steep downhill hairpin bend in the Highlands. Couldn’t make the turn. Couldn’t reverse … 
It’s a pity the FR are so restrictive about DIY campers. I’ve got a feeling it’s not so much to do with safety as ‘protecting’ the coach-build companies.
Much the same happened in the marine industry. There are two or three major FR companies churning out yachts on production lines - Janneau, Beneteau…
Brussels 
brought in some sort of inspection routine which was OK for the big guys - homologate one and that’ll do for 100 more.
But the British builders like Sadler, Westerly, Rival, Contessa, did not produce in sufficient volume to make homologation viable - the costs were enormous.
My boat was produced as a hull and deck. The rest was up to you. The design was by a leading marine designer - done properly it was a superb sea-goer.
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It depends on how/if you want to (re)register it . UK conversions are not motor caravans unless they confirm to specific requirements. Speed limits being the main consideration.
In the uK the DVLA has a list of requirements to change a vehicle from Cat 7 [commercial] to Cat 4 [camper van]
These include such items as a fixed or demountable dining table, an awning, signage on the vehicle such as on my old Movano
and various others.
I asked at a UK MoT station if there was any benefit from going Cat 7 to Cat 4. I was told that there was practically none - just a closer inspection of wheels and tires. As for insurance, my insurer, once they had photos of my work to convert, first off, never enquired again. I never had any issues at ferry terminals, either.
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I’d love to have visited Brazil in the 70s, I bet it was brilliant! I have an Aunt, a late Uncle and two Cousins who lived there in São Paulo from 75 onwards for several years. They’d been living in Luanda, Angola, but had to leave on independence so they moved to SP.
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It was an amazing time, with the gradual releasing of the Colonels’ grip on the country. The music was extraordinary - still censored, but the artists finding ways to communicate. It was THE time for Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, Maria Betania. I saw the first sit in by students in Sao Paulo university and knew of the strikes in the car industry led by Lula (now president). It was exciting but scary. I turned down a street by the university to be confronted by row upon row of vans filled with policemen with guns (this was a time when you never saw a policeman with a gun in the UK).
It’s a beautiful country, the people are wonderful, carnival is unbelievable and the beaches are glorious. A large piece of my heart belongs to Brazil. I was lucky to be there through those very special years.
That must have been brilliant! What memories. The music from that era is so lovely indeed.
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Many consider the advantage of camper vans under 3.05 tonnes is the speed limits are the same as for standard cars.
- 30mph in built-up areas.
- 60mph on single carriageways.
- 70mph is the speed limit on dual carriageway and motorways
That’s true but in real life I found that I was flashed but never rec’d any fines. I think they looked at the photo of the vehicle - see above - and, not bothering to check with DVLA UK, deemed it to be a camper.
I never had any issues with speeds in UK or ES.
I’ll have to get some graphics on the Vivaro, to repeat the trick. 
The brother of my girlfriend (at the time) worked in London for Bunge, a large global agribusiness. He was a very bright guy and they moved him to Sao Paulo in 1977, it would have been a significant promotion. However his wife couldn’t take the transition from Hampstead to the rather more serious security environment, so they didn’t last long over there.