Do you realise what hotels in France cost? I was there last month and stayed in three towns. In each case, I went to a hotel close to the railway station, and the room prices were remarkably similar: 45, 46 or 47.50 euros for a double room with shower and toilet. Two of the hotels had cheaper rooms without a shower or toilet.

<<<Author: suze
Date: 01/02/2007, 10:59 am
So nothing illegal about it then? Just a bad idea?>>>

No not illegal, but almost stupid and probably dangerous!

Formule 1 hotels and similar ilk dot French autoroute exits - rooms from around 30 euros. www.accorhotels.com

Sleeping in the car, perhaps--but what about sanitary facilities?

i'm not sure it's totally legal but a light sleep (one that doesn't look like 'camping') in the car is very unlikely to get you in legal trouble. a busy 25 hour rest area with a petrol station and cafeteria would be my choice.

there have been many occurances of crime in french rest areas (mostly the more desolite ones) so don't be stupid.

Any one who has traveled around France must will know that folks in camping cars park anywhere they want it seems without problem. I often see them right in the heart of towns - a common practice it seems.

I guess they don't want to waste money on those either!

Is this question for real? If you must rent the car that night, drive to a hotel at an interchange and rest up.

Michael with all due respect, This is the dumbest thing I ever heard.
france is full of very inexpensive hotel chains in all the cities ' peripherics .

Just to give you an idea why I believe it is a dumb idea, only in 2005 , 45.000 , yes 45.000, cars were burnt in the streets of France.

What month of the year?

I don't see the logic of flying and spending monies on vacation and then risking a bad back/back pain for the rest of the trip to save, say $70-90. Research low budget options and fork out the money. Either that or save one day rental and pick up the car the next day.

<Just to give you an idea why I believe it is a dumb idea, only in 2005 , 45.000 , yes 45.000, cars were burnt in the streets of France>

This is a ludicrous comment...a red herring as almost all these car torchings were in the grimy tower block immigrant ghettos and not at all where you may park. And many were in a time of riots in the suburbs that spilt over into Paris proper...but this is very rare. You have as much chance of your car getting burnt in France as you do in the US - nil unless you park it in one of France's infamous suburban immigrant ghettos.

Of the 45,000 how many were burnt with folks in their cars. I haven't seen stats but i'd bet zero.

I don't think the OP is a dumb idea at all - they are obviously used to doing this and not only save money but will be up early and on the road, literally.

France has truck stops the same as we do and these must be very safe as would the regular air de repos, or rest areas on autoroutes.

Go for it.

Do you know exactly were 45.000 cars where burnt.? I do not know but surely those are a lot of cars. Only two days ago on December 31 th,2006
400 cars were set on fire in what has become a New Year's routine in poor immigrant suburbs, but the French are not too distress because they noticed that it was fewer than years past.
I did not want to imply that they could be burnt inside the car,( I guess that only one person was killed inside a burning bus )but I am quoting this REALITY as an extreme that shows that it is not ,at least in my opinion, a wise idea to sleep inside of a car in France specially when as a tourist you do not master all the zones of any given city or area.
I am not aware that in any place in the US cars are burnt in similar numbers than in France.

Ridiculous idea. A cheap hotel or a youth hostel would be better by far.
Carolena

In the US we don't burn cars for the fun of it - we steal them and tear them down in 'chop shops'

>>>>>>
Any one who has traveled around France must will know that folks in camping cars park anywhere they want it seems without problem. I often see them right in the heart of towns - a common practice it seems.
>>>>>>

the level of toleration varies but it's my understanding that it is illegal. BUT i would not let that change my plans. most of these laws in europe are in place to move along romani travellers ...most of europe is paranoid of them. in fact, most rest areas have maximum parking times of a couple to a few hours. level of enforcement against people taking a nap would vary but i wouldn't be too concerned.

as for the safety issue--
>>>>>>>>
France has truck stops the same as we do and these must be very safe as would the regular air de repos, or rest areas on autoroutes
>>>>>>>>

i am not alarmist, just backing up my advice to use your head when doing this. 'very safe' is not how i would describe sleeping on french motorways at night. again, it wouldn't stop me if i wanted to do it..i would just choose my spot wisely. from the british foreign office:

"Mugging incidents have occurred at isolated rest areas on some French motorways, usually those without petrol stations and cafeterias. There is also a continuing problem of burglaries taking place during the night whilst travellers have been asleep in their caravans, mobile homes or other vehicles. In a number of these cases victims had first been rendered unconscious by the thieves using gas. Try to avoid parking in isolated or dark areas of camping grounds or car parks, and consider installing an alarm in your caravan or mobile home."

That's interesting about the thieves using gas. I thought that was an urban legend?

walkinaround: excellent advice and comments.

camping sauvage - on farmer's fields was a time-honored practice in France but may not be legal anymore - i think the same principal applies to camping cars, which are probably much more safe than a normal car.

In retro i'd say put up in a cheap Formule I type motel.

I really think this is a troll post. However, if not and you want to not waste money on a hotel, why not just sleep in the car every night and not waste any money on lodging. Also, if you don't drive, just park the car you will not waste any money on petrol.

I'm guessing by your schedule that you're flying into Orly not CDG -- is that right?

Did anybody ever heard from Michelecg again.....? :-?