That's it, the good weather is not far away. And for the viaduct which presents itself thanks to the accumulation of public holidays, the sun has planned not to take any leave from Tuesday. All the meters are therefore green to throw on the roads all the vans, vans and motorhomes in France and elsewhere.
But it's all well and good to ride all day long, you still have to find a place to spend the night. There is no point going back to the multiple bans put in place by municipalities which are not always friends of vanlifers. In addition, it is difficult to do anything less glamorous than a bivouac in a station or supermarket parking lot, any more than it is pleasant to spend the night along a city center sidewalk.
In pursuit of the lost spot
So one of the main occupations of vanlifers during the day, especially those in passenger seats, is to look for the evening spot, this bucolic place where they can relax, unfold the awning, the table and the folding chairs. Before, guides of all kinds were piled up in the glove boxes, the kind that had to be purchased every year, and which pointed out attractive campsites and other good deals.
But technology has come this way and today, the smartphone has become the camper van's primary tool, and with it, the apps that replace the campsite directory and are instantly updated. Among these apps is the star of stars, the one that no motorized nomad should neglect: park4night. More than a success, it's a hit since the small French company, created in 2011, today has more than 7 million users in Europe, including more than 1.6 million in France alone.
“However, it is in Germany that we have the most members” notes Mathilde Yonnet-Liberty, one of the managers of the start-up where around twenty people work and which was founded by two computer scientists 13 years ago. But Bertrand Fichter and his partner Frédéric Delamare didn't always have their noses in their computer and on weekends they left in a van.
Except that they had to read heavy books to find the evening spot. Hence the idea of creating park4night. A voluntary idea at the start, until the explosion of demand and the birth of a paid formula at 9.90 euros. Even if the service remains free, the premium plan at 9.90 euros per year offers some additional services such as offline use or more advanced search filters.
The price of glory?
And then came the end of Covid, the moment when vanlife really took off, the moment when the app did the same to achieve today's success, with its 300,000 spots in Europe, including 67,000 in France. A success which has its downside: all the motorhome owners being connected, they sometimes find themselves in large numbers at interesting spots. As a result, those in charge of the start-up had to issue a charter which specifies some rules of the game and stipulates, in particular, that one must avoid grouping together with several vehicles and not park several nights in the same place.
However, despite this charter of good conduct, one of the referenced spots that we contacted explained to us that it had been obliged to establish some personal rules in its green parking lot that this leisure location offers free to vanlifers. They can still stop there without paying, and sleep there, but now, a barrier raised during the day is lowered at night to prevent nocturnal comings and goings.
The same place is also present on another site, which is fully paid for. Because France Passion is above all a paper guide which costs 33 euros. Once purchased, it opens access to the app of the same name. The spots listed there are not of the same nature as park4night which delivers both paid campsites, motorhome areas or nature spots. Here, we find the location of nearly 2,000 farmers, wine growers or breeders, cultural places or art artisans. Parking at their place is free, although it is advisable, when leaving, to treat yourself to some farm products, entry to the museum, or a craft item.
Free and number, or the paid service which selects by money. These are thus two philosophies which oppose and complement each other at the same time. Moreover, France Passion readers most of the time have the essential park4nigt app on their phone.
