South of France

If you prefer small in south east :
GAP is the best for the aeronautic atmosphere (skydiving, gliders, helico….) in a very nice place. Lakes and mountains. 2 restaurants and hotels. Of course AVGAS and very low fees
You can also choose friendly grass strips with AVGAS : Montelimar ancone for example or Romans. Clubs and mechanics make these airfield living.
Keep in mind Aubenas is the only airfield I know with AVGAS standard credit card machine. There is a good restaurant.
Avignon can be a good choice (19€ taxe but very nice city to visit)
If you go Montpellier and you prefer GA atmosphere better to choose Montpellier Candiargues than Montpellier Mediterannee. Of course if you need rentals, it is the opposite.

In Corsica I tried Calvi and Bastia. Both are very nice, I prefer Calvi because of the very close to town location.
I don t know well south west I enjoyed Albi one time. Very close to the city (which is interesting)

Another very good think you can use is http://www.ouicar.fr it is a website to rent car between people. By this way, you can find a car almost everywhere very useful when traveling by plane. Use google translate if you need help feel free to ask.

I m based on a very small airfield but very nice. Short final is on a lavander field. LFNV. But only a club and AVGAS is only for based aircraft. Not very welcoming.

PPG

They may also require the French TOTAL fuel card.

Annecy has BP fuel (pump accepts BP Sterling card), but if you’re going to fly regularly in France, it pays to get a TOTAL card as well.

Can anyone recommend a ‘GA friendly’ airfield in the South of France, ie, no silly landing and parking fees and no mandatory handling ?

Toulouse (Blagnac), Carcassonne, Perpignan

They should all have customs. The cities are scenic. The airports are GA friendly (although there is a walk from the GA parking to the terminal in two of the three) and relatively close to the cities. Carcassonne is particularly nice.

And they are all reasonably priced – Toulouse being the most expensive of the three – but still good value.

Personal recommendation is Royan (20 mins south of La Rochelle) where I just stayed for three weeks, very friendly and “full-service” – see my trip report.
Last year a thunderstorm over LFMD forced us to land in Cuers where we were treated very friendly and the lady at the restaurant arranged a pickup by a pilot who runs a chambre-d’hôte. Guy at the fuel station was a British teacher. Next day we flew on to Figari which has to be my favourite aerodrome on Corsica.

Only minor problem: many of the “small” places require some French radio skills for added safety (discussed here loads of times).

They may also require the French TOTAL fuel card.

And if you can’t speak any French, good luck with getting fuel The only way they can do it AFAIK is for one of the locals to use his card and you pay him (in cash, obviously – he won’t be walking around with a CC machine ).

To someone relatively new to “going places” I would recommend easy but high value destinations. La Rochelle is a brilliant example.

Sure one can stop at say Caen to clear Customs/Imm and it is under €5 but it’s another hour wasted and you end up arriving for a very late lunch. But of course opinions vary; if passengers need the toilet and won’t do the bottles then …

I would add Beziers and Carcassonne: both featuring immigration, both IFR and both pretty cheap (less than €20) and AFAIR both have 100LL.

I wouldn’t let my choice of destination be constrained by which place offers immigration and which doesn’t.

Many small places are much more worthwhile than those on the beaten track.

Choose which place you like most, and if it happens to have no immigration, stop at an adequate airfield on your way there.

Only minor problem: many of the “small” places require some French radio skills for added safety (discussed here loads of times).

Rob2701 wrote:

Can anyone recommend a ‘GA friendly’ airfield in the South of France, ie, no silly landing and parking fees and no mandatory handling ?.

I can recommend Montpellier, Avignon and Figari, these airports are easy, friendly, no handling issue and not expensive. Also the towns and landscapes are worth a visit.

Peter wrote:

There is also Annecy LPFP (great value for all). IMHO the coastal places are the most interesting, unless you are close to the mountains and then you get the scenery.

Annecy is LFLP, but I second that suggestion, lovely place.