The French, as a nation, love to camp. The country has the astonishing number of 9,000 campsites – the largest number in any European country.
Close to where I live in Brittany I can think of at least eight within a twenty kilometre radius.
In normal times this month, August, is the time of year when France virtually shuts down as the whole of the nation take their annual holiday and thousands of them head for campsites throughout the country. August is known not to be a good month to need a dentist, a plumber, car mechanic or even to visit your GP because the chances are they’ll all be ‘en vacances’. It’s also not advisable to arrive at a campsite this month without having booked a pitch for your caravan, motorhome or tent, because it will, in all probability, be full, although maybe in this strange year there will be a space or two left.
I have fond memories of when we first came to France on our bikes twenty-one years ago, cycling down the canal paths on the western side of the country on our way to the Riviera and staying in various campsites en route. We pitched our tent in two campsites in Brittany, not suspecting at the time, that eleven years later we would be returning to live in a quirky cottage that is almost equal distance between the two of them.
As we cycled on down we stayed in small campsites where we were the only campers and the local mayor had to come and open up the facilities just for us. Then there were the larger sites, with caravans and a shop and possibly a cafe. Some sites were in the grounds of châteaux out in the French countryside, some were on the outskirts of a town or near a river. And then there were the really big sites we stayed on in Nantes, Toulouse, Carcassone and finally Biot when we reached the Riviera.
Part of the fun of campsites in France is you never know who you are going to pitch up next to. Camping here is not just for families maybe counting the pennies. Your next door neighbour could be from any walk of life; a doctor, an engineer, a postman or a retired couple. It’s a lifestyle choice for a wide range of people who value the freedom camping gives whether you do it in a small basic tent or a posh motorhome. We met so many different, interesting people on our journey.
My latest book A French Affair is set, for the most part, in a rundown camping site in rural Brittany, far from the maddening crowd. While writing it I couldn’t help but remember the year when we just got on our bikes and enjoyed exploring and camping in the French countryside. The fact that it turned out to be a turning point in our lives is another story.