The climate, the history, the café culture, it’s no surprise camping is so popular in France. But it’s become so commonplace that all too many campsites lack that unique Hipcamp feel. Happily some still manage to buck this trend, and Camping le Verger is a great example – the perfect small-time site that everybody is searching for exuding the warm, friendly atmosphere of a business run on a wonderfully personal level.
“It’s less a campsite and more our garden”, the owners Catherine and Sylvain tell us, though to be more precise it is part garden, part orchard. Beneath the fruit trees, grassy spaces provide ample room for camping, with space for 60 people in total. Pitches are not designated in any specific way and on arrival you’re given a cute wooden sign to stick in the ground, claiming your numbered spot. After that simply kick back in the shade or, if you’ve picked the right time of year, pick fruit from the trees to eat.
Cycling seems to be the big thing round these parts. The neighbouring canal has an adjacent bike path that leads from here all the way into the quaint old port of La Rochelle (8 kms away), an easy and enjoyable ride that you can finish off nicely with a cold drink overlooking the Atlantic in one of La Rochelle’s many harbourside bars and cafés. You can also easily cycle to the nearby Ile de Ré – a quaint sandy island that has some of the best beaches in Western France and is itself criss-crossed by cycle paths. Plus cycling there means you avoid the €16 fee for the toll bridge. A savy little trick.
It’s these tips and more that mark Sylvain and Catherine out as well-practiced hosts. Their time living here means they know the area like the back of their sun-tanned hands, and the size of the site means they have time to afford you a personal service, chatting you through the local hotspots and dropping a phone call to the village restaurant if you want to make a reservation. It’s all part and parcel of allowing you to camp in their garden – in itself a wonderfully friendly gesture that perhaps sums the couple up.