Les Quatre Saisons (Creuse)

The numbers are pleasing at numerically named Les Quatre Saisons campsite in the Plateau de Millevaches nature reserve of Central France. The campsite is some five acres in size yet boasts just 26 camping pitches – you don’t need to be a mathematician to work out that that’s a serious amount of space. Despite its quiet solitude in the heart of the Limousin, it is also just quatre kilometres from pretty Bourganeuf, an off-the-beaten-track town with four chapels, two museums and the enchanting restored 15th-century castle and its towers.

The campsite itself is a positively idyllic taste of rural France. By day, black kites soar in thermals above, as you take off to tramp along woodland pathways for your picnic beside the stream, while, at night, the hooting of owls creates the softest of bedtime soundtracks. Sleeping comes easy too, thanks to owners Andrew and Bernie Carnegie, who have purposefully dug large pitches into the sloping fields - some in the open meadow, others tucked into more discrete, tree-fringed areas. The couple’s hard work also sees one of the old farm barns converted into a games room and campers’ shelter for the occasional spells of inclement weather, while the farmhouse itself (built in 1802) offers B&B accommodation.

A particular highlight is the farm’s prolific vegetable patch, which supplies Bernie with almost everything she needs for her now famous evening meals. A qualified chef, she serves up meat or vegetarian feasts on the sunny lawn when the weather is nice – a ritual that regular campers rave about. It’s a fine way to fuel up before a few more days exploring. Whether it’s south to Lac de Vassivière for water-sports fun, west to bustling Limoges or east to the tapestry town of Aubusson, there’ll be something to tickle your fancy, always reached via the blissfully quiet backroads of France’s least inhabited department. As The Guardian recently put it: “Few people discover the charms of the La Creuse, but for those who make the effort, Les Quatres Saisons is the place to stay.”