Supertents in the South of France
This was a holiday where we decided to try to combine holidays my parents had taken in the sixties with some of our own. I was temporarily without a car, so we decided to look at the Continental Coach method. My parents used the Northern Bus Company which were, in those days, instrumental in opening up the continent to the moins riche traveller. This time we were going down by coach and staying just off the beach in luxurious permanent tents. My parents, of course, stayed in hotels. The bus was made for the job with on-board toilts and it would take us all down from Reading to the South of France in a mere two days. There were facilities for us all to sleep comfortably on board and there were two drivers who shared the hours.
The drive to Dover was easy and we walked aboard ship as our bus found a special parking spot. Once on French soil, we found we had a new bus with left hand drive to which all our trappings had been transferred. The vehicle cruised and covered mile after mile with a stop or two only for us to stretch our legs. We were well into France as the first night came and we settled down to try to sleep on the bus. The suspension of the bus was so smooth we took little time to doze off. We stopped for breakfast and a tidy up. We were well down the road by now, and the outside temperature was rising.
By late afternoon we could see the sea in the distance and knew we were close to our destination.
When we arrived at the camping area we were met by the french equivalent of the redcoat, who took down all our details, looked carefully at our passports and then gave us a list of "what not to do" plus a list of what was in and round our tent which we read, checked and signed. Even things like ashtrays, cutlery (itemised) and chairs were on this list so we were acutely aware that we must not mislay anything at all (On pain of guillotining).
As you can see above, this was no small tent. It was a permanent fixture and was well contructed with proper air conditioning and ventilation, fire alarms, water and electricity. We had an excellent cooking stove and pans so all we had to do was go to the camp shop for our raw food. At the shop, a sizeable store, there was everything we could possibly need while we were there so we began to stock up. We had a cold store (not quite a fridge) in which we could store food for the next day.
In the evening we went to the welcoming party and met other campers, among whom were ones who had done this type of holiday before and could answer the questions of the moment. The camp was set out lengthwise along the beach so there was no one in front or behind us.
We all enjoyed this holiday immensely, going ALMOST back to nature but still having a number of welcome luxuries. The weather was hot all of the time, and we swam, sunbathed and crashed out for the whole period of the holiday. There was a security section in the camp office where we could store our belongings when we went on excursions etc.
When the holiday ended we had lost one fork and one ashtray, both of which had a set price which we actually had to pay before we were allowed to leave !
It is a holiday I could recommend highly.
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