Camping a la Ferme

For most of our travels we got used to the fact that we were outside of the main summer holiday season and so we didn't need to book ahead.  We've really enjoyed turning up at sites and deciding after we arrive how long we stay.  This approach has only let us down once and that was when we arrived at a site in a remote region of Spain - the problem wasn't that they were full, they just weren't open! (You've probably read the blog entry!)

For July and August we were more cautious.  Before we left home last August we had already pre-booked a site in the Dordogne region for July and the first two weeks of August this year - and whilst we were in Les Landes we realised that we maybe needed to think about where we would head to after the Dordogne as it would still be school holiday time, so we booked ahead our next two stays, a week in the Poitou-Charente region and a week in the Loire Valley.

You would think by now that we would know what we want from a campsite but we are still learning.  We were nervous about being on a large commercial site during the school holidays but on the other hand we do like a site to have a bit of life to it. 

Despite websites and online reviews you never really know for sure what you are going to find when you turn up at a campsite but the site we've just left in the Poitou-Charente (La Renardiere) ticked most of the boxes. 

The camping field is large and spacious with about eight caravans in a semi-circle on one side and a swimming pool on the other.  The site was remote in the sense that it's not near any of the major tourist resorts or attractions but was fairly full and had a good buzz to it.  On our first night there we were invited to join our neighbours for paella and the owners organised a barbecue on our final evening (not just for us - they do one every week!) which was great fun and everyone on the site attended. 

Something else that we've really begun to value is wi-fi access.  I find it hard to believe that at home I would be very upset if our internet service was unavailable for a couple of hours but we spent six weeks on a site with no internet access at all.  A lot of sites provide wi-fi access, quite often just in a central area and some charge for it and some don't.  The best ones are those who provide it free across the whole site which is exactly what we had at La Renardiere.

About the only thing missing was a morning bread delivery but apart from that we'd say it was pretty close to a perfect Camping a la Ferme.  We'll be back!