CL sites in France

There are lots of small sites in France but fortunately they are not limited to Club members only in the way that our CLs are. If you would like to say where you are going some of us may be able to make suggestions. 

They do however often have very short seasons, particularly the ones on farms. It  therefore it depends very much on when you are traveling as to what sort of choice you will have. We used them extensively when holidaying with the kids in school holidays. However, now going out of season there is much less choice. Last year I emailed the Mairie in a small French village to check on opening of their small municipal, they had put it back a couple of weeks to 14th June.

 The camping car park network of Aires do allow caravans on those with facilities, when they are open. It varies but normally between April / June and September. Those able to be used in this way are shown by orange / purple markers on the photo. They are generally ex municipal sites.

The number of outfits allowed on small sites in France is not rigidly limited to five outfits   -  it depends on the overall size of the site.

For instance this is a photo of Camping Keraluic in Brittany (privately owned) which has plenty of space so is licensed for 25 outfits but isn’t overcrowded.

Two I can highly recommend. Not CL's but small, peaceful and have the "feel", both in Dordogne region.

Manzac Ferme near Augignac

La Tournerie near Montignac-Lascaux

A couple of small site recommendations:

Camping Le Cormier, Obterre in Loire Valley not from Loches. Run by British and an excellent site

Camping Les Ammandieres, Mouries just east of Arles in South of France. A farm site that takes about 15 units. A good few years since we were here but CL like site.

For a general small campsite website try the following

https://rural-camping.com/france/index.htm

A small site on family vineyard with tastings at Brissac-Quince, just south of Angers.

https://www.domaine-belle-etoile.fr/camping/

very similar near St Aignan on the Cher

https://www.petitfute.co.uk/v11415-saint-romain-sur-cher-41140/c1166-hebergement/c1047-camping-hotellerie-de-plein-air/c178-camping/96554-domaine-du-bien-vivre.html

we have stayed a couple of times on both.

We searched Provence for somewhere like a CL and found La Grange de Campaulise at Mazan - and thought we had found it. Six pitches in front of an old farmhouse, private swimming pool and spotless new facilities - all for 20 euros in June. But the pitches were unshaded and the heatwave was fearsome. Some of you might try there again in sensible weather. PitchUp has the details.

But we abandoned it and went to seek shade at a shabby old municipal site in pine forest up in the hills where it was breezy and much more comfortable. So here is a photo of Camping des Chalottes at Murs - up above the tourist trap at Gordes. But don’t expect Club standards.

Have you tried UKCampsites as they also cover French sites and lots of reviews. Here is the page for Pays De La Loire https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/results.asp?county=Pays%20de%20la%20Loire

As well as the filters across the top you will notice as you scan down through the sites they state how many pitches the site has, so you should be able to find something quieter and to your liking. 

We normally we end up on French sites not exceeding 100 pitches. We find over this they get commercial in feel.

Colin