At the end of August, while France is suffocating due to a heat wave, a light breeze refreshes the naked bodies lying on the beach of Montalivet (“Monta”, for the intimates). We are in Gironde, in the heart of the Médoc, a region known for its vineyards, its maritime pines… and its naturist centres. Here, strolling in the simplest device is part of the local culture: it was in Montalivet that the very first naturist center in France was born in the 1950s, the Heliomarin Center of Montalivet, or CHM. “Body positivism” (this social movement that advocates the acceptance of all bodies), frugality, reconnection to the environment: the practice is today perfectly aligned with the obsessions of the time. “The look has evolved thanks, in particular, to communication campaigns and original initiatives, such as naked visits to museums in large cities”explains Viviane Tiar, president of the French Federation of Naturism (FFN).
With some 150 naturist centers and campsites and 2.5 million naturist naturists, France remains the number one destination of its kind, attracting Germans, Dutch and British every year. After years of being outdated, naturism, which experienced its golden age in the 1960s, now appeals to younger generations. According to the FFN, the average age of the practitioner would be about 40 years old, when ten years ago it was still over 50 years old. Long misguided in the “hot nights of Cap d’Agde” way, the naturist “philosophy” is making its way into the lifestyle pages of women’s magazines and in bookstores, equidistant from well-being and personal development (see the recent book by Margaux Cassan live naked, Grasset, 216 pages, 19 euros). So, despite all this good news, why is there like a wind of concern blowing that day on the beach of “Monta”, perceptible anguish when discussing with the practitioners who all evoke the ” affair ” ?
At Euronat, barely 6 kilometers away, tempers have been heating up for a few months. With its 335-hectare forest estate, four-star campsite and wooden bungalows, this centre, which opened in 1975, is the largest in Europe. Here more than elsewhere, the naturist utopia seems to be in full swing. Not a smartphone in sight, we are in a white zone and photos are prohibited. Small roads that slalom between pines and arbutus trees, serving neighborhoods that respond to the sweet names of “Asia Village” or “Oceania Village”. But behind the apparent tranquility of the place, holidaymakers (in Crocs or Birkenstock, depending) are wondering if this little paradise might not be on borrowed time: and if this was the last summer of “bare bottoms” at Euronat ? Aude, 75, retired teacher, does not take off: “The mayor of the town wants to close the center because she does not support naturists! »
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