From a distance, campsite managers quickly spot first-time campers – those who have a tent but have forgotten the mallet. In the others, nothing is missing. We could see in the campsite an informal parenthesis far from the structured daily life; it is quite the opposite, the triumph of the organization.
In the Campeur family, everyone tacitly knows what they have to do. The one who tends. The one who unwinds. The one that swells. “Finally, the only improvisation of the campsite is the place”notes Aymeric de Rorthays, general manager of Au Vieux Campeur, the cult brand for hikers. “There is no ‘we arrive and we put everything in bulk’. Camping is order in disorder », he observes. Even how to pack your backpack. He remains amazed at the number of customers who ask how to store theirs, as well as tutorials on the best way to fill it: “It’s false improvisation, everything must be rigorous. Even in the choice of freeze-dried food, we see people preparing their menus in advance and wondering: “What am I going to eat on Monday”? »
When you live on little, you can’t go wrong. Teacher in the North, Cécile Dubois has her list of equipment, which she has regularly supplemented during her first three years of camping: from hangers to dry towels indoors to the brush to avoid the accumulation blades of grass in the tent. Many campers admit manic tendencies, celebrating a world where every little claw fits in its little box.
Attention to decorum
“It’s quite pleasant, because we learn quickly: between the first and the last day, we install, we uninstall, we pack more and more quickly”, says Philippe (who requested anonymity), in his forties, an executive in an NGO and quite proud of the ability he has developed to find the ideal tree to which to hang his clothesline. In this quest for perfection, pitching your tent is also an opportunity to see how things are going with others, to ogle the equipment of the Dutch with their high-tech pegs light years away from those of the French.
“Earth in the tent!” » A cry resounds in front of this family haven in the Gers. A visitor did not respect the ritual of removing his shoes from the tarp placed under the awning before entering. The model of tent influences the atmosphere of the stay and also determines the smooth running of the installation. With the one with arches, while two adults hold them and yell at each other, the kids run everywhere, while, with the inflatable systems, the children want to participate. “When you’ve put everything together, you sit down and contemplate”, summarizes Cécile Dubois. Generally, the camper is not a little proud. “There is a side “you make yourself a castle”explains Eva Zingoni, a Parisian mother of two, often gone to the Gers and Dordogne. You think you are the creator of the universe. »
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