Le Chant d’Oiseau

The open grassland and forests surrounding Le Chant d’Oiseau make an ideal habitat for the tawny owls and barn owls that live in the loft above one of the three gîtes. All sorts of other birds, from herons and hen harriers to buzzards and goldfinches, love it around here, too, which is surely how the house got its moniker. The name appears on a map from 1750, but the house could be centuries older – the date 1626 was incised into the stone walls of the hayloft by workers tallying up bales. Stu and Syb Bradley are passionate about the house and region, learning its history and photographing its finer features; a knowledgeable source of recommendations on places to visit.
 
The Bradleys moved their family here from Doncaster in 2005 and brought an easy-going conviviality from SouthYorkshire that blends in perfectly with the Loire region’s reputation for la doucer de vivre (Flaubert called it ‘the most sensual river in France’); enjoying life at the same leisurely pace at which France’s longest river flows through the valley. They’re relaxed about campers arriving late, and offer to come and find those searching for the site after dark, even making them a nice cup of tea on arrival – just what the welcome visitors cherish after a long drive from a channel port. An earlier arrival means you can join your hosts for a glass of wine from Chinon and Saumur in the ‘barn’ (of which only the lower walls remain), which serves as an alfresco wi-fi area, communal eating space, retreat for shade-lovers, and home to two BBQs and a bread oven that Stu made himself.
 
It was worth the effort: the wood-fired oven makes a superb pizza oven once a week, when campers can join Stu and Syb, and meet each other, under the awning. On Mondays and Fridays during the summer they serve a four-course French meal here, too, and they heat up the oven on Sundays to bake the troglodyte (and Angevin) favourite, fouée; small parcels of bread dough into which savoury or sweet fillings can be added: goats’ cheese, pork pâté, rillettes, confiture... delicious!
 
These events are all optional, but it’s an option that can make camping so much more appealing. The Bradleys had decades of experience camping and caravanning in Cornwall and France, and have tried to incorporate here all the best features of sites they’ve experienced, as well as weekly wine- tasting evenings led by a local vigneron and campers getting together to eat and socialise. This social aspect of camping is continued on their Facebook site (www.facebook.com/Le.Chant), while the lengthy questionnaire in their welcome pack shows that the Bradleys are open to suggestions on improving the site.
 
Animals are very much part of the Bradley menage. Apart from the owls and visiting birds, there are two dogs, two cats, and eight chickens that also share the site, the latter clucking around the tents and providing fresh eggs. Deer are a common sight and wild boar live in the woods, so it’s not surprising that the sport of Kings, which originally attracted French royals to the Loire, now draws chasseurs, but modern hunters arrive in cars, on mopeds, and quad bikes, all communicating by mobile phone. The Bradleys aren’t fans of the hunting season because it can be dangerous just walking the dog in the woods if trigger-happy hunters aren’t careful, but fortunately shooting doesn’t begin until September, so the forests are perfectly safe throughout the summer. Stu and Syb were once avid surfers and originally intended to set up a site in Cornwall, but that proved too expensive. Now, they’re delighted they live in an area where the climate makes camping comfortable six months a year.