Les Eucalyptus

This was quite an experience! The beach is 5 minutes walk away and deserted in the mornings and evenings for magical swims - I will always remember having the whole beach and sea to ourselves!

The 'jet set' haunt the nearby bars - some flying in by helicopter and fleets of enormous gin palaces moor out at sea.

One joy was driving into St. Tropez early in the morning before the rich world and their families got up. We walked around the quiet town and then ate a croissant and coffee watching the wealthy watching us from their multi story mega boats. A visit to the lovely, cool art gallery on the port side and out as everyone else arrived!

Although we like simple camping this site felt bare and barbaric when it was so hot. The beach would become crowded and there was nowhere to hide. We did meet some lovely people there - you get to know your neighbours well as you live so close to everyone! This site is cramped and shadeless and it's miles to any shops - a bread van visits for a few minutes in the morning. Evenings are noisy as the camp shares it's fence with a very lively site next door. 

OK for a one off experience-probably best out of the main season!

The proximity to the sea adds stars for me!

  

We arrived at this site after spending a beautiful week in the Cascade national park. We were looking forward to a week by the beach and were happy to be paying the 34 euros a night for the experience described in the cool camping review. However in pretty much all aspects we were disappointed (please see the review by Jubay). In particular the noise from the beachside bars (which are far too expensive to be enjoyed by a Ferrari less family) and the very noisy campsite next door meant that sleep was a luxury. The beach was incredibly busy apart from first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening with no facilities for the average family (toilets, showers). If you fancy travelling around the area be prepared for long queues, it took us 2 hours to travel 20 miles along the coast. I have given two starts for proximity to the beach and the assumption that in low season this campsite may be a much more pleasant experience.

I would dearly love to be able to say that after eagerly setting off on a long 7 hour drive from the French Alps to Les Eucalyptus, specifically to stay in the paradise you’d associate with the "No.1 in the Cool Camping Top 5" sites, we were met with serenity and nirvana. I would dearly love to say that, but my mother bought me up to be an honest lad that realises the fundamental issue with telling porkie pies; they always cause huge amounts of disappointment. Let me clear up one of the Les Eucalyptus Porkie Pies straight away. This site is NOT "Camping A La Ferme"! In fact, if this was the only site you were to visit from the Cool Camping collection, you’d be left thinking that the writers had strayed so far from the point of their publication that they were attempting to be hilariously ironic. That said, to state this would be unfair without first clarifying MY expectations of what a "Cool Campsite" should be. A truly Cool Camping Site should display something special, a view, an atmosphere, a location, an air of subtle tranquillity, a uniqueness and the immeasurable stuff we all like to call "Cool". We all know this, mainly because I plagiarised most of that from the Cool Camping book, but chances are, if you want "Cool Camping", you already understand the sentiment anyways. Unfortunately, what Les Eucalyptus provided was none of that. Words like "Seclusion", "well spaced", "privacy" and "well appointed" are romantically entwined like vines amongst the idyllic statement that "Les Eucalyptus is miles from the mass camping holiday sites". The harsh reality is, this site just isn’t - it IS one of those "Mass camping holiday sites". Arrival at the main farm house & you are wowed by the ambiance, the beauty, the vines & that air of "Cool" you anticipated, but be aware that that’s most definitely NOT where you’ll be staying. 10 mins later and you’re driven off down a lane & dumped into a motorhome shanti that the pretty words of the Cool Camping description claim are this campsites antithesis. Now let’s deal with some of these words that Cool Camping found once fitted Les Eucalyptus perfectly; "Well Spaced" The pitch was VERY small, enough room in between the caravans & campers for a medium sized tent, provided you are as happy to dispense with your guy ropes as you are your privacy. Be prepared to get friendly with the other campers as you’ll be living on top of them every second of your agitated stay. "Seclusion" Our tent was situated in the (loudly) beating heart of the site, right opposite the "well appointed" shower / toilet block; an especially useful spot as it gave you the chance to watch for the moments where the lengthy queue for the toilets had subsided. In truth the only seclusion on offer here is in amongst the aluminium & fibreglass caravan shanti the owners have created, and NOT the bamboo. "Privacy" See "Well Spaced". If by "privacy" you expect to be able to hear your next door neighbour blinking, then it’s in abundance at Les Eucalyptus. "Around 30 Pitches" 60 to 70 is closer to the truth - we counted whilst trying to find a quiet, secluded, private and “cool” spot on the site. We couldn’t. "The Damage" Expect €34 per night at the very minimum - admittedly this was peak season, but this was just for one tent, 2 adults & no electric hook up. When you consider that you are offered very little in the way of facilities, hot showers are a chargeable extra, and you are squeezed on to a plot (in amongst the fridge-freezers, gazebos, gas BBQs and over-crowded caravans) you start to wonder where the vast amounts of cash this site generates really goes. "The Damage"? Most likely to Cool Camping’s reputation I’d say. "more likely to see a vintage Citroen van than a four-by-four parked up alongside the tent" A vague statement I appreciate & certainly shouldn’t be taken literally, but really? I would ordinarily take such statements as window dressing, aimed at painting a beautiful picture to spark your imagination, but this statement is SO far from the truth it makes me giggle nervously and uncontrollably for anyone else that might have been seduced by its romance. This SHOULD read "more likely to see a transit van, large Winnebago, caravan or refrigerator parked ON your tent". Anyone wanting to conjure up a realistic image of this campsite should think of images of illegal Gypsy caravan sites, or alternatively, look at the attached picture of Les Eucalyptus taken upon our arrival. "Well appointed" Huge luxurious feng shui shower blocks with piped music, free moisturiser, scalp massages and gold loo seats aren’t ever expected to be part of the "Cool Camping" or A La Ferme experience (we’ve camped enough to know), but just 2 ladies toilets for in excess of 60 pitches? Really? If you are happy with the "festival" experience instead of A la Ferme (including pumping music soundtrack until 2am), then this is the site for you, but be prepared to queue for half an hour to use the loo. Oh, and don’t forget to take your loo paper, otherwise you’ll have to do that queue again. I have no doubt that when this site was originally reviewed, the location of the beach, the cool farm-house, the wry humour plus bountiful quantities of wine ensured it’s inclusion as a "Cool Campsite", however I fear that in time the original "Camping A La Ferme" ethos has been somewhat abandoned by it’s owners in favour of a high volume, high profit regime. I guess in todays climate, who can blame them, but let’s stop all the Porkie Pies though about it being Camping A La Ferme and “Cool”, it’s a seaside town campsite with all of the noise, parties, high turnaround & high prices you’d expect. I have no idea how Les Eucalyptus made it in to the "Cool Camping" book, let alone to No.1 in their Top 5!