Unfortunately the same thing has happened to a number of UK clubs were the propty was owned by individuals rather than the members. Owners thought that they could make more money from textile sites.
Thank goodness there are still some clubs and property that are owned by the members and in some cases members are not allowed to benifit in the event of closure. Thes clubs should be able to continue to provide facilities for the future.

The naturist resort "Les Romégas" http://www.leromegas.fr/ in Northern Provence at Buies-les-Baronnies (where John GW had a poor experience in the restaurant, if I remember rightly) has closed. I could almost write "has clothed", as it will open again next year - as a textile resort.
This is part of a trend: French naturism has already lost several medium-sized resorts over the past decade or two, including Koad-ar-Roc'h in Britanny, Villata in Corsica, and - strangely - three other resorts in the same area as "Les Romégas".
What happens is nearly always the same: the owners-managers, very often the original founders in the 70s and 80s are getting old and want to sell the resort, which is then snapped up by non-naturist holiday firms. Naturist resorts are often situated in such extraordinary places that those firms find the investment worthwhiile and know that they can find a market for them.
The trend does not seem to extend to the "heavyweights" (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) which, for the most part, are financially more stable and often belong to firms rather than to individuals.
Simultaneously, new naturist resorts are opening all the time all over the place - usually smaller structures founded by enthusiasts, by people who want a change of life, and these resorts then start growing and developing.
I am not sure if the overall balance is negative or positive in terms of number of pitches or of chalets, but seeing household names disappear, or go textile, is very upsetting.

Thank you for posting the information Jacques - I am very sorry to see the news about Les Romégas.

Sue and I spent an enjoyable few days there in our camper a couple of years ago. We thought the scenery was stunning.

During our most recent French tour last month, somebody mentioned that Romégas was up for sale and might be turned into a textile destination.

We have also noticed the loss of a number of naturist places recently, most likely for much the same reason that you have described. Mas Nedal, in the Midi-Pyrenees was another site we liked; but it has recently closed. I believe the Dutch couple that owned it had put it on the market because they wanted to retire, but understand the husband then died suddenly earlier this year.

As you say, there are also new naturist ventures opening too. But always a great shame when established places are lost. And obviously very sad concerning the circumstances at Mas Nedal.

Mike

The naturist resort "Les Romégas" http://www.leromegas.fr/ in Northern Provence at Buies-les-Baronnies (where John GW had a poor experience in the restaurant, if I remember rightly) has closed. I could almost write "has clothed", as it will open again next year - as a textile resort.
This is part of a trend: French naturism has already lost several medium-sized resorts over the past decade or two, including Koad-ar-Roc'h in Britanny, Villata in Corsica, and - strangely - three other resorts in the same area as "Les Romégas".
What happens is nearly always the same: the owners-managers, very often the original founders in the 70s and 80s are getting old and want to sell the resort, which is then snapped up by non-naturist holiday firms. Naturist resorts are often situated in such extraordinary places that those firms find the investment worthwhiile and know that they can find a market for them.
The trend does not seem to extend to the "heavyweights" (I'm keeping my fingers crossed) which, for the most part, are financially more stable and often belong to firms rather than to individuals.
Simultaneously, new naturist resorts are opening all the time all over the place - usually smaller structures founded by enthusiasts, by people who want a change of life, and these resorts then start growing and developing.
I am not sure if the overall balance is negative or positive in terms of number of pitches or of chalets, but seeing household names disappear, or go textile, is very upsetting.

Thank you for posting the information Jacques - I am very sorry to see the news about Les Romégas.

Sue and I spent an enjoyable few days there in our camper a couple of years ago. We thought the scenery was stunning.

During our most recent French tour last month, somebody mentioned that Romégas was up for sale and might be turned into a textile destination.

We have also noticed the loss of a number of naturist places recently, most likely for much the same reason that you have described. Mas Nedal, in the Midi-Pyrenees was another site we liked; but it has recently closed. I believe the Dutch couple that owned it had put it on the market because they wanted to retire, but understand the husband then died suddenly earlier this year.

As you say, there are also new naturist ventures opening too. But always a great shame when established places are lost. And obviously very sad concerning the circumstances at Mas Nedal.

Mike

evening all,

I have no idea of the stats whether naturism campsites  are on the decline or rise in Europe, but it i would be interested to know, if there is anyone out there. MY view is that there is no decline but is a rise in casual freebeaching, however I would like to be corrected if anyone knows different or has a different opinion.

  norm

always sad to hear of another  loss  of facilities  Susan

I have no idea of the stats whether naturism campsites  are on the decline or rise in Europe, but it i would be interested to know, if there is anyone out there. MY view is that there is no decline but is a rise in casual freebeaching, however I would like to be corrected if anyone knows different or has a different opinion.

Although I am "out there", I find it very difficult to answer this question precisely.
For one thing the situation is totally different from one country to another: there is nothing in common between Spain, where naturism has caught in an incredible way over the past 40 years, and Italy where the naturist facilities and beaches are very thin on the ground.
In France I suspect that the overall offer is about stable in terms of campsites. Beaches have to be fought for permanently, with seaside resorts trying to "reclaim" the naturist beaches, especially when they have not been formally allowed by local authorities but naturism is only "tolerated"; the trend is to try to shove the naturists further away into the wild, away from road accesses and car parks, and to reduce the size of naturist beaches by encroaching upon them. Local clubs are fighting tooth and claw to retain those beaches, but they do not always outweigh the hotel and shopkeepers' lobbies that actually rule the seaside resorts. Let's face it, the presence of a naturist beach in a resort, although we may regard it as a widening of activities on offer, is likely to frighten off some people, and therefore in many places likely to be a target for the local authorities.
Clubs are not doing well in France; many of them have an aging population, with few or no youngsters joining, and are permently on the verge of closing down. The nicest naturist club in my own city of Lyon, "La Régnière", went commercial and textile a decade ago.
Nude hiking in organized groups is definitely on the rise, with many naturist militants regarding this as the next frontier.

Thanks for an interesting and informative post as ever Jacques. Rather depressing on the beach front...and rather too reminiscent of here.

It appears then that perhaps surprisingly, clubs in France have much the same problems as the UK. Although from my own experience admittedly many years ago of French campsites/beaches and looking at photos on FFN, one might assume there is a much more a happy mix of generations there, perhaps it is not so. Like the UK perhaps the younger generation are into doing more free range stuff as opposed to being in a club nowadays. On the upside I was chatting to a YBN member at the Malton swim yesterday who was going to their meet-up at Clover Spa later this month, as well as attending swims. The younger generation is still there, but not so easily corralled for want of a better word.

Of course tastes change, and as people get older they 'may' naturally want to enjoy nude recreation more in a more or less permanent setting. This younger generation may well join the clubs, but the question is, whether they will still be open to receive them.

You're quite right, Brigitte, when you write that French camp sites and beaches offer a good mix of generations - they very much do. But this does not really apply to clubs as such, as youngsters are definitely reluctant to join such organisations (or perhaps any sort of organization at all) - and also it must be admitted that club members sometimes do not make much of an effort to welcome youngsters.
But of course you have to take into account the fact that in France clubs are not such a large part of the naturist scene: just like the UK we have a large number of beaches, but we also have such a large number of commercial resorts that many people do not even see the point of joining a club: when you want to relax in the nude, you just book into a commercial site for a day or for a week, and that's it. Clubs were central to the naturist movement in France until the 50s; but then the new resorts such as Montalivet tended to take over.

The French were always of course way ahead of us in commercial establishments (the weather helps).

I had forgotten to take those into account. And that is not a bad thing, as there is certainly a great network of commercial sites there.

I hope though there can still be a place alongside for smaller private clubs to survive, but maybe that was a thing of the mid 50s, which here as well as there has just reached the end of a natural life, or is reaching it, and they need to diversify much more to carry on. We did see a bit of it in Spielplatz on tv here last month, that there has to be more effort made for people to make them welcome and to provide a kind of base for outside events. Some clubs are making a go of things and seem to be doing ok, others need to try very much harder...if they want to survive.

What I write of course concerns the Southern half of France mostly, since most commercial establishments tend to be situated south of the 45th parallel. The situation would of course be different further north where they have retained great clubs.
In my part of France, the competition of commerical resorts is hard to resist. Jut take our personal case. Our haunt is Bélézy in Provence. Although I find that the price of accommodation there is fairly stiff (a camping pitch for a family of 4 from 64 euros in season; in season 105 euros a night will only get you a furnished tent, and most chalets are over 1,000 euros a week), you can get in with a yearly season ticket if you do not require any accommodation. The cost of entry by the year per person is just below 200 euros (early-bird price until 15th January). For that price we can use the establishment as much as we like, with its sports equipments, swimming pools, sauna etc. from 11th April to early October (this year's dates) - this includes access to everything that the resort has to offer in season, all sorts of sports, pétanque, theatre group, daily choir practice, nude drawing, lessons in astronomy, gym in the pool, hikes in the mountains etc. Good value, I think. It's obviously difficult for a private club to compete.
Lots of people take advantage of this "no accommodation" price: families that visit on the weekends, local people who come in the evening for a quick dip and a sauna, or people who happen to have local accommodation of their own outside the resort (like us). These people of course see each other often, they tend to do things together, and to create a real community spirit within the resort, thus creating a feeling which is close to that of a club.
And here is the final twist: one day these people finally decided to create a club, a landless club that uses this commercial resort as their grounds. This club then took a life of its own, and it now organizes activities even in Winter when the grounds of the resort are closed: a hike every Saturday, sometimes a day-trip or a meal in a restaurant, occasionally a meeting with another club for a nude swim etc.
This - I believe - is a frequent setup in France, whereby commercial establishements have killed clubs - or at least hindered their growth - but in a way provide a similar service and a setting in which a club spirit can thrive. The balance may be at times uneasy, but we sometimes feel that it enables us to have the best of both worlds.
In the case of Bélézy, the commercial resort started in 1967, and the club was founded very soon afterwards (1969), which shows how closely the two are linked. The club (Club Naturiste de Bélézy Provence) now has a membership of about 300.

Coincidentally, I was looking at Belezy's site earlier and was dumbstruck by the accommodation prices.

You have and locals have, however, a veritable paradise that seems to be a valued part of the local community life. Long may it continue. I wish we had the same kind of 'cross-culture' in the UK.

Further to Jacques post:

At Euronat there is the friends of Euronat club who seem to be reasonably active, in spite of the vast amount of commercially supplied activity.

Also I notice that the Club de Soleil de Touraine at Clere les Pins is now in the France4Naturisme brochure as a recommended stop-over on the way south.
In fact the club has always been pretty open about accepting visiting campers and caravanners and was one of our regular haunts when we had a trailer-tent.

Morning folks,

  Thank you Jacques , that has been a very interesting and informative couple of posts on France.

norm

Further to Jacques post:

At Euronat there is the friends of Euronat club who seem to be reasonably active, in spite of the vast amount of commercially supplied activity.

Also I notice that the Club de Soleil de Touraine at Clere les Pins is now in the France4Naturisme brochure as a recommended stop-over on the way south.
In fact the club has always been pretty open about accepting visiting campers and caravanners and was one of our regular haunts when we had a trailer-tent.

An interesting thread indeed and thank you Jacques, in particular, for your insight concerning the French naturist scene.

During the last few summers we have toured France extensively in our camper and there is one thing that has struck me concerning the difference between clubs in France and those in the UK.

Expanding on John's point above, we have found that at most clubs in France it is possible (and not unexpected) to just 'turn up at the gate' and be welcomed in to camp, provided you have a BN/INF membership card. Although not commercial enterprises, they appeared to be 'geared up' for holiday visitors during the summer. They cater for naturist folk who are on the road and make it easy to stay for a single night or longer. Perhaps we have just been lucky, but to date we have received nothing but warmth and a friendly welcome. Also worth noting is that there are frequently small road signs indicating the direction to the club.

Contrast that with the UK, where it is almost always necessary to make advance arrangements to visit and camp, if one is not a member of the club in question. It sometimes feels as though there is more 'suspicion' of visitors and they appear more 'secretive' - which is probably not the best way to encourage folk to get involved and join in. 

For us, it makes naturist touring in France so much more enjoyable and relaxed. Obviously, there is, as Jacques has pointed out, a big choice of commercial naturist sites too.

Mike

The "Camping La Lèze" naturist campsite in the SW of France on the way to the Pyrenees was recently bought by two British families, whose first move was to announce, "The new proprietors of camping La Leze would like to inform campers, as from January 2015 Camping de La Leze will no longer be run as a naturist campsite but as standard camping. Thank you for all your loyal custom and we hope you will still continue to enjoy the tranquil, beautiful environment of camping la Leze and enjoy our new and improved services." See http://www.la-leze.com/
How on earth they can hope that their "loyal customers" will turn into textiles in order to "still continue to enjoy... camping La Lèze" is beyond me. I am not the sort to wish anybody bad luck, but I do hope that they realise that throwing out the existing "loyal customers" in the hope of attracting others is commercial nonsense.