I would be tempted to turn up and camp just like before and, if challenged, clear off without paying after making suitable adverse comments.

A mass repeat booking by a naturist camping group similarly cancelled would give a similar message only louder.

The presumptous ignorance of some people never ceases to amaze!

what a wonderful insight    Belezy is a wonderful  environment  so you so so lucky  to be  there  we love its  ethos  of having a no landed  club  there our very first visit a long time back as newbies we where made very welcome    Susan

Clos-Barrat has been sold by its owners, Evelyne and Didier - but the new owners, Yolanda and Johan,who are apparently Dutch, are determined to keep the ground naturist.
I am sorry to see Evelyne and Didier go, they're a lovely couple, but I also wish good luck to the new owners!

Again, thank you for the information Jacques. We met Evelyne and Didier when we stayed there with our camper a couple of years ago - they certainly gave us a warm welcome. I don't think they had owned the site for very long, having fairly recently purchased it prior to our stay - perhaps the year before?

The British naturist camping and caravanning club - Suntreckers - rallied there for the first time last season and are returning again this year because everybody enjoyed it so much.

Mike

Here is an update on Le Clos Barrat.
The transition to the new owners is apparently excellent. The new Flemish-speaking Belgians (and not Dutch as I first assumed) owners, Yolanda and Johan, are fiftyish; they know Le Clos Barrat well as they used to holiday there, and they are looking forward to running it in the same spirit as Evelyne and Didier did, but with a little extra comfort added. They can get along in French, English, and German.
Evelyne explained that they had put the concern up for sale because Didier has reached retirement age when he can draw a pension, and the amount of work implied in running the site was getting a bit too much for them.
They had been advised that such a "niche" concern as theirs (an inland naturist camping site) might be difficult to move and take a long time to sell, and the estate agents consequently advised them to put the concern on the market 3 to 5 years before they actually meant to leave.
But within hours of putting the concern up for sale they had an offer (which they refused) to turn the place into a textile caravan site. We are lucky that Evelyne and Didier were committed to their guests and would not let them down. Yolanda and Johan's offer came very soon afterwards, so that the whole process only took a few months instead of the expected 3 to 5 years.
The first changes to Clot Barrat should be visible this year, as Evelyne and Didier gave Yolanda and Johan a free hand to work on the site throughout the Winter season to make it ready for the 2015 season, even though the conveyancing had not yet been completed.

In my opinion that was being kind to the prospective textile buyers as well as to us naturists.
From what I have heard naturist sites that are changed to textile by new owners commonly fold as businesses within a very short time.

Perhaps another one that may be going textile, Regain.
It is close to Paris (about 40 miles from Paris).
http://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/821790725.htm?ca=19_s
The advertisemenst states ominously: "could be turned into a textile place". Since they have sold a number of on-site bungalows, I take this to mean that the conveyancing contracts give the owners of bungalows there no legal protection against the place going textile... 🙁

Perhaps another one that may be going textile, Regain.
It is close to Paris (about 40 miles from Paris).
http://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/821790725.htm?ca=19_s
The advertisemenst states ominously: "could be turned into a textile place". Since they have sold a number of on-site bungalows, I take this to mean that the conveyancing contracts give the owners of bungalows there no legal protection against the place going textile... 🙁

Oh dear, we only visited and stayed there for the first time about 3 weeks ago! We like the site and the owner was warm and charming. We'd no idea it was at risk of being sold and going textile.

Mike

Oh dear, we only visited and stayed there for the first time about 3 weeks ago! We like the site and the owner was warm and charming. We'd no idea it was at risk of being sold and going textile.

The site had already been put up for sale then. The advertisement is dated 21st June, although I was only made aware of it quite recently

Oh dear, we only visited and stayed there for the first time about 3 weeks ago! We like the site and the owner was warm and charming. We'd no idea it was at risk of being sold and going textile.

The site had already been put up for sale then. The advertisement is dated 21st June, although I was only made aware of it quite recently

Ah yes, I hadn't spotted that in the advert.

The price doesn't seem wholly unreasonable, given what a property like that would cost if it was only 55km from London.

The facilities (toilets and showers) we used were in good condition and looked to have been upgraded in the last couple of years or so. The swimming pool was attractive. And there was a very adequate on-site shop.

There appeared to be a reasonable number of people in evidence during our stay, but it was by no means full. Although it was peak summer season at the time, I assumed the occupancy might be due to the fact many local Parisians would be away, further afield on their main holidays?

Mike

Concerning the price, I am not absolutely sure about what they are selling. It may be that they are just selling the firm, and not the real estate - although the ad does appear under "immobilier", that is "real estate".
Although prices are Paris are lower than in London, and prices tend to fall more sharply as you travel away from Paris than when trevalling away from London, 800.000 euros (that is less than 600,000 £) seems very cheap for the real estate (a "nice house" with swimming pool and sauna, and especially the 9 hectares of land - that is 22 acres, only 40 miles from Paris).
Most of their guests came by the year, and they had rather fewer pitches and bungalows to let for visitors. I have no inside information as to why the current owners are selling - if they did not manage to make a living out of it, or if they were just planning a career change, or planning to retire.

Like you Jacques, I have no inside knowledge, but I'd suspect the reason for the sale might be due to retirement. That is only a guess though.

The access approach road (lane) has a narrow 'pinch-point' with a steep drop on one side about 200 metres from the entrance gate. It is fine to negotiate with care in a car, but somewhat tricky with a caravan or motorhome, which may have restricted the licence for the number of visiting pitches available? Also, the undulating ground on the site might also be a factor. But it was very pleasant from our perspective.

We only went there by accident. We'd set out from home in our camper for a short break to explore the Netherlands. From the Channel tunnel if wasn't far to drive and we thought the weather was going to be good. We enjoyed two glorious warm sunny days at Athena, just north of Antwerp; and then the weather changed and was set to be cool and wet for the following week. Looking at the weather maps, Paris appeared to be the nearest place where it would be significantly better - so we turned around and travelled 220 miles to Regain. And the weather for the next five days was indeed lovely and warm and mostly sunny.

Mike

I have just had confirmation that the current owners, Christian and Pierrette, are planning to retire, as you suggest, Mike. They're apparently finding it very difficult to sell.
Also there are two naturist clubs in the same département: Le Gymno-Club du Thelle (at 60730 Ully-Saint-Georges), and Le Club du Soleil de Creil.

And yet another French naturist resort that goes textile: Domaine Naturea (also known as Château de la Herpinière) in the Loire area near Saumur. They were very quiet on their website about their being naturist - you had to look up the "rules" to see that the resort was reserved for naturism, but nothing anywhere else: http://www.domainenaturea.com/indexen.html
Now they have announced on their Facebook page that they are going textile: https://www.facebook.com/Domaine-Natur%C3%A9a-264476893571351/timeline/
🙁