The surrounds of this Provençal park are so utterly splendid you might have to pinch yourself once or thrice to realise that what you’re seeing in front of you is, in fact, actually real.
A mere 13 kilometres from the lights and hugely historic sights of UNESCO-listed Avignon, Camping Fontisson is surrounded by vineyards, lavender fields and olive groves in France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, around 20 minutes’ drive to the edge of the beaut Luberon Natural Regional Park and within easy reach of cracking Mont Ventoux views.
There’s tons to see and do around here, but first and foremost, let’s look at what’s on site for you and the young ones to do. To start with, there’s the outdoor pool with neighbouring paddling pool for swimming lengths and practising paddles – there’s also a roomy solarium should you want to laze about in between dips while keeping half a beady eye on the kids’ pooltime proceedings.
A grassy outdoor ping pong area, a miniature golf course, a multisports pitch and tennis courts are also on site for bouncing different-sized balls about at, alongside a pétanque pitch where you can brush up on your bowling skills before joining in one of the site’s regular friendly tournaments.
Kids will be kept muchly amused at the playground and bouncy castle, and during high season they can also yeehaw their way rapturously around the park with a pony or horse ride or three, and get involved in the once-weekly kids activities organised by the site’s accommodating team.
Keep yourself well read over at the library, and maintain contact with the outside world at the internet-enabled computer that’s also there for guests to use. (Wifi is available across the site, and guests are allowed 10 minutes’ free surfing time per day, after which there’s a charge to use the service.)
Make use of the on-site courier service if you want to speedily send home a souvenir (or that box of wine you accidentally bought yourself at one of the local vineyards) or scribe a smug postcard or two to send to loved ones back in the motherland.
Should you want to step out for the evening, you may want to make an extra special effort and decrumple some of your suitcased garments or blowdry your barnet – both of which are possible with a complementary loan of the park’s iron and ironing board and hairdryer. Other bits up for borrowing include sports equipment such as tennis rackets, ping pong balls and golf clubs, and high chairs and cots for tiny tots. Bed linens and fridges can be rented out for a small charge too.
For food on site, you can pick up breads and pastries every morning at reception, and the pool bar is open every afternoon during high season for cold drinks and ice creams; the rest of the time you can buy refreshments at reception.
Otherwise, locally produced fodder and regional wines can be sourced at a nearby convenience store, or you can walk 20 minutes into the centre of the site’s local village of Châteauneuf-de-Gadagne for more shops, eateries and Provençal markets.