The Netherlands has one campsite for every 6,000 inhabitants: that’s five times more than in Germany. In France, the Dutch represent 10% of camper customers. In the south of the country, by the sea, the Zwinhoeve campsite has 626 pitches, from simple aunts to fully equipped bungalows, including small well-kept gardens.
So, crazy about camping, the Dutch? For Frenz, in his fifties, who comes here every summer, there is no doubt: “We love that! Because you feel free, and you meet other people. Some, here, we have known for years and we love them!“This is the case, for example, of his neighbor, Nicole, smiling and basin with the dishes of midday under the arm. It is the friend of the holidays. “Here, we live in freedom in nature and all together“, she says.
Michel and his wife also confirm the cliché: they come to the campsite for five weeks this summer, some of them with the children, who are already adults. Here is the program:Walk with the dog twice a day, go to the beach, to the museum, ride a bike, drink a beer and chat with the neighbors. And then we have television, to follow the Tour de France!“
“It’s really ingrained in their culture“, notes Océane, a Frenchwoman married to a Dutchman. She is the author of Small chronicle of the Netherlands, where she has lived for fifteen years. “My direct neighbours, during long weekends, like at Pentecost for example, go to the campsite 25 minutes from the house! I tell myself that they bother, all the same, loading their cars and setting up their tents and everything to go only 25 minutes from home! They go camping everywhere!” she laughs.
And these camping holidays are not about social class.
“In my previous job, the CEO of the company went camping with his caravan!”
For the French, the relationship of the Dutch to camping remains very mysterious. “The Dutch pitch their tents with the opening towards others, towards the outside, while the French pitch their tents with the openings towards a hedge or a tree“, remarked Océane.