Orbey
How spending two nights on a camping in a meadow can free your mind
What you’re about to read, is a personal account of a two night-stay at a camping in northeastern France, that, in a way, woke me up from a weariness that had been holding my photography back for a while. If you’re into nature and photography, or recognize that sense, this story might be for you. I’m sharing the experience because it made a difference to me and I hope you might take away something from it.
This summer, I took a trip to France I had been really looking forward to. It had been a while since I was there last. I like camping and being close to nature, and despite of the fact finding a camping in France is never really hard, I like to prepare and choose my campings beforehand. It’s not that I never go to a camping I didn’t single out before leaving, but it’s a way of making sure the campings mostly suit the reason(s) for visiting a place and aren’t too noisy and expensive.
I don’t need a lot of luxury; simple sanitary facilities and electricity will do. Closeness to a village or town is great to have and if there’s Wifi, that’s a plus too, but I can do without it. Things like a small grocery store on the grounds, a bar, entertainment options etc. might even be a contra-indication to me.
There’s some pleasure in these preparations: keeping it simple and affordable, and finding possible ‘gems’ that don’t have multi-star ratings for things you can do without, is gratifying. The anticipation of the outcome of all this prepping adds to the experience.
This year, I managed to find some camping locations that fit the description. One in particular turned out to be pretty special, and I’d like to tell you about it and show some of its charm. When I stumbled upon the listing of this camping, I saw it was called ‘vert’ (eco-friendly), which is something I value, but also know to be a description that is often used rather loosely. But in this case, it totally met my expectations.
Location
The camping is located outside Orbey, a small town on the border between the Vosges and Alsace (northeastern France), an area that is mountainous and green. Surrounded by mountains ranging from about 500 to 1500 m, forests and fields, the place has a lot of flora and fauna that you won’t easily find in more densely inhabited surroundings relatively nearby. It’s not a great place for shopping, as you’ve probably guessed by now.
It wasn’t really hard to find; when my navigation stopped making sense, I knew I was probably close and, for the last part of the route, would have to rely on instinct to some extent. I followed a small road along some houses and up a hill, to finally arrive at a building that looked like it could also function as an office/reception. I walked around and arrived at a little terrace with a lot of small dogs held within an improvised gaze fence.
After ringing the bell, a friendly woman who introduced herself as Nathalie, shook hands with me (something I’m not accustomed to when arriving at a camping), asked me to wait a moment for her husband, André, to come to the house to show me to a suitable camp spot. He was out on the camping, talking to guests. I liked this place already, even if I had just arrived.
When I saw a man coming up from the grounds, that lie below the house’s level, I approached him and asked if he was André. He nodded, shook my hand and after I had asked the obvious questions, he walked me to a camp spot at the bottom of the grounds that had a wooden table and, although I didn’t directly notice it, electricity. My power cable is about 20 m long, just enough to cover the distance to the place where I wanted to place front of the tent, facing the rest of the camping. It was a spatial and quiet spot, surrounded by grasses and trees, as were most of the spots.
From the campsite, you have a wide view of the mountains and fields, and the power lines that unavoidably keep popping up in your photos. Then there’s the upper part of a church, that I forgot to visit. Maybe next time I’m there.
Having driven into town, I could do some groceries and prepare a meal. Of course I ‘Substacked’ a bit on the small terrace of the house on the hill (where there was Wifi), drank some coffee and decided to go to bed early, to be able to witness sunrise the next morning. When I walked up the hill again a bit later to prepare for the night, I noticed how everything in the sanitary block was aimed at not spilling water or electricity, and the dishwashing facility had a sign recommending using only biodegradable detergent, as did the section where you could wash your clothes. Everything you need was there, even (simple) leisure facilities (a pingpong table and a swing).
While being near the house, I talked a bit with André, about how I enjoyed being on a camping like theirs and thought it was something I wanted to share. So I told him about the possibility of doing that, and he was enthusiastic.
Who is André Miclo?
André, the friendly and easy-going guy who started this camping, was born in 1968 in Colmar, a town of about 65.000 inhabitants 20 kms from Orbey, and was raised by his aunt and uncle on this farm from the age of 4. The farm had 12 cows, and growing up, going to school and working on the farm, André got the idea to turn the farm into a campsite, to share the love he felt for nature and living a life close to it.
It took a long time and a lot of discussion with his aunt and uncle to finally be able to make his dream come true; they weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea, which bothered André a lot, because he loved them deeply.
He started to carry out his plans, but he needed fresh and clean drinking water on the grounds, among other things. He wanted the water to be 100% natural, and the trees he planted on the grounds to be local varieties. Now, 26 years after starting the camping project, he is still working on it, helped by Nathalie and having seen the work he puts in daily, he will keep working on it for some time, although the camping does have 14 spaceous camping spots by now, and some caravans you can rent. He would have liked his uncle and aunt to see what has become of the project, but alas they have both passed away.
They aren’t making real money, but to André, that’s also part of the point of it: you can be happy with a little farm on a hill, with some cows and goats, and the very modest income from the camping, if you live a simple life in the middle of nature. It’s pretty rare to find people like André and Nathalie these days. I’m happy for them that they don’t have to go the same difficulties as a lot of European farmers face nowadays.
Sunrise and morning in the meadow
The next morning, I got up really early, and at 4:30 AM I witnessed the first light on the grounds and the reddish purple colors in the sky. I started making photos right away and kept at it for the next 4 hours, taking the time to carefully choose my subjects; I approached all the grasses, flowers, insects and small landscapes with a clear sense of purpose and direction. I was so involved in it, that I alsmost forgot about time completely. If the brightness and warmth of the sun wouldn’t have drawn my attention, I could surely have continued for another few hours.
I noticed small things, like the moth in this photo, that seemed to look at me from the tiny stalk it sat on. I was much closer to the grasses and the small animals that inhabited them than I usually am; I sat down on my knees many times.
What really amazed me, was the overwhelming amount of dew drops that covered the whole meadow that morning. If I’d gotten up at 8:30, the dew would have evaporated into the hot sunlit air already, but it was everywhere now.
If you’d want to experience (something like) this for yourself, you can book your stay here (and don’t forget to tell them you’ve read an article about the camping, they’ll appreciate it):
Book your stay at Nathalie & André's campsite
I didn’t stay at the campsite the whole day, but drove around the area and saw lots of places where I’d gladly spend time too, and of course I kept photographing, but the campsite had become my home. The cobwebs in my head were blown away. After just a few days, my mind and heart felt like they had been given a new lease on life.
I hope you enjoyed this impression of my stay on Nathalie and André’s camping. I always enjoy to hear from you, so drop me a line if you want.
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Thank you for sharing a portal into your experience. Stunning (always!) photos. That moth! The light! There’s something about being up before first light that seems to prime us for noticing small things…and you do it so beautifully.
This seems like such a blissful place. That stork is amazing. Thank you for sharing your lovely photos and experience there.