On Tuesday, at 6 p.m., the gate at the entrance to Le Grand Hameau de Saint-Jouin-Bruneval campsite keeps getting up to let campers for one night or more and camper vans through. During the summer season, the campsite is full at all times. It is not always easy to find room for everyone.

Isabelle Watras is the new owner of this campsite since last April. She masterfully directs the holidaymakers in the alleys to their pitches. She has started the restorations. “The reception and the bar have been refurbished. There is still work to be done, she points out, such as the modernisation of the sanitary facilities and the installation of an access ramp for people with reduced mobility. We will do this as soon as the campsite closes at the end of October. »

Le Grand Hameau is ideally located between Le Havre and Etretat, and 1.2 km from the centre of Saint-Jouin-Bruneval. There is still a bicycle path missing which would allow tourists to get to the village safely. This year, the sunshine of the Alabaster Coast has attracted a good number of Germans (nearly 60%) and Italians to Le Grand Hameau. But there are the regulars, those who leave their flats in Caucriauville or Mont-Gaillard to find themselves in the peace and quiet of the open air.

A haven of peace

This is the case of Laurent Guilbert, who has been in business for twenty-eight years. He started with a caravan, then a mobile home which he fitted out with a terrace, flowerbeds and a barbecue. The desire of the open sea, for this lover of sea fishing, attracted him to this campsite. As soon as the weather is fine, he settles there, goes to work in Le Havre and comes back at the end of the day. This is his haven of peace. “It’s ideal, it’s not far from my work and from home. It’s quiet. “His mobile home is very well placed at the back of the campsite.

A little further on, Henri and Odette Marquez enjoy their retirement in the open air. They installed their mobile home on one of the pitches fourteen years ago and decorated the outside with plants and animal statues. As Henri says, “it’s paradise. We’re fine”.

At the bend in an alley, a Pas-de-Calais couple is playing pétanque. They arrived unexpectedly on this ground the same day. “We’re only staying for two days, but we’re keeping the map, we’ll come back. We’ve been so well received and it’s calm, that’s what we wanted. »

Don’t look for the swimming pool, there is none, but it is not essential as tourists come here to rest or to discover the Normandy coastline.