“4 months a year for 48 years. Call it what you like – we call it home.”
– Alain Delmer
Heading South
Summer 1978. Alain and Béatrice Delmer leave Lille with two children and a caravan hitched to their Renault 12. Destination: Brittany. Three days of rain later, the family changes plan and heads south. A friend had told them about a campsite that had just opened in the Var, among the red rocks of the Esterel.
They arrive. There are barely any trees and red dust clings to their sandals. But there are two swimming pools, the sea is nearby, and the atmosphere is warm – the feeling of a place being built with conviction. Jacqueline Laroche welcomes them. “It’s not quite wonderful yet,” she tells them with confidence. “But it will be!” The Delmer family chooses to stay – and never really left.
Loyal guests for 48 years
Since 1978, Alain and Béatrice have come back every year. First with their caravan, then with a first mobile home, then a second – the very one they still occupy today, fifteen years on, lovingly maintained. Béatrice worked at the sub-prefecture. Alain was a teacher and international football referee. Over his career, he refereed some 440 top-flight matches and around fifty European cups and international fixtures.
During the two summer months, Alain would stay with the children in Agay while Béatrice worked in Lille. Then she would return, and summer would begin again. Today, the couple arrives at Esterel Caravaning in mid-May and leaves at the end of September – four months a year, sometimes a little more.
The man in black
In the 1980s, the campsite organised football tournaments. Alain would referee in full kit – black shorts and referee’s shirt. “Jacqueline Laroche’s idea – she never did things by halves,” he laughs. He would walk across the campsite to the amused looks of holidaymakers in swimwear. The tournaments are gone. So is the black kit. But Alain stayed.
Despite three bypass surgeries and 17 stents, Alain stays fit… and competitive. “Yesterday morning I was on the fitness trail in the Esterel with my stopwatch. My cardiologist wouldn’t be happy. But I’ll beat my time next time,” he adds with a mischievous grin.
A wedding
The children – Grégory, Yohan, Florine – followed, of course, with their own families, their own caravans, their own routines. In August, when everyone is together, dinners on the terrace bring some twenty people around the table. Seven grandchildren, also devoted fans of Esterel Caravaning – to the point of working there. “Our granddaughter is applying to be an activities leader at the campsite, our grandson serves in the restaurant. A few years ago, our daughter-in-law ran the shop.”
Grégory, the eldest son, met his wife here – a Parisian he crossed paths with one summer. They have lived in Fréjus ever since and never miss an August.
Never just a number
What keeps Alain and Béatrice coming back isn’t just the sunshine or the pools. It’s the welcome. “Never feeling like just a number.” The same faces year after year. Morning coffee with long-time neighbours. The Happy Hour they’ve almost never missed. “Even if I now stick to tomato juice,” says Béatrice with a philosophical smile.
There are also the neighbours on the pitch – those familiar faces it’s always a pleasure to see again, around the same time, in the same spot, as if time had stood still. “After fifty years, we know everyone,” says Alain. Every day, he makes a point of stopping by Jackie’s. “It’s non-negotiable. We have to see each other.” They are no longer campsite neighbours. They are friends reunited each year with the same ease as family. “Maybe it all sounds ordinary,” Alain concludes. “But it comes from the heart.”
Between us: Tom’s christening
Sixteen years ago, Aurore privatised the Esterel Caravaning restaurant for a special occasion: the christening of Tom, the Delmers’ grandson. An entire evening, just for the family – laid tables, attentive cooking, the restaurant transformed into a private celebration venue. That too is Esterel Caravaning: a place where life’s most meaningful moments find their natural home.
This year, Tom is a waiter at the restaurant – the very one where his christening was celebrated.
– Aurore
