Camping du Marais

In Riel-les-Eaux, in the Ource valley, Camping du Marais lies between Burgundy and Champagne, on the Route du Crémant and in the heart of the national forest park. It is rated 2 stars and stretches along two bodies of water: one of 2 hectares reserved for fishing, the other of one hectare open for swimming, unsupervised. Châtillon-sur-Seine, home of the Vix vase, is about fifteen kilometres away.

The site remains small: 18 semi-shaded pitches, at a rate of €7.50 a day for the pitch, €4.70 per adult (tourist tax included) and €1.90 per child. It also offers three wooden caravans for rent, facing the pond: La Champenoise (21 m², 4 to 5 people, two bedrooms), La Bourguignonne (17 m², 2 to 3 people) and La Franc-Comtoise (2 to 3 people). Pets are not allowed in them.

Opening is twofold. The caravans can be booked all year round, with a price list that includes an off-season from 1 November to 28 February (from €61 a night for the smallest). The pitches, however, only open in the warmer months, from late March or early April to 31 October depending on the pages of the website. Off-season, the campsite therefore suits couples and small families looking for a countryside getaway in a wooden caravan.

Reception is staffed on site every day, from 7:30am to 11am and from 3pm to 7:30pm.

Visits to Châtillon-sur-Seine (Vix vase museum) and Essoyes (Renoir's studio), and forest hikes.

The washrooms, with showers, toilets, basins and electrical sockets, are cleaned daily; they include a washing machine and are accessible to people with reduced mobility. A bread service operates on site, and free wifi covers the site. The website does not say whether the washrooms are heated.

Each caravan is fitted out: a sleeping area (alcove bed in the two smaller ones, two bedrooms in La Champenoise), a living area, a kitchen with sink, hob, fridge and microwave, and a bathroom with shower, basin and toilet. The large caravan also has a television and a pull-out sofa bed. Sheets and towels can be hired for €18 (€36 for La Champenoise), and end-of-stay cleaning is charged at €58.

Rates for the 2 to 3-person caravans range from €61 a night (€110 for two nights, €280 a week in off-season) to €74 in July and August. La Champenoise costs €79 a night in winter and €92 in summer. For pitches, electricity costs €5.10 a day, a motorbike pitch €6, a hiker pitch €5, and the motorhome service area €4.50 (free for campers).

For dining, the L’Armoise restaurant is located on the site: it serves lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Sunday, by reservation, up to three weeks in advance in high season. There is no swimming pool: swimming takes place in the one-hectare lake, which is unsupervised.

On site, people come for the calm water and the silence. The large 2-hectare pond is reserved for fishing, the second for unsupervised swimming. A play area with swings, a slide and a sandpit, as well as a table tennis table, keeps children busy. Many walking trails start from the surrounding area, in the national forest park.

About fifteen kilometres away, Châtillon-sur-Seine has a Romanesque church dedicated to Saint Vorles, the Douix spring and a museum devoted to the Châtillonnais region, which displays the famous Vix vase. Essoyes, a small Champagne village, preserves Renoir’s house and studio. The Côte des Bar, with its Champagne route, offers tastings and vineyard landscapes.

Off-season, these visits remain possible, and the caravan becomes a base for hiking in the forest or for sampling the wines of neighbouring Champagne. The website mentions no entertainment organised by the campsite: it is best to consult the tourist offices of Châtillon and the Côte des Bar for the season’s events.