Nudist Beach: Centre Helio Montalivet Near Bordeaux France
BeoWolf
http://www.chm-montalivet.com/chm-montalivet-GB/index_fla.htm
http://www.euronat.fr/en/activ.asp
Where: 46, Avenue de l'Europe, 33930 Vendays Montalivet, France
Phone: (+5) 56-34-23-01
>From Bordeaux, France, follow the Gironde river to the ocean then take
a left.
Travelers looking for an authentic nude beach experience should go to
Centre Hélio Montalivet, the birthplace of the international naturist
movement. Established in 1950, this nude beach resort on France's
Atlantic Coast provides a safe and legal wilderness setting for nudists
and their families. Within the complex are more than 1,800 camp sites,
172 bungalows, shops and facilities for art classes, yoga, soccer and
more. No other nude beach or camp on earth rivals Montalivet's
family-friendly environment
CHM Montalivet - Trip report - 2005
Spent a week in Montalivet this summer. I stayed at CHM Montalivet.
Great
place to stay. Great beach. Visited Euronat for 1 day, Very similar
set-up, cabins, tents, pool, beach, commercial center. A few tips. You
need a bicycle to get around. Cars not really unless you
want to do winery tours. The town is 1 mile from CHM monta and 4 miles
from
Euronat. But nothing really in town. A few more restaurants, stores.
I tool train to Bordeaux, then to Lesparre, then taxi to Montalivet.
Bus
from train station only runs 3-4 times day. Not very reliable.
Having been at Cap D Agde the week prior, I must say Montalivet is for
the
true nudist, the family, the people who want to relax. 100% nudity in
pool
and beaches.
Cap D Agde, 80% beach nudity, 50% pool,
The swingers, clubbers, gays, ect. Cap D agde is the place. None of
that in
Montalivet.
I suggest you book off the website, and you must have
a nudist card with INF membership. AANR works.
Or they wont let you in!!
Lastly. English is psoken by the staff. And maybe 20% of the guests
CHM Montalivet - Trip report - 2002
I have just returned from trip to France including 15 days camping at
CHM
Montalivet, so a few remarks for the group seem to be appropriate.
Location:
The site is right next to the resort of Montalivet-les-Bains so that
the
distance from the centre of the site to the North Gate (called the
Pinede
Gate) is the same as the distance from the gate to the centre of
Montalivet.
We chose CHM rather than Euronat because of this and we were able to
walk
into Montalivet for the daily market, other shopping and the many bars,
cafes and restaurants.
Arrival and Administration:
We had no problems arriving without a reservation in mid July.
However, if you extend your stay or make other such changes, do make
sure
they do ALL the necessary administration, including amending all the
Id.
cards (for you, the tent, the dog and the car). Otherwise the
administration
will suddenly go into panic mode at some stage.
The 32 page welcome guide (in French only) lists everything you will
want to
know during your stay including a full set of local emergency telephone
numbers.
It includes the statement:
"CHM is an exclusively naturist village.
Adopt complete nudity during your stay.
Being clothed may embarass others." (My translation)
Shops & Restaurants:
We ate at the three restaurants and the pizzaria and found that the
nearness
of the town meant that the prices were more reasonable than we have
found on
many more remote places.
This was also true of the prices in the two minimarkets, bakers,
butchers,
fishmongers, greengrocer, and hardware shop which were all comparable
with
those in Montalivet itself (and in some cases cheaper.)
Naturally, the areas supermarkets and hypermarkets are much cheaper.
I did not get round to investigating Euronat so I cannot comment on the
prices there, but it is a good three miles from the nearest town and
the
petrol station at Euronat's gate had the highest prices I saw in my
entire 3
weeks in France.
Services:
CHM is classified as a 2-star camp site (Euronat is 3-star) and it is
therefore not so comprehensively fitted out. In practice this means
such
things as less street lighting and fewer tarmac roadways.
The toilets and showers are thoroughly cleaned at least twice a day,
and
there were plenty of rubbish and recycling containers (although these
may
come under some stress at the hight of the season.)
CHM also staff the two lifeguard points on the naturist beach and do
beach
rubbish clearing, etc.
I liked the open air heated swimming pool. It is an ordinary oblong one
for
swimming in.
The morning is reserved for a lane swimming session followed by
"animation."
This covers Aqua-gym, lifesaving courses, etc.
The afternoon session is what I refer to as the screaming kids session.
Out of season it will be much less organised and much calmer.
Entertainment, etc.:
There was plenty available, but we did not sample any provided by CHM.
It
does not intrude if you don't want it. Two of the restaurants had live
bands
and other shows once or twice a week. We enjoyed those we attended and
avoided others.
Summary:
Only the limited amount of holiday and large number of other things we
want
to do will stop us from going back every year.
The owner's alleged legal and financial problems do not seem to affect
the
extremely efficient running of the centre.
NUFF: You are at liberty to use this material in any way you see fit.
--
John