One week in Euronat in April 2017

We have been one week in the naturist village Euronat for the Easter holidays in 2017. In this report, you will discover this village, if you don't know it yet. You may like to go there next year or to stay there for your next summer vacation.

Sunday, 9 April : check in, moving in and swimming pool

We have often been in Euronat in the summer and at Halloween, but it was the first time that we went there for Easter. This period of the year should not be forgotten if you are naturist. Most of the naturist resorts are open at Easter and often the weather is nice and even warm. It will offer you a moment of relaxation, give you a foretaste of the summer and prepare your full body tan !

3 p.m. : check in

We arrived in the beginning of the afternoon. The check in was very fast because Euronat has an online system to make the pre-registration (address, licence plate number, etc.). Some explanations, a digital photo made at the reception desk for the activity badge and up you go to your chalet.

4 p.m. : moving in

There is in Euronat, a chalet that we like a lot and that we try to rent it each time we come (we keep the number for us ...). Unfortunately, this time, the chalet was already booked. So we discovered a new chalet, located in the quarter « North America ».

If you don't know Euronat, know that it is a very big naturist resort, in the north of Bordeaux, on the border of the Atlantic Ocean. It has a surface of 335 hectares and has more than thousand accommodations and camping pitches. The resort is divided in quarters having the name of a continent. The North America quarter counts about 130 chalets, genuine houses of wood. Some can even be considered as luxurous holiday residences. The North America quarter is between the beach and the central place of Euronat, which is a very good location.

Our chalet had a fully equiped open kitchen with coffee machine, fridge, hob, oven, microwave, washing machine, dish-washer..., a dining room and a sitting room with couch and television. To sleep, there were two rooms. One room with a double bed for the parents and one room with two single beds. If needed, the couch of the sitting room could be transformed to a bed. There was also a stove that we haven't used.

Outside, there was an enormous terrace along two sides of the house. There were also tables and chairs to eat outside. There was even an external shower, which is nice to have by hot weather. And last but not least, two sun beds to tan. We only regretted that there was not a third one for our son.

There is much place around each chalet. The orientation of the chalet and the flora avoid being seen by the neighbours. In fact, it is a series of holiday residences with garden, decorated by each owner following his own style.

The owner of our chalet has come to see us when we were moving in the chalet. He has showed us the functioning of the different appliances. When he left, he has even indicated where we could find him in case of problem.

5 p.m. : heated indoor swimming pool

Tired of the long road, we were longing for the swimming pool. The swimming pool of Euronat has 3 parts : the changing room, an indoor and outdoor pool.

Leave your shoes outside, when you arrive at the swimming pool, show your activity badge at the reception. You can get a key for the locker. It is clear that swimsuits, cameras, video cameras and mobile phones are forbidden in the pool.

After the shower, you arrive at the indoor part. There are two heated pools. The first measures 15 metres by 5 and is for the children to play and to swim in. The second is only for swimming. It measures 25 metres by 15. These are the dimensions of a classical municipal swimming pool, except that this is a naturist holiday resort ! The swimming pool is guarded permanently by a naturist swimming instructor.

At the outside, only the solarium was accessible. Only 9 sun beds were available, though there was place for more and there were plenty of it in the closed part. The outside pool with the waterslides was closed during our stay. A pity, but understandable, because it was only April !

8 p.m. : restaurant Café Nature

The shops of Euronat were closed on Sunday afternoon in April, so we could not take in supplies. So we went to the restaurant-pizzeria Café Nature. The interior design is cool, the benches are comfortable and the waiter is friendly. We have ordered two pizzas "La Basque" and "La Végétarienne". They were tasteful, wood baked and nicely garnished.

Monday, 10 April : swim lesson, swimming pool, badminton, table tennis and beach

9:30 a.m. : swim lesson and swimming pool

In Euronat, you can take swim lessons.

These were the rates in 2017 :
20 € for 1 individual lesson
130 € for 10 half-collective lessons
170 € for 10 individual lessons
The lessons took in principal 25 minutes and in practice 30.

We have taken 5 individual lessons for our son of 10 years old for 85 € (170/2).

The lessons are given by Christophe, a fully qualified swimming instructor. I could say that Christophe is like a part of Euronat. As long as I can remember, I see him watching the swimming pool. He was there already, 20 years ago. He must have about 35 years of seniority.

In April, Christophe is the unique swimming instructor. Consequently, the lessons take place when the swimming pool is closed. Because he can not watch the swimming pool and give a lesson at the same time. The available hours were before 10 o'clock, between 1 p.m and 3 p.m., and after 6:30 p.m.. In summer this is different, because then, there are many swimming instructors.

The swimming pool opened at 10 o'clock, our son had his lesson at 9:30. A swimming pool and a swimming instructor for yourself, what can you ask for more ?

The lessons are different depending on the level of the children. For our son, the first lesson was about the crawl. The progress was spectacular. In only half an hour he had passed from a chaotic swim to a structured and more efficient crawl.

Noon : badminton and table tennis

At our arrival in Euronat, we have not received the programme of activities. Result, we discovered everything step by step. So, when we left the swimming pool at noon, we have seen that there was badminton and table tennis in the multipurpose hall Albert Lecocq. Without thinking twice, we've gone to it.

There were 5 badminton courts with net and marking on the ground. There could have been 6 but the 6th court was occupied by the ping pong tables. The material (rackets, bats, shuttlecocks, balls) was available for free and in great amount.

Gary (I think), supervised the activity. He gave any information the players needed, like the rules and advise. It is a very nice person who is clearly very familiar with badminton.

This activity is very popular among the young and the elder. The courts were all taken. According to Garry, badminton is a sport less difficult in the beginning compared to tennis for example and that's why people enjoy it more. This activity was scheduled every morning from 10 a.m to 1 p.m.

4 p.m. : beach

The weather is nice and warm. No cloud in the sky. It is the perfect moment to go to the beach of Euronat.

Euronat is sticked to the Atlantic Ocean. The village is that big that there are three accesses to the beach. It is so easy to access that it feels like that the beach is part of the holiday village, which is indeed not the case. This feeling is enforced by the isolated location of Euronat. There is nothing else around for kilometres, so no textiles passing along the beach, no voyeurs in the dunes.

Nostalgia, there was a time that the bunkers on the beach were covered by art paintings like the painting of the Pharaoh. We have searched but found no trace of the Pharaoh !

Tuesday, 11 April : badminton, excursion, running, beach

10 a.m. : badminton

In April, everything in Euronat is covered by a fine layer of yellow powder. It might seem incredible, but these are pine pollen. They are everywhere. On the terraces, on the cars... Even in the multipurpose hall with the badminton activity. It appears that it passes through the roof. So we had to sweep to avoid to glide out. One thing is sure now, we are not allergic to pollen. Once April passed, the "yellow snow" disappears.

1 p.m. : excursion to Pointe de Grave and to Soulac

Tuesday is the closing day of the swimming pool of Euronat. So it is the perfect day for an excursion outside the holiday village.

We had a picnic at "Pointe de Grave". It is a nice place at the estuary of the Garonne. The panorama is splendid. On the left, the Atlantic Ocean with the lighthouse of Cordouan. In front, the town of Royan, that you can reach with a ferry. On the right, the Garonne. There is also a nice beach, but it was turned to cool by the wind.

You can picnic at the wooden tables or on the stone banks. There is also an enormous bunker covered by sand and a lighthouse-museum that you can visit for 3 € by adult in 2017.

On our way back, we stopped at Soulac. It is a small very charming town that always organises many activities.

When we are there in the period of All Saints' day, we never miss the day of Halloween (sorry!), when all the children run from shop to shop to gather plenty of sweets. The face painting is done for free. It is organised for the people of the village and for the tourists.

During the Easter holidays, there was an activity programme including an egg hunt, on Monday 17, but we left the day before.

Note that the Basilica Notre-Dame de la fin-des-terres de Soulac is listed in the UNESCO patrimony as part of the « voie de Soulac » belonging to the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage routes.

4:30 p.m. : running

The holiday village Euronat measures 335 hectares. It is the perfect place for walking, running, cycling or rollerblading. A run of one hour was very welcome. The classic tour consists in starting at the commercial centre, and in running to the northern beach access, from which you can run along the beach to the southern access (or in the reverse order) and from which you can run back to the centre.

6 p.m. : beach

There were few people on the beach. The sky was perfectly blue, but the wind cooled the air.

8 p.m. : sunset

The sunset in Euronat is a traditional attraction. Every night, a dozen of fans come to enjoy this spectacle.

Wednesday, 12 April : swim lesson, indoor pool, badminton, sunbathing and football

9:30 a.m. : swim lesson and indoor pool

It was the second swim lesson for our son. This time he learned the back crawl and he reviewed the crawl seen on Monday.

Noon : badminton

When we arrived, we saw that a tournament was finishing. What a pity, that we had not known it earlier, because our son would have been happy to participate. The more, now that the particpants (3 teenagers and 4 children) left with a medal...

3 p.m. : nude sunbathing

The weather is very nice and hot. Time for sunbathing on the terrace of the chalet, whilst reading the 5th novel of Department Q by the author Jussi Adler-Olsen.

6:45 p.m. : football

The match of the champions' league Dortmund-Monaco could be watched in the bar-restaurant-crêperie Le Bixente in Euronat. Only 10 Germans came, also 5 or 6 French people and a Britisch couple to observe.

The ambiance was friendly. They spoke in English and in French with the Germans. The last kidded when their team made a goal. Fortunately, the Germans did not mark many goals. It finished with a victory of Monaco, 3 to 2, with the congratulations of some very fair-play Germans...

Thursday, 13 April : badminton, swim lesson, beach

10 a.m. : badminton

In half an hour, the 5 badminton courts were taken.

2 p.m. : swim lesson

3rd swim lesson. This time schedule was less convenient than the morning schedule, but it was already taken. There are a lot of children who take swim lessons in Euronat. In regard to the quality of the lessons, this is easy to understand.

The programme of the day, was to improve the breaststroke (head under water) and to review the crawl and the back crawl. You may think that the breaststroke is the most simple swim, but in fact it is the most complex.

4 p.m. : beach

Also this time, only a few people despite the optimal weather.

Friday, 14 April : archery, swim lesson and indoor pool

10 a.m. : archery

The multipurpose hall was not available anymore. It was occupied to prepare the show of Saturday night. So no badminton or table tennis on Friday and Saturday. Time to test the archery activity.

The archery range is located in the quarter Africa. When you see it, you will be surprised about the perfect quality of the archery equipments. There is a club house with about hundred arches and all the necessary protections. The concrete range is covered and can welcome, even when it rains, about 50 archers. The targets are of very good quality and placed at 10, 15, 20, 25 even 50 metres. There are certainly archery clubs that would like to have the same equipments.

We had a perfect welcome.Though the minimum age is 12 years, they accept children of 10 and 11 years (at Easter, not in summer) under the condition that they are wise and that they understand the importance of the safety instructions.

They will first check which is your dominant sighting eye. You might learn that it is the left eye. They give you your equipment and there you go.

There were 4 instructors for a dozen of archers, fifty-fifty adults and children. For the instructors, there were three things important : the safety, the safety and the safety ! The procedure of shooting is strictly defined and must be respected scupulously for the safety of everyone. They never forget that a bow is a weapen. And this is good.

Once the safety instructions were assimilated, they gave advise to improve in archery, which resulted quickly in better performances.

The little extra : 10 minutes before the end, the instructor fixed small balloons on the targets. The children and the adults enjoyed to pierce them with their arrow (for the most skilful). The children collected the remains of the pierced balloons to show them to their friends and to their parents.

The team that teaches archery is really excellent. They combine safety, advise and friendliness. You feel very quickly home, it feels like you come there already for 10 years, while it is only your first time ! You really want to come back.

2 p.m. : swim lesson and indoor pool

The 4th swim lesson. This time, they reviewed the 3 swim styles seen earlier.

Saturday, 15 April : archery, swim lesson, tennis, swimming pool and show

10 a.m. : archery

The clouds arrived during the night. The sky is grey and the temperature has gone down.

2 p.m. : swim lesson

The 5th and last swim lesson. This lesson started with a review of the swims seen earlier. Apprenticeship of diving. At the end of the lesson, our son has swum several lenghts and he has got his swim diploma « 25 m crawl, 25 m breaststroke, 25 m back crawl, departure in dive ». He was proud and happy when he left with his official diploma.

Christophe is a very good swimming instructor plenty of teaching skills. He allways encourages the children and remains demanding about the technical aspects of swimming. Our son liked to go to his swim lessons. He progressed much without any stress. He was happy to go to the lessons and to progress. Said in 4 words : the pleasure of learning.

We will not hesitate to take advanced lessons when we come back in Euronat.

3 p.m. : tennis

We rent a tennis court for one hour, to maintain our level;-)

5 p.m. : indoor pool/h3>

9 p.m. : show "Cabaret Le Frenchy"

Difficult to miss the show of Saturday evening. There were posters almost everywhere to announce the musical "Cabaret Le Frenchy".

So, a lot of people was gathered together at the entry of the multipurpose hall around 9 p.m. 400 chairs were installed, the first rows were reserved to the friends of the theatre company. When the play started, the room was plenty. Mainly French speaking chalet owners. The German speaking people, who are numerous in Euronat, were maybe dashed by the inscription «Play in French » on the posters. There seemed to be few tenants.

The play took place in a brothel of the thirties. The duke had taken the wrong attaché case and arrived in the brothel with the loot of an hold-up. Bonnie, the gangster tries to get the loot back.

As indicated, the play contained many songs and dances. The songs were covers of classical French songs like Félicie, Prosper, Ignace etc. The entire thing was full of humour.

The play was interrupted by a long break to give everybody the time to eat or drink (refreshment, pancakes...).

The play was for free, but everyone could put some money in the hat at the exit. This seemed to function well.

Sunday, 16 April : cleaning and departure

Once the cleaning of the chalet was done, we have given the keys of the chalet at the reception desk. The check out was even faster than the already fast check in.

We left Euronat, very happy with our week. We had a marvellous weather almost all the time. We had done more activities than expected. We were very content of the swim lessons, the badminton and archery activities. The entire staff, from the reception to the swimming pool and passing by the activities had been very friendly. We will certainly come back in Euronat.

Address

Naturist holiday centre Euronat
Route de Depee
33590 Grayan-l'Hôpital
France
www.euronat.fr