Portrait

BRIGITTE DE CHABALIER

In this leafy campsite, which forms the heart of this 60 hectare estate, hydrangeas and roses bloom in all their colourful and beautifully perfumed splendour – a true spectacle! Brigitte de Chabalier has every right to be very proud of herself. She would be too bashful to admit as much but the idea for the campsite was her very own and she created it with her own hands. She explains, "We were living in a large property that my father, a retired officer, was struggling to maintain. I was so intent on keeping hold of the property where I had lived since I was born that, on the advice of a friend, who himself is a lord of the manor and had already embarked upon a similar adventure, we decided to turn the estate into a campsite."

Having dedicated 45 years of her life to the campsite, she's just as committed as ever and she still goes about things with the same energy. Now in her sixties, and positively glowing, Brigitte de Chabalier isn't quite ready to hang up her boots just yet because, at the end of the day, the campsite is her own creation. She brought it into the world and made it what it is today.

You shouldn't have to think twice about entrusting her with your holiday or weekend break.