Les Chalets de Gaillac

Les Chalets de Gaillac does not look like a chain campsite. Nine rentals only — eight wooden chalets and a mobile home — set in a tree-lined park on Avenue Guynemer, in Gaillac itself. The units are well spaced, each with its own terrace, parking space and hedge. You hear birds and, now and then, Delphine and Goran’s chickens crossing the path.

The chalets are recent, well equipped and air-conditioned. Full kitchen, bright living room with a glass door onto the garden, modern bathroom, two bedrooms in the larger ones. The mobile home adds capacity for six, for bigger families. You are fully self-catering — no food on site, but the Gaillac market is a quarter of an hour away.

The pool is the gathering point from June to September: big enough for a few lengths, surrounded by loungers, with an open view over the countryside. The playground takes care of the children. In the evening, you eat on the chalet terrace, and Gaillac falls asleep around you.