Forest View
Europe France Normandy Orne
Peter and Sarah Wilson took over Forest View in October 2012, transforming the wilderness they found into a comfortable, easy- going site that lies by a quiet crossroads between the edge of the Forêt de Saussay and a landscape of gently rolling farmland. While the forest is huge and forms a significant part of the Parc Naturel Régional du Perche, the site itself could easily be called Lake View because it’s the reflections in the fishing lake that most people love to gaze at.
The lake is stocked with rudd, roach, pike, and tench, but there’s a firm no-killing policy, so even if you land a giant carp it must go back in the water. Most people come here to ride horses or bikes, to paint, watch birds, or walk in the woods of tamarisk and hawthorn. You can easily arrive and leave the car onsite all day; taking off on foot to explore everything that's on offer.
The irony is, that for all its beauty, this region is often bypassed in the rush to get south to the Loire and the Dordogne. It’s a land of forests, ancient abbeys, and fortified manors with massive circular towers and beautiful gardens. The longer you stay the less you'll want to leave. The area is famous for its lace, its powerful Percheron horses, and for unspoilt thousand-year-old villages such as Chapelle-Montligeon, where an early-20th-century, gothic revival cathedral, Notre-Dame de Montligeon, rises somewhat bizarrely above the fields. And it’s also known for its wonderful cider and hospitality, both of which can be sampled back at camp during one of Forest View's unique Plat du Jour evenings. Within the site's traditional farm house restaurant, campers can relax around long tables, sharing tales of the day's adventures and enjoying delicious home-cooked food.
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Details
Facilities
The showers and toilets are powerful and spacious with separate ladies and gents each with 3 showers and 3 toilets, plus 2 pristine washing-up sinks, washing machine and sink too. Great fishing available on-site. WiFi is free. Campfires are now prohibited in the Perche Region but off the ground (min 30cm) BBQs are most welcome. Bike hire available. You can order bread and pastries from the Bureau for the next day, baked fresh by the local Boulangerie.Suitable For
Tents, campervans, caravans, and dogs (on leads), large groups by arrangement – yes.
Nearby
Forest View sits at the heart of the Perche and Huisne Valley dotted with small towns and villages amongst the hills, forests and rivers. It is ideal for ramblers, walkers, cyclists, fishermen and those wanting to explore the countryside and discover the array of churches, manor houses, parks and gardens of the Orne. Every week there are local markets, where you can experience the delightful local produce and on Sundays there are Vide Greniers where you can wander through stalls of French brocante and bric-a-brac. From the campsite, campers have direct access into the Forest du Saussay, with miles of pathways to explore and witness the wonderful wildlife including wild boar, deer, birds, plants and trees. Without doubt one of the finest ways to explore is by bicycle – whilst the Perche Region does have its hills and valleys, it is also blessed with miles and miles of gentle rolling B roads, plus paths and tracks that are easily navigable by bike and, perhaps the jewel in the local crown, the Voie Verte. The Voie Verte is an amazing network of level, well prepared cycle and walking tracks – no cars allowed – and is just 10 minutes cycle from the campsite. Once on it, you can meander for 26km to Mortagne au Perche in one direction or 6km to Conde sur Huisne in the other.
Food & Drink
Owner Sarah, delights in making homecooked meals for the campsite's 300 year old restaurant and bar (a wonderfully converted farm space). 3 times a week (Tues, Thurs, Sat) they offer a 2-course Plat du Jour menu. Main courses range from Sarah’s acclaimed pork and cider lyonnaise (tender local pork on a bed of potato and onions topped with a whole grain mustard, cream and cheese sauce) to her celebrated Toulouse sausage cassoulet. Deserts are no less applauded. Vegetarian and special dietary needs can be catered for with notice. As Sarah only cooks freshly to order you need to book at least one day in advance. The bar is open every evening in the season from 7pm–10pm serving wine, beer, soft drinks, tea and coffee.Opening Times
Mid April–October.
The Owner Says
Maybe it’s the forest backdrop of broad leaf and firs or perhaps its the dappled reflections on the lake but something strikes you about Forest View the moment you arrive.
We are Peter and Sarah Wilson and apart from being in the leisure business for 30 years we have been campers, caravanners and motor-homers for the last 20 years. In that time we have formed a pretty good idea of the importance your chosen campsite has in the success or failure of a holiday. We understand that different clients are looking for different things from a site which is all too often ignored by campsite owners. For example, we have dedicated quiet pitches for those clients who wish to quietly relax and who may not have or welcome children. By the same token we love kids and so we have family camping in the orchard, with vast open areas, close the site amenities, where your whole family can relax and the children can play in safety. Happy kids have happy parents. Lastly we have our wild camping area. A lakeside oasis of shaded and secluded unmarked pitches for that back to nature feel. Close enough to the amenities but remote enough to feel like you’re not even on a campsite.
In essence our goal is to create a space with an atmosphere in which every client leaves wishing they could stay a few more days. We hope you get a glimpse of our vision and perhaps decide to experience the unique ambiance of Forest View for yourselves. We hope you do and we look forward to welcoming you to our little piece of paradise.
Special Offer - The Longer you stay the less you Pay
Stay 2 nights and save 10%.
Stay 3 - 5 nights and save 15%
Stay 6 - 10 nights and save 20%
Stay 11 nights or more and save 25%
Please note all arrivals between AFTER 14:00 and BEFORE 19:00 please.
Plat du Jour Restaurant open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Fantastic Pizzas cooked to order, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Location
Contact Forest View, L’Espérance, Dorceau, 61110 Remalard en Perche, Orne, France
Getting There
Please note the very latest check-in possible is 7pm to maintain the tranquillity of the site for everyone.
Make your way to either Bretoncelles or Remalard and the site is on the D38 between the two villages.
Reviews
Add Your ReviewRated ★★★★★ over 21 reviews
Lovely stay again
Rust en ruimte
Loved every minute, sad leaving.
Well kept, atmosphere lets it down.
Response from Forest View
a) Everyone who respects the campsite and other guests is equally welcome, regardless of how long they stay.
b) We only implement rules when clients demonstrate they lack common sense. Most people know to keep their dogs on a lead, not to set light to the campsite and not to consume their own alcohol in our licensed bar.
c) Cool Camping website prices are clearly marked “from” – you were told the price on arrival and paid it without comment. Dozens of clients happily pay for our first class facilities and no-one forced you to stay.
d) It is unreasonable to email us at 21:00 when the office is clearly shut and expect a reply before you turn up early the following day. We fear the rudeness is very much on your part.
The truth is your embarrassment at not being able to do exactly as you please has resulted in your abusing the normally excellent review system. Honestly, we are delighted you won’t be returning.
Stunning peaceful setting, great for young families - and wonderful hosts
A friendly, welcoming campsite
A gem of a campsite.
Totally outstanding!!
Superb
Outstanding in every way.
Great Site
My sons and I thoroughly enjoyed or three nights under canvas on this lovely peaceful and friendly site. We had a lakeside pitch which was huge and our neighbour offered us a cup of tea as we pitched our tent. Throughout our stay we found the other campers very friendly which was an added bonus. Three nights was not long enough to spend on this site and explore the region.
This is a perfect site for anyone who likes to be on a rural site with the sounds of owls hooting in the night. My favourite time was the middle of the night and being able to see the stars. We all enjoyed the visits from the duck.
We would definitely come and stay here again.
Perfectly pleasant, but .....
I picked Forest View from my recently purchased copy of Cool Camping for an overnight stop on the return leg of our holiday road trip based on the usual criteria .... location, description & published price (13 Euros).
All good, in this case.
Arrived very hot and slightly fractious, met by Sarah at the door with an effusive welcome and a handshake. Booked in (car, 2 adults,tent, no electricity), chose lakeside pitch, supplied e-mail address etc and then the surprise ... "That'll be 25 Euros, please".
Peter guided us to our allocated pitch at the far side of the lake and explained the various rules of the site in a very friendly manner and took our Boulangerie orders fot the following morning.
We did have a very relaxing evening sitting by the lakeside and, true to Peter's word, we weren't assaulted by stinging or biting insects .... a major achievment on his part considering the proximity of the lake and the time of year.
In the morning I engaged Peter in a frank but civilised discussion about the absurdity of charging 25 euros for the nights camping. His arguement was basicaly that they had invested heavily in the new wash-house, they didn't want to encourage short stay guests and if I didn't like the price I could go to the nearby Municipal in future "if it's open, that is"! He did stress that he'd made numerous efforts to get both the text of the review in the Cool Camping book updated (he's a different Peter Wilson to the one in the review .. that Peter Wilson was the previous Peter Wilson) and the published price changed.
So, if you want to stay for a few days, want on on-site cafe (which I have no reason whatsoever to think would be anything other than splendid but didn't actually try myself), don't mind quite a walk to the single toilet/wash house and really don't want to have to deal with any foreigners then this site will certainly fit the bill.
Not very "Cool", though.
Response from Forest View
Hi Benedict
We are sorry you felt unhappy about our charges but have to wonder why, having been told the price on arrival, you paid it without complaint, only raising it following day as you left?
Surely, the time to mention any issue regarding the price must be at check-in NOT check-out.
We did point out that the edition of Cool Camping you had purchased was 9 years old. Investing in a more up to date edition would have made your price expectations more realistic.
Regarding our pricing policy “the Longer you stay the Less you Pay”. What was actually said to you was “we encourage longer stays with price incentives”.
In brief
1. No pitch is more than a 2 minute walk to the new showers and toilets.
2. It is unreasonable to arrive late evening, without reservation, in the peak season and expect to have a wide selection of pitches to choose from. I'm sorry you chose one you felt afterwards was a bit too far from the loo’s for you.
3. We are blessed with a wide variety of nationalities staying with us. Stay longer next time and I’m sure you’ll meet many of them
Lastly, Sarah and I are sorry you don’t think this site is “cool”. We think cool is beautiful views, tranquil lakeside pitches, cool shady walks, wide open spaces, home cooked food, and wood smoked campfires…… Thankfully an increasing number of Cool Campers seem to agree.
Quiet, relaxing spot for a restful break
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Forest View. The campground is spacious, the area invites exploration, and the owners are enthusiastic. We stayed in the Family Orchard for a week and had plenty of space. The kids (3 & 5) had a blast meeting and playing with fellow campers. We alternated camp days with a walk in the woods, a visit to Chartres, and a visit to the Maison du Parc. The area has a lot to offer if you're willing to explore.
The bathhouse is new and nicely done. It could have used more frequent cleaning while we were there. Debris tracked in on the bottom of shoes collected on the floors and in the showers during our visit and was only cleaned the day we departed.
Our pitch (25 in the Orchard) had a minor slug problem that seemed to be confined to our location. Slugs crawled all over our tent at night and left lovely souvenirs for us. It didn't cause any real problems but it was a bit icky and did mean we had to give the exterior of the tent a thorough cleaning upon our return home. We'd book a different pitch next time.
Peter and Sarah are kind folks. Peter went into full problem fixing mode when we managed to get a soccer ball caught rather high in an apple tree. After listening to the full, annotated story from our littles, he appeared the next day with his patented Ball Removal System and took care of it for us. The kids were still talking about it a day later and wanted to say a second thank you to bask in the attention!
Overall, a very nice place to stay and we had a great time!
A beautiful and relaxing place
We were only able to stay two nights because we had to get south for a wedding, but we wished we could have stayed longer. Forest View is a perfect place to stay - relaxed, pretty, well-serviced and run by truly lovely people. We also benefited from Sarah's excellent cooking! Shower block is immaculate; pitches nice and private (and there aren't too many either) and some nice added touches like loo roll and washing up liquid that make all the difference to budget campers like us! Would definitely recommend this wonderful, peaceful place.
Forest View
Many thanks to Peter and Sarah for a warm welcome to their brilliant camp site. We had a lovely stay, relaxing and peaceful. Great facilities and a many nice walking trails through the beautiful forest, which Peter will gladly advise you about. Don't miss the sunset from the brand new shower block! We're very happy to have stopped by and it was really amazing to see someone so happy and passionate about their job.
Why rush through, stay a while and appreciate some peace.
We've just got back from a wonderful relaxing week with Peter and Sarah .
From the plat du jour on our arrival day , to ice creams at regular intervals, pain au chocolate orders each morning , everything worked wonderfully. Nothing was too much hassle for our hosts. My daughter and fiancee both had a great time winding down after a busy few months.
So many other guests who were stopping just a night or two expressed that they should have stayed longer rather than rushing south or north. I think it is a relatively undiscovered gem of a site. The new showers and washing block is lovely and clean and new, with plenty of space, we never waited for anything.
It was also the first time I'd managed to get out and do some fishing for the first time in about 6 years and I really appreciated it. While the lake is quite small there is plenty of room for a number of anglers. It's not an easy water though ! It took a number of days to find out where they were feeding and a change of bait to get the first one out. After that I had 3 doubles and 4 over 20lb in 3 days, just doing a few hours in the morning and evening before it got too hot. There is a tackle shop in Nogent le Rotrou if you need any items apparently.
We'll be back soon.
Forest view
Awesome welcome from Peter, we instantly relaxed and fell In love with Forest View. Bread and croissants delivered fresh in the morning and a great chilled vibe started our holiday off to a great start . We would love to return with our fishing rods next year. Xx
What a difference a couple of months makes.
I stopped at this site in March of this year although officially closed the owner Peter and Sarah Wilson made me feel welcome and part of the family the shower block was closed and due to be demolished (to be honest I would not have kept chickens in it) and they were having a brand new septic tank installed. I stayed a few days and promised to return later in the year.
Well I am now back at Forest view in July and what a difference 4 months makes the old shower block gone and a modern clean building in its place although clean and modern being a wooden construction it fits in well the the organic nature of the site. I didn't think the owner would remember me but it was like being welcomed by old friends. The site now looks fresh and gone is the old drainage and the problem brought about by it.
I would warmly recommend this site to young old and families alike the hospitality of the owners is second to none the facilities clean and modern and I can't praise Sarah's cooking highly enough after a long drive from Calais her Plat de jour was a culinary delight with the added bonus of me not having to bother cooking.
After my March stop I would have rated the site 4 out of 10 but with the improvements 10 out of 10 only just does it justice.
Beautiful site & lovely owners
We had a great stay at Forest View - in large part due to new owners, Sarah & Peter. They are warm, welcoming and made sure we were well fed and watered. The family-style dinner was a lovely touch. The site itself is top notch - beautiful location, great grounds and facilities. Highly recommended!
Forest View
We stayed here in June 2012. Its a very handy place to stop on the way south from the channel ports and we will certainly stay here again next time we are passing through. A couple of handy hints though - there are a few ants nests around near the long grass at the bottom end of the site so have a good look before you pitch, and the signing to the site itself is misleading. The entrance to the site is off the main road, don't go down the lane the sign appears to point you down!
