Campsites, there is something for everyone. For young, old, bikers, animal lovers, backpackers, RVers, and… for TV series fans. More particularly for fans of the TF1 series, Camping Paradise. Broadcast from 2006, it has 14 seasons, hundreds of episodes and capitalizes incredible audiences, with nearly three million viewers at the rendezvous for the rebroadcast of last July 31 (16% of PDA). Olivier Lachenaud, a professional in the outdoor hotel industry, sensed a good deal. In 2020, he launched the Camping Paradis network, directly inspired by the eponymous series. Its franchise now has 90 affiliated establishments throughout France. It is in Royon, in Fort-Mahon, in the Somme, that 20 minutes put down his sleeping bag for one night.
It was not really the sun that we found during these two days spent at Camping Paradis le Royon. If we had wanted to make a bad pun, it would have been easy to rename the place “Camping umbrella”. Moreover, on this Monday afternoon, hidden under the courtyard of the bar sheltered from the downpour, the campers look gray. “We hesitated to leave for the South, too bad,” says Michaël, a 44-year-old Belgian who came, with his wife and children, to spend a week’s vacation in this newly branded Camping Paradis establishment. “The series, of course we know and we sometimes watch, but that’s not why we booked here”, assures Stéphanie, Michaël’s wife.
“We needed that to keep a certain momentum”
Le Royon belongs to an “Amiens investor” as well as six other campsites in the area. It is François Outurquin, a 55-year-old local boy, who leads the group. “The franchise approached us at the start, but we lacked perspective. Today, it has proven itself and we needed that to maintain a certain momentum compared to the other big campsites in the sector,” explains the boss. And if each franchisee remains master at home, you still have to comply with certain rules, starting with putting the site in the colors of Camping Paradis: yellow, blue and orange. “The season also starts earlier and we have to provide entertainment every evening during the week,” continues François Outurquin. “There are signature activities of the franchise, such as the tropical paradise, the tiercé de la danse or the aperitif lot”, explains Loïs, 24, animator from the Camping Paradis academy. Not to mention the unmissable “fiesta boom boom”, the choreography well known to fans of the series, which can occur at any time.
Shortly before 6 p.m., it was still raining heavily and campers crowded into the bar, full to bursting. “Here, it’s popular, with a lot of holidaymakers from the region, explains François Outurquin. At first, going franchised may have scared year-round residents. But they all stayed. This is the case of Céline, 44, owner of a mobile home: “I’m a fan of the series so I’m pretty happy. “For the quadra, the icing on the cake is the 2023 tour of the” Paradise of the stars “. Shows provided by former glories of reality TV or stars of the 1990s. Moreover, Monday evening, it is Chris Keller, ex-leader of the boy band G-Squad, which will set fire to the campsite. “Roch Voisine is first in my heart, but I love Chris Keller,” Céline tells us.
“Come on, we’re eliminating the burgers”
If the happy groupie admits to being “pleasantly surprised” to meet the G-Squad in a campsite, the boss of the place, himself, could not help thinking that these stars descended from above. The interested party also understands this point of view: “for people who dream of glory, it can look like a fall. But I have thirty years of career, I knew the success, the concerts in front of 80.000 people. For me, it’s the opposite of a fall because today I have an even greater feeling of happiness than at the time, ”promises Chris Keller. What scared him the most was the length of the show: “Clearly, the G-Squad hits don’t last an hour. So I found a trick by telling my story, ”slips the handsome 50 broomstick. And it goes from phew, between funk covers, G-Squad hits, more recent hits, all punctuated with stand-up style punchlines. Moreover, under the marquee set up in front of the bar, the spectators did not stay seated for long. “Come on, we’re eliminating the burgers,” Keller tells his audience, jumping around in a stunning interpretation of I gotta feel of the Black Eyed Peas.
At 71, Bernadette has been a year-round resident since the death of her husband nine years ago. Engrained by a grandpa in a Porsche jacket, she gets off on the show of the ex-boy band. “You still have to recognize that there are more activities now. That’s right, but we miss Ludo, ”she laments. Ludo? “Yes, he was doing shows with feathers and everything”. It is at this moment that Chris Keller sends a quarter of an hour of slows. Bam, on Hello of Lionel Richie, he nabs a completely exhilarated Céline who can’t get over it. After a shot of fiesta boom boom, in two seconds, we are already at the end of the night. Finally at the end of the night family camping version, it is 11:30 p.m. Chris Keller never stops signing autographs while we return to our mobile home, a beer in hand, served in a “Camping Paradis” eco-cup. Frankly, we had a good time.