Waking up among the vines in France

Wonderful memories: Setting the alarm to see dawn welcoming the sun spreading all her colour around the vineyard and the Alsatian hills.

This year we have experienced the hospitality of French winegrowers a few times. With the France Passion guide, which serves as an invitation to visit 2100+ farmers, we drove past some to park our van for a night (as a ‘stopover’).

The golden rules

As long as you follow the ‘Règles d’or’, you are welcome to spend a night on someone’s grounds. The most important conditions are that you are completely self-reliant with your van and, above all, have respect for the host, the environment and to expect nothing. That’s the beauty of it; the intention is that they open their grounds without (mutual) expectations. Many farmers like to share their passion and have a small shop alongside their farm. And so it happened that, at every vineyard we visited, we were actually invited to try some of their products (wine, pineau, cognac, grape juice) without being expected to buy anything. Of course we did, because there were delicious wines and a bottle is a nice souvenir to enjoy later.

Curiosity and enthusiasm

And I hear you thinking: do you speak French? No. Do they speak English? Sometimes a little. As it turns out: ‘sometimes a little’ is more than enough, as long as you just try. Enthusiasm and curiosity will get you a long way.

While we were having a small wine tasting at Beck Domaine du Rempart the winegrower told us (in a combination of German, French and English) about a festival in the village Dambach-la-ville that evening. He kindly asked us if we would also go there. Once at the village festival, conviviality everywhere, the winegrower and his wife greeted us a little later. With a few simple words drowned out by the music and some laughter we said our hellos. A few hours later we strolled in the dark through the thin streets of Dambach-la-ville quietly back to our van parked in the backyard of the winegrower. One last look at the stars and the moon, before we closed the sliding door and fell to sleep. A short night, because we didn’t want to miss the chance of a sunrise in the vineyard.

Let’s go!

The current guide (2022) is valid until 9/4/2023. The guide for 2023 can already be pre-ordered on the France Passion website. When you order a guide, you create an account. With this account you get access to the app after payment. The app contains the same information as the paper guide. Please note to take the paper guide with you in your camper van: this is your physical ‘invitation’ in combination with the sticker you receive with it.

Discover rural life by invitation

France Passion is not the only project that has started to bring campers and farmers together for a unique experience, but it is the first (since 1993) and also has the largest network (2100+ farmers, winegrowers, artisans). From there, FEFI (FÉDÉRATION EUROPÉENNE DE LA FORMULE INVITATIONS) was founded and there are now more European countries where passionate people put together guides that use the same ‘on invitation’ formula. More about FEFI and what they do you can find on their website.