Family campsite in Vaucluse
The history of camping
The three-star La Cerise campsite is above all a family affair… with a gourmet background.
In 1988, brother and sister Cécile Martin, aged 23, and Patrick Martin, aged 24, decided to set up a campsite on the plot of cherry trees and shed at Font-Neuve, at the top of the village of Malemort-du-Comtat. They come from a family that has lived here for several generations.
The Font-Neuve campsite finally opened in July 1989. Loulou (known in the village by this nickname, a jovial, joking man) and Magali Martin, Cécile and Patrick’s parents , who are both bakers in the village, are backing up the project to help with service, cooking, entertainment and so on.
Brother and sister are bringing the campsite to life, and will run it until 2020. Differences over the management of the establishment, coupled with administrative setbacks, led to it being put up for sale.
This is where we come in and carry on the family tradition of this legendary campsite. In our couple, one of us, a native of the village, has always known the campsite, where he could swim in the pool for the modest sum of 17 Francs, a rare commodity in those years… In April 2023, we visited it and decided to buy it.
And for the record, we’re Mendy and Jimmy, a half-Paris, half-Vaucluse couple. We met in 2005 at a birthday party in Paris, and it was love at first sight. Countless North-South trips followed for two whole years. And summers spent picking cherries, of course!
We end up embracing different careers, one inagriculture, and more specifically cherry orchards (you guessed it), with no prior knowledge (proof that you can succeed if you’re professional, motivated and ambitious), the other in real estate studies. Different careers merge and come together in unexpected ways. La Cerise Montolin was born. Children, family markets, direct sales, La ruche qui dit oui…
Our couple ends up working hand in hand. We’re expanding the farm to include more land and four-season market gardening. After a lot of hard work, we even opened a store on the farm! It was an immediate success, to our great delight!
Finally, in 2022, we decided to sell and set off to discover South America with our children. On our return, we couldn’t leave everything behind: we visited several shops, including the campsite, to set up a new business. We recognize ourselves in this project: Jimmy knows how to do it all: earthworks, electricity, plumbing, decorating, ironwork, cooking, and so on. Me, Mendy, I like people, entertaining and business in general.
After several months of doubts and tough negotiations with banks, we finally managed to convince one to accompany us on this wonderful adventure. Now it’s all up to you. The campsite has been closed for four years and has clearly suffered. We need to bring it up to standard and up to date. It needs a new look and a new shine. There will still be work to do over several years, but let’s not forget that this is a family project with our children in tow. But we’re hard-working, young and ambitious!
And for the record, our first baby before the kids was a beagle with the sweet name of Cerise. We lost it in October 2023. She was 14 years old. What’s more, my only tattoo is of cherries whose tails form a heart. Cherries are our history. The cherry is the terroir, it’s a greedy, juicy fruit, and at the same time so ephemeral like us! So let’s make the most of it!
