Domaine du Coq Rouge: The Part We Couldn’t Catch on Camera

A few days ago, when we had finished editing our Destination Clothes Free video of Domaine du Coq Rouge in France, we had one last look before uploading to YouTube, and it felt like something was off. It was hard to put a finger on. Le Coq Rouge isn’t particularly a large domain, and we were certain that we had filmed every little corner. We had the variety of rentals, the cool swimming pool, and the bar. We covered the camping pitches and the forest trails.

It was all there, but somehow it seemed like we were missing something important. When the video talked about the communal dinner, and we saw the shots of the food again, it started to dawn on us. What you see is just food. Delicious food for sure, but it doesn’t even start to reflect how that whole evening had felt.

What initially attracts lots of new visitors to Domaine du Coq Rouge is its unique rental accommodations. At most naturist campsites in France, if you want to stay in a rental, you get the choice between a small mobile home, a slightly larger mobile home, and a mobile home that can fit a family of six. With the uprise of glamping in recent years, you might be able to stay in a safari tent as well.

At Domaine du Coq Rouge, this doesn’t even start to describe the list of options. Their 29 rentals come in no less than 17 different types. Yes, there are a few mobile homes, but also a variety of glamping tents, some of which even look like a real Inuit tent. There are domes and wooden tipis. There are huge cabins on stilts overlooking the valley and very small ones that barely fit a 2-person mattress.

You can literally come here year after year and never stay in the same type of accommodation. This was what attracted us to Le Coq Rouge a few years ago. But it wasn’t what made us come back for the third time already.

In case the introduction hasn’t given it away yet, what was missing in our video was the vibe of the evening. We had shots of the food and a few of the owners singing karaoke, but these are just snapshots of an evening full of laughs and great conversations.

This has been our ball and chain ever since we started making videos. We can’t just walk around with cameras and film whatever and whoever we want. Most of the guests don’t feel much for appearing naked on YouTube, and we definitely cannot blame them. Before our Naked Wanderings days, we wouldn’t have appreciated it either if someone were filming us. In fact, even today, when we’re relaxing next to our van or having a drink in the bar, we would not like having a camera pointing at us that’s not one of our own.

When we’re filming, we always try to be as invisible as possible. Obviously, we don’t film other people out of respect for their privacy, but we know that just having cameras around causes stress among naturists. Naturists who have often come on holiday just to get rid of stress. Along the way, we’ve gotten pretty good at this, and we’re sure that most guests never knew that a video was being filmed. But this comes with an important consequence: We cannot film the actual vibe of a place.

In nine out of ten resorts, we can perfectly shoot a decent video by showing you just the accommodations and facilities, combined with a few shots of ourselves. When you watch those, we hope that you can see yourself staying at that cabin, swimming in that pool, and having a drink in that bar.

Usually, this is enough to give you an idea of what your vacation will roughly look like. But not at Le Coq Rouge. Here, the vibe truly is the central element of the campsite. Shots of the many unique accommodations, the outside beds under the trees, and the red stone central building may already give away that this is a rather bohemian place, a bit hippy-ish, if you wish. But it goes further than that.

The vibe at Le Coq Rouge doesn’t come from the decoration, it comes from the rhythm. Nobody here is in a hurry, and nobody needs to be. The days kind of melt into each other, and before you know it, you find yourself on the campsite’s schedule: a slow morning coffee at the bar, an afternoon that disappears somewhere between the pool and the petanque courts, and an evening at that same bar that runs much longer than planned.

The first time we visited Le Coq Rouge back in 2020, we met a French couple who had taken a gap year to travel all around Europe in their camper van. This resort was their first stop. That was three months earlier. They just kept extending their stay. We bet that if its wasn’t that Le Coq Rouge closes in late September, they would probably never have had a second stop.

That’s the magic of this resort. The central area is really at the heart of the domain, and wherever you were planning to go, you always find yourself passing through. It’s the social engine. You start recognising familiar faces within hours after your arrival. By day two, the nods have turned into conversations, and by day three, you’re sharing a bottle of wine with people whose names you never really caught. Next thing you know, you’re singing karaoke together (true story).

At other resorts, a communal dinner can feel like a forced activity from the animation team. Here, it’s a table full of people you already know, having homemade food with products that come from just down the road. Sandrine and Sébastien don’t organise these evenings from a distance either. They are always right there.

These are the things we cannot put on camera, we can only tell you the stories. But even that may not paint the whole picture. So here’s our recommendation for you: Pick a cool rental you’d like to spend a few days naked in, and let the vibe of Domaine du Coq Rouge do the rest.