Our Bulli at Camping Huttopia les Châteaux.
It is a Good Life
We met Eva Leal at Camping Huttopia les Châteaux in Bracieux near the royal castle Chambord. Our conversation took place in a quiet corner of the common room where staff and quest passed through and sometimes asked Eva a question. She is 23 years old and together with her boyfriend she is the manager of the campsite.
We need to love our jobs
There are no ordinary days in my life, they are all different Eva said. I may welcome clients in the reception, work with the computer in the back office, make pizza in the restaurant or clean the mobile homes. We do everything, it is an amazing job. This is the first year my boyfriend and I work as managers, it is nice to be the boss. We think this is a good campsite in a beautiful place, like the rest of the staff we live here. Being managers we are employed all year, while some of our colleagues only have a job for the season.
We work ten hours a day not the ordinary 35 hours a week, but we have a long holiday at the end. The campsite closes for four months a year, we spend one month cleaning and repairing, two months on holiday and one month preparing the opening. It is hard but interesting work, to do this we need to love our jobs and be patient with people and their wishes. - It is a good life
I was born in Lyon, it is a beautiful city and I love it. I lived there fifteen years with my family, then we moved to a small village outside the city. My mother worked in a hospital and my father had his own company. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, only a cat named Pÿstach. My mother talks about him as if he were my brother, and I say hello to him on the phone. My boyfriend and I have a dog, and in one week will adopt a cat - they are our kids now. In the future, we plan to have three children.
We want to have our own campsite
I started working for Huttopia when I was 18 and studied tourism in Lyon. My boyfriend and I met each other when we were students there, it is good that we both have the same kind of job. I used to change campsite every year. I have worked in Colmar, near Mont Saint Michel and at other sites. It has been nice to be able to choose your work place. I prefer the countryside and would not like a campsite in a city. Bracieux is a fine calm and quiet village with many shops, restaurants and a chocolate factory. People are really friendly. Being the managers, we can choose to stay here.
We however want to have our own campsite in Bretagne, my cousin has a campsite there. Bretagne is a wonderful place near the sea with great respect for traditions. It is like another country in France. Actually, my boyfriend is Breton, so he will return to his home and family. My uncle had a campsite forty kilometres from Lyon, where my family and I spent our holidays when I grew up. This contributed to a good childhood and youth. Huttopia is a great company, but when you have your own campsite, you can do what you want.
We hope to realize this dream in a couple of years. You can call a village and ask if they have a campsite, you can also buy one, but this is too expensive for us. We hope to find a small family campsite, where we can create everything from the bottom ourselves. We want to have mini farm with donkeys, goats and other animals. It is important for kids to grow up with animals. - Life is short, so you have to know what you want.
Simple things are important
Family and friends are important to me, I think I call my mom every day. I also love animals. My friends from Lyon come here to visit us one week every year. Nature and art are also essential things in my life. I love music and paintings, I also try do some painting myself. I go for a walk with the dog in the forest, listen to music and come home to see a video about art. I love museums, where it is nice and quiet, but not so much concerts with lots of people. - Simple things are important to me.
A lot of good things can happen
I also want to discover the world together with my boyfriend. We use our holidays to do this. We plan to go to Japan it is a beautiful country with an interesting history and culture. I have been in Italy, Canada, USA, Argentina, United Kingdom and Belgium. In Canada I worked for Huttopia. I learned English in the reception and by watching movies, you have to try.
Many people in the world need our help, and we have to help them, although France has little money to spare. Migrants come to France from Africa and people blame them, and don’t want to give them money because they say it’s for drugs or alcohol. We should try to help.
I don’t understand why people create wars, we should speak with each other not fight. I couldn’t kill a person, who has a family and a life in order to save my own life. Hopefully war is not our future. A lot of good things can happen.
May 2025.