The cliff campsite: archives and photographs since 1970

This cut describes the four kilometers of sand and the dunes of Vierville, Colleville and Saint-Laurent, together known since the war as Omaha Beach. Vierville is presented as particularly busy, thanks to the activities offered to young people: sailing, beach competition, physical education, sea trips and diving.

The report evokes more than two hundred and fifty offshore wrecks, remnants of the artificial port of 1944, around which fish and crustaceans were concentrated. It describes the fishing of soles, carrelets, cakes, étrilles and mussels, and reports an old authorization to lay a bottom line of fifty hooks. These uses and rules are those related at the time.

Wild camping, hitherto tolerated, had just been banned. An official land had opened, but its access to the beach required crossing private property and paying rights of way. After discussions, this difficulty had been resolved.

Some followers of freedom had nevertheless preferred to install tents and caravans in the dunes of Saint-Laurent, about ten meters from the sea, without particular equipment or comfort. Vierville had thus lost a few regulars, while retaining, according to the journalist, its tourist attraction.

A neighboring column, with no commune clearly identifiable in the fragment, announces the cleaning of the Aulne and streams from August 18 to September 3 and requests the intervention of local residents to facilitate the winter flow. It also indicates the prohibition of deliveries by trucks and vans from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in a blue zone. The only following title, Sens unique à Saint-Patrice, is cut.

A new campsite has been set up in Vierville to welcome summer visitors on the beach of Omaha. Classified two stars, it included three sanitary blocks and a self-service for the supply of campers.

By the sea, with access to the beach, this land of more than two hectares could receive more than six hundred people. It had 72 sockets for caravans.

The owner had worked himself on the installation of the equipment. He also owned another establishment, called in the article "Le camping de la Hague", in Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes. During the season, two hostesses, Miss Durel and Poitevin, were to welcome the campers.

Already owner for nine years of the Hague campsite in Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes, Mr. Chitel had just opened the Omaha campsite in Vierville, during the weekend of July 14. Classified two stars, the land extended over two hectares and could accommodate up to six hundred people.

The article highlighted the presence of a treatment plant, presented as still uncommon in campsites, and a self-service combining general food, butchery, bakery and delicatessen. Three sanitary blocks included forty sinks, twelve showers, twenty-two toilets, eighteen urinals, eighteen dish trays and twelve laundry bins. The electrical installation had 72 220-volt sockets for caravans and seventeen outdoor streetlights, in addition to the night lighting of the sanitary facilities.

Located on the cliff, the campsite dominated the landscape of Omaha. Mr. Chitel and his sons had set up a descent to reach the beach directly. Staff was welcoming and maintaining. The newspaper presented this new equipment as an asset for regional tourism.

The campsite attracted more and more families, to the point that Bayeux was preparing the expansion of its land and the coast of Cabourg and Deauville reported a lack of places. In Omaha, the situation differed: a piece of land of more than two hectares, planned for six hundred people, received only sixty to eighty per day.

Its creator, Mr. Chistel, explained that he had opened it the previous year after that of the Hague in Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes, in the face of the success of other campsites and the growing demand. Classified two stars, the land had modern facilities, a store, children's games and other amenities appreciated by customers, but its attendance remained insufficient to ensure its profitability.

He invoked the lack of notoriety of this first real year and especially the competition of wild camping. Between Arromanches and Vierville, he said he had counted the previous summer one hundred and twenty-six tents in campsites against two hundred and forty-three outside. He was surprised by the requirements imposed on official operators while some mayors allowed land without equipment and wanted an increased fight against these practices.

Journalist M. H. concluded that the Omaha sector remained underdeveloped despite the means committed separately by each municipality. A union of local initiatives seemed necessary to him to create equipment that lives up to the historic site and its beach, capable of accommodating thousands of summer visitors.

Mr. Chitel explained that he had opened the Omaha Beach campsite four years earlier to offer calm, comfort, greenery, absence of pollution and proximity to the sea. He recognized that the Norman sun was not that of the Costa Brava, but defended the quality of life of the coast.

With an announced capacity of two hundred places, the two-star campsite dominated the beaches of Vierville and Saint-Laurent from the cliff. A staircase allowed you to go directly down to the sea. Open from Easter to the end of September, it attracted more and more visitors: seven to eight hundred campers were expected throughout the year.

There were many foreigners, especially Dutch, then English, German and Belgian. They usually stayed a few days, while the French rather stayed a month.

However, the manager felt that the field could receive more people if Vierville and Saint-Laurent offered more distractions. In the absence of events comparable to those of other stations, some young people did not stay. Municipalities having limited budgets, he wanted departmental aid for tourist infrastructure. Nevertheless, the report highlighted the growing reputation of a welcoming campsite between Port-en-Bessin and Isigny. The aerial view is attributed to the studio Le Monnier.

The Omaha Beach campsite, run by Mr. and Mrs. Chitel in Vierville, could accommodate six hundred people in delimited pitches, surrounded by greenery and close to the beach. It offered toilets with hot showers, electrical outlets, self-service and games for children. Jean-Michel Thomine, nicknamed Toto, kept a chip stand there every day.

At the beginning of the season, however, there were fewer entries than the previous year. Some tourists were surprised not to find an oil spill on this portion of the coast. The newspaper wondered about the effect of misleading information on this subject, while attributing a large part of the decline to bad weather. After an unfavorable start to August, the owners hoped for a weather improvement and more vacationers.

Laurent and Céline Azrou, owners of the Omaha Beach campsite since April 2010, had undertaken rehabilitation and construction work. New sanitary facilities, an animation room with television, serviced plots for mobile homes and a heated swimming pool of one hundred square meters enriched the equipment.

Overlooking the beach, overlooking the Pointe du Hoc to the American cemetery and direct private access to the sea, the campsite had 293 sunny pitches separated by hedges and twelve mobile homes for rent facing the sea. One hundred comfortable plots also allowed the installation of mobile homes by their owners.

Children's games, petanque, football, beach volleyball, grocery store and chip shop completed the services. The operators wanted to boost local tourism and get a third star. The announced season ran from April 2 to September 15, with reception from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. rue de la Hérode. The denomination is dated July 19, 2011.