Folk Dance Week 2008
This will be our 4th annual dance week and follows on from 3 very enjoyable weeks in previous years.It is a holiday
week; based at Camping les Ripettes, our campsite in Bresse, in the heart of rural France. Those who join the week mostly
bring their own caravan, campervan (or tent!) and holiday on the site. Others who do not have their own camping equipment
stay either in the other accommodation we have on site or stay locally in Chambre d’Hotes or hotel accommodation. There
is English folk dancing each evening in the local village hall, with our invited caller and musicians. Day times are
available for other activities and trips out,some organised as options for you to join in with if you wish, or free for
you to do your own thing.
Each year we have asked our visitors for their comments on the week and as a result of these we have slightly adapted
the way we do things, some of the events and some of the provision on the campsite. Positive feedback from previous years
does mean however that 2008 will follow roughly the same pattern as our first 3 years.
The caller for the 2008 dance week will again be John Turner who provided a truly excellent week of dance for us here
in 2007. He was recommended by many who had been to previous dance weeks as an individual who would be very suited
to the nature of this dance week in France. He certainly made the week extremely enjoyable with his bright, easy going
style, his laughter, his fun dances and his wonderful ability to be able to cater well for a range of dancing abilities,
including for those who had little experience.
Musicians for the week are the lively duo Pendragon (John Dudley and Frank Bradley) who we know will complement John’s
calling superbly.
The activities for the week will be based at our campsite « Camping les Ripettes ». It is a 55 pitch rural site,
surrounded by fields. It has very spacious pitches and good facilities. The area surrounding les Ripettes is fairly flat
with very quiet country lanes so is ideal for cycling and walking and there are many routes close to the campsite. It is
a very gentle, farming area, with ancient, Bressan style, part timbered farmhouses, lots of flowers and with good natured,
easy going locals. The area has a real feel of rural France. Very little English is spoken, but communication is usually
possible even for those with no French!
Les Ripettes is 4km from the small market town of Pont de Vaux with its picturesque marina and boasting the shortest
canal in France by which it connects with the river Saône. The town has a range of shops, restaurants and petrol stations.
A new supermarket (and petrol station) opens at the end of 2007 which will be much nearer to the campsite (2km).
Just across the river are the Maconnais hills and vineyards, with wine tasting opportunities at every turn, including the
actual village of Chardonnay, from where this world famous wine originates. 20Km further south is the riverside town of Macon
and just south of there is the area of Beaujolais, again a very pretty area with rolling hills, vineyards and sleepy, picturesque villages
The actual dancing evenings will be from 7.30 to 10.00 and will be at the local Salle de Fêtes which is about 2.5 km
from the campsite. It really is a superb hall, with lots of space for dancing, good acoustics and ample parking.
On one of the evenings we invite a group of French folkdancers to give us a taste of their dancing. The last Saturday
evening is an evening which is open to local people and members of local dance groups are also invited, where we join
together for English dancing. It was a tremendous event both this year and last with superb and enthusiastic participation
by all. Obviously each dance wasn’t perfect, but there was lots of merriment and laughter all round.
During the daytimes we will be organising various events. In 2008 we plan to have a simple meal and initial get together
prior to the dancing, to enable people to start to begin to make acquaintance with each other. As always we will be having
a boules competition, off site visits to French places of interest, plus a meal out to a local French restaurant (this has
proved to be a real hit a previous events!). For 2008 we are also planning to organise a day trip to Lyon by coach. There
will be a modest additional charge for some of these events but you will be notified of the programme and charges in advance
Camping les Ripettes is approx 7 hrs drive from channel ports. It is certainly possible to come here from the ferry
in a day, but those who are not pressured for time tend to prefer to stop off en-route, maybe in the Champagne area.
It is easy driving virtually all the way by motorway, and bears no comparison to the busy stressful driving of UK
motorways.
So, we hope we have tempted you sufficiently for you to want to book for our 2008 event.
(To see photos of previous events scroll to the bottom of the page and click the link to special events page)
Costs
Initial Deposit £20 per person, payable by UK cheque made out to A+R Payne. Please note that this deposit is your commitment to
participating, and as our numbers are limited it is only refundable if you cancel if we are subsequently able to refill your places.
Followed by payment when you are actually here, by cash or credit/debit card of: 50 Euros per person for your participation
in the dance week, Plus 50 Euros per person for camping for the 8 nights of the dance week. A 2nd week of camping (ie making
up to 14 nights in total) is available at no extra charge, you would just pay for the extra electric @ €3.00 per unit. These
free nights can be taken from the Friday prior to the event.
click here for the booking form
If you have difficulties opening this attachment, or need more information contact us directly via email at or, telephone.