Ingrid(52)

I was an executive assistant in Tilburg — good job, good salary, but my heart had been elsewhere for years. As a child we camped every summer in Normandy, and those apple orchards, those green hills, the sea at Deauville — it never left me. When my children moved out and my divorce was behind me, I thought: if I don't do it now, I never will.

I bought a propriété of 2 hectares in the Calvados department for €195,000. The property had a main house, three outbuildings (which I converted into gîtes) and an orchard with apple and pear trees. The notaire warned me about the certificat d'urbanisme — you must check with the mairie whether the land's designation allows camping and rental. In my case it was agricultural land and I had to apply for a changement de destination, which took four months.

I registered the gîtes as meublé de tourisme at the mairie. This gives me a classification (I have three stars) and fiscal advantages: under the micro-BIC regime I pay tax on 29% of my rental income. The campsite falls under a separate regime: you need a déclaration préalable at the préfecture for more than six camping pitches. The standards for sanitation, fire safety and accessibility are strict but logical.

The seasons determine everything. From April to October I run full weeks: the gîtes are often booked months ahead by Dutch, Belgian and British visitors. A gîte brings in €600 per week in high season, a camping pitch €25 per night. My total seasonal revenue is about €55,000. In winter I close the campsite and rent the gîtes as monthly lets to remote workers — a growing market.

URSSAF and the cotisations sociales were my biggest administrative challenge. As an operator of a campsite and gîtes you fall under the régime réel simplifié or micro-BIC, depending on your revenue. My expert-comptable in Caen calculated that micro-BIC is most advantageous for me. The CFE (cotisation foncière des entreprises) is €650 per year, the taxe foncière €1,100. The taxe de séjour (tourist tax) that I pass on to guests is €0.80 per person per night.

Normandy surprises me every day. The landscape resembles the Netherlands — green, flat along the coast, with cows in the fields — but with character. The camembert literally comes from the farm down the road, the cidre is from my own apples and the sea at Cabourg is a half-hour drive. I don't miss the stress of Tilburg. My life is physically harder — cleaning gîtes, mowing grass, welcoming guests — but infinitely more satisfying. This is what I should always have done.