Aurélie Bussat

Aurélie is originally from Haute-Savoie and she grew up in the family business. It was her grandfather who first came up with the idea of creating a campsite in the family’s orchard, and put the idea to Jean-François Bussat, Aurélie’s father. This inspiration came from the caravans that would come to the Jardin de la Cure during the summer season. Jean-François was a farmer at the time and he created the La Colombière Campsite in 1971. He continued his farming activity however and planted 3 hectares of vines in 1974 and carried out looking after his cattle until 1977.

From a young age, Aurélie started helping out in the family business selling chips at the campsite reception! She looks back at this time with fondness and it meant she could help her parents who had so much on their plate. Aurélie then went to study at the specialist school for the hotel business in Thonon to become an oenologist. After 4 years of studies and work experience all over France, she came back to her parents’ business which flourished when the campsite restaurant opened in 1991. Aurélie was 17 years old when she took over the kitchens and her brothers and sisters took charge of the service. She enjoyed this experience alongside her family and it gave her a boost for the next step in her career. Today she manages the business with her brothers and sisters, leaving the restaurant business and handing over the campsite restaurant to someone else. As a family, they have developed the campsite and they each have a role to play: Aurélie manages relations with suppliers and partners, Laurence is in charge of customer relations and Pierre deals with the technical side. Managing this business as a family was a given for Aurélie and they took over from their parents who built the business.