Jeremy gave us an answer: “The reason that Gargamel couldn’t see the smurfs’ village was because there was a magic spell on it. I remember one episode where the magic wore off, and Gargamel stumbled upon it. Then for some reason I can’t remember, he left (I think he caught some and was coming back for more) and by the time he got back, the spell was back on and he couldn’t find it. The whole episode was about the smurfs trying to get magic ingredients so Papa could put the spell back on.” Also Alan has an explanation for Gargamel’s difficulties: Gargamel cannot find the Smurf village because you need to be lead by a Smurf. I have several Peyo referances of this, 2 in English Smurf annuals, 1 in a Smurf film and 1 in a German comic book. Thank you to Jeremy and Alan for their input!