Best bits:
E&J’s company
Jess the dog
Swimming in the lake
Lovely motorhome
Great restaurant meals
Friendly Dutch camping neighbours
Mont Blanc campsite
Angelo and his veg
Worst bits:
Italian driving (especially lorries around Milano)
Things we’d do differently:
Bring cereal for Annie’s breakfasts
English radio for Annie
Outside thermometer
Lafuma chill-out chairs (Anniversary pressies?)
Up early (something of a habit, I’m afraid), and onto a shower with cold water. We learned later that the block called “Sanitary” has hot showers in. Live and learn.
We walked up the road and round the corner to a small boulangerie, and bought some lovely-looking bread, and a sweet, sticky cake for breakfast. It was almost too nice, walking back to the campsite. We met with a local who stopped, eyes wide open, and rubbed his stomach, going “mmmmmmm”. We laughed, and moved on.
We drive out of the campsite, up the road for 5 minutes, and we were in the supermarket (Carrefour) car park. A strange man in a suit came up to us, and I wondered if it was someone trying to collect money for staying overnight (which we hadn’t). It then seemed he was a bit strange, and wanted to get into our van because it was a bit chilly. We said no thanks, locked our doors, and ignored him. He wandered off somewhere else.
To be on the safe side, I moved the van to be nearer to the shop, since we were parked on a different car park.
After our shop, we drove, and we drove, and we drove, pausing for a brief lunch before driving some more.
We got to the tunnel terminal some 5 hours before our booked departure, but the nice lady at checking offered us a space on the next shuttle for €100 extra, or the one after that – for €0 extra. We chose the latter!
We arrived home much earlier than we expected as a result, and were able to put the van to bed in the back garden in the light, which was much safer.
After quite a cold night (it took me ages to realise that the sliding bedroom window by my head was open, and allowing quite cold air over me and into the van. Annie said that she was quite snug under the duvet, where I had a disturbed night.
A chilly walk to the showers in the morning was a shock to us, although I would estimate the temperature to be about 10 degrees C.
Once again, we were on the road by 7am.
The roads were very quiet, but I needed to put the van heater on as we descended from the campsite.
A diversion due to roadworks stopped us getting onto the A41 (** check **), and the poor satnav was having a fit, asking us to turn around, and then routing us through a village to take us back where we came from. However, we could see that the road we were on followed the motorway along the valley floor, and we thought that eventually we would find the next junction. Which we did.
On this journey, I haven’t been referring to the satnav’s name, since her sound stays turned down these days. I find that the seemingly endless repeats of directions, especially on the approach to and around roundabouts, very distracting, especially when roads have several numbers, as they do in France. We find the graphics more than adequate, and Annie calls out the direction changes to me using the small icon at the bottom of the screen and the distance countdown figure.
We stopped at a service area mid-morning, and bought French bread for our now traditional breakfast on the road of bread and cheese. I had a sleep for an hour (lovely to have a fixed bed!), before we carried on. Annie wanted to cover a good distance today, if possible, leaving less to do on our final day, so she programmed the satnav for the Camping Municipale at Chalons en Champagne.
It’s only a few kilometres from the motorway, and is a popular stopover for Dutch, Belgian and British tourers going to and from their home countries. The site is flat, and the pitches are nearly all hardstanding and large. There are a few shops within 5 minutes’ walk, and a Carrefour supermarket 10 minutes away. They also have a small shack, selling (between 4.30pm and 7.30pm) local produce, including champagne from the producer who sells it on site. We can report that the champagne from Michel Pierson is very acceptable, and at €13.80 a bottle, very good value. Annie had a small glass or two, and then we took a bottle back to the van (already chilled).
We learnt something too. They refused to fill Annie’s glass up at the bar, and they came to the table to fill it. Michel said that it spoils the taste to move the champagne once it’s been poured. Back at the van, we committed the sin of pouring it, taking it outside, then deciding it was too cold to sit out, so we had to move the glasses inside. Our uneducated palettes couldn’t tell any difference, but we presume that Michel knows what he’s talking about. Anyway, we celebrated our last holiday evening very admirably.
The threatened storm didn’t materialise, so we were able to get up and pack the remaining stuff away quickly. We left Eden and were on the road just after 6.30am.
We made good progress, and stopped just East of Milan at a service area, where we bought fuel for the van and fuel for us, and had our breakfast of fresh bread and cheese.
We reached the French border at the Mont Blanc tunnel around lunch time. There was a bit of a queue for the pay station, and we were less than enthusiastic about €44 charge for the 11km crossing. It seemed a huge amount of money, especially considering that the St. Gotthard tunnel is longer, and free, which probably explains the big queues sometimes.
The scenery in this area is mightily impressive, and we kept wondering, as different mountains came into view, whether we were looking at Mont Blanc. However, when you do see it, there is no mistaking it. It is a huge, grey, snow-capped rock amongst the green, tree-covered hills which surround it.
The journey through the tunnel itself is slow and boring. I think the disaster of a few years ago has made the authorities and drivers nervous, and you are told to keep 150m between yourself and other vehicles. Like the St. Gotthard, I find it amazing that there is no segregation inside the tunnel between oncoming lines of traffic, other than some flimsy lights and lane markers.
We eventually came out into the light again, and began the slow and careful descent, past several miles of queue on the other side waiting to go through. Obviously, going South on Saturday is a busy time for the tunnel.
We were less than 20km from our campsite, and I began to wonder just how close it would be to Mont Blanc. The pictures on the website made it look close, but we seemed to be getting further and further away.
The road from the valley up to St. Germain Les Bains is quite steep and twisty, but I was pleased how the van coped, and the engine had plenty of power. Our only problem came on the entrance to the town of St. Germain Les Bains itself, where a low speed bump / pedestrian crossing had a dip on the other side, and the poor van thumped into the hole, shaking everything that could be shaken. Nothing seemed untoward, and we carried on.
The campsite at Les Domes de Miage is on the main road out of town, and difficult to miss, and we (and the van) were pleased to be able to stop.
The campsite is probably the most beautiful one we’ve ever stayed in. It is indeed in the foothills of Mont Blanc, and there is the most fantastic view of the mountain, seemingly only a few metres away from the mountain itself. The campsite itself is fairly flat, mostly grass, with clean facilities. The reception staff are helpful and friendly. When I found that our long hookup lead wouldn’t reach the electricity outlet, they helpfully lent us an extension lead, saying that it we left early in the morning, we should just leave it outside the office.
After some lunch, we fancied a walk. The campsite reception has many maps for sale, but they have a simple map (free) showing a walking route to the town. This followed a narrow road, and then split off onto a wide, sloping path. However, the path got narrower and steeper, and unfortunately we had to give up when the path branched off into the forest, with some steep and dangerous sections which were beyond our sandals and shorts, ‘out for a gentle stroll’, attire.
Back at the campsite, we relaxed with drinks and photo opportunities. As the sun began to dip, the temperature dropped very quickly, and we were soon in fleeces, and then inside the van. Not quite what we were used to, where at Lake Garda we were sometimes struggling to keep cool at night, even with all the van’s windows and vents wide open.
Our last day (sob). The campsite started emptying from 6am, since this weekend is the last of the Dutch main holiday. We did a little packing and tidying around in the van, and spent most of the morning reading.
Lunchtime was E&J round for aperitifs, but we’re finding that rather than a quick drink before lunch, these are now becoming lunchtime drinks, with some food afterwards. Never mind.
During the afternoon, we read some more, and packed a few more bits and pieces ready for the morning.
After tea, we were invited round to Heather and Mike’s rented mobile home for ‘going home’ drinks. However, after a little while, the clouds came rolling in again, and thunder and lightning meant we had to beat a hasty retreat to the van to shut up the roof vents and windows. Afterwards, we went round to E&J, where we sat with their campsite neighbours Will & Barradena (sp?), who had just arrived. We sat chatting and having sips of wine until it was time for us to say goodnight, as we had an early start in the morning.
Only a couple of days to go before we leave. Sad L
Swam in the lake in the morning, and played swimming teachers for Jess. She still doesn’t look very happy, but she does go into the water more easily than she did.
Lunchtime fizzy cocktails were round ours, and we’d left the Prosecco in the freezer all morning, so they were delightfully cold.
The afternoon was spent sitting around reading, before going to the restaurant Gallo Rosso in Salo which, although it has no Michelin stars, is mentioned in the guide. Of course, since we were in Salo, we needed to check that the Pirlots at Bar Vassilli were still nice, and we had pre-dinner snacks of vol-au-vonts, crisps, olives, capers on stalks, pickled peppers and gherkins.
The food at the elegant Gallo Rosso was beautiful, with immaculate flavours, and we had four courses, with two bottles of wine and water, all for €35 each.
When we got back to camp, we had to try Ed’s Limoncello, which was a lemon-y liqueur.
Happy anniversary to us! After exchanging cards, and trying to remember what present we’d promised ourselves (something to do with the motorhome, no doubt!).
We had another storm last night – the lightning started just before midnight, and rumbles of thunder beyond the hills. By 3am, the storm had come closer, and the thunder was very close with spits of rain on the roof, so we joined practically the whole campsite outside, bringing things in and retracting the awning.
We looked after Jess whilst E&J went to look for new chairs after a couple of embarrassing incidents down at the lake yesterday, involving a certain male and split chair fabric. After lunch (fresh salad with kidney beans and olives), we trundled down to the lake, and met up with H&M&Co. Swam a bit, played with their Eurocamp ball a bit, tried to get Jess to swim a bit, then back to camp for pre-dinner cocktails, and thence to E&J for a fish barbecue.
Another bright and sunny day, although there are a few wispy white clouds.
After breakfast, we went with E&J to the supermarket, where we were looking for slip-on rubber shoes (the type windsurfers wear), which would make getting in and out of the lake from the stony beach much easier. We didn’t find them at the supermarket, so we walked into Salo, and found just what we wanted at a sports / gift shop. Whilst we were there, we needed to check that the pirlot at the Café Vassilli we still as nice. They were.
Back to camp, and after a short rest, we were back to the lake to test out our shoes. They were excellent.
Beautiful Marks and Spencer cheese and tomato tarts for tea, heated in the oven with a lovely fresh salad. Very nice!
Breakfast; supermarket with H&M; Jess swam!; we back to lake in PM with E&J&J; pirlot before dinner here; drinks after dinner there; dinner of filled pasta from home. Drinks and cards around E&J.
Guess what? Another sunny day!
Swim; waiting for H&M; we had drinks chez nous when they arrived; H&M & family ate @ restaurant;
