1st May – Day 24
The rain continued throughout the night, but it did not affect our sleep too badly. I cycled up to the local town for bread before preparing to leave, whilst the owners plus a few of their friends prepared for a May Day event on the farm. Once Callum was up and about, he went to play with Chloe and one of her friends. They showed him a large grey rabbit, that was in a fairly small cage, next to a guinea pig, some large snails and a couple of hens (all caged, to be on display for the May Day event). A little while later, I heard a bang/crash and spotted said rabbit hopping merrily away. I didn’t much fancy my chances of catching it, so went to grab the farmer. By this time, the rabbit had hopped quite a distance and despite chasing after it, it seemed as though it had escaped! I felt quite bad now, that I had not tried to catch it. We went back to preparing Suzab ready for driving onward, as the rain became even heavier. About 20 minutes later, I heard the farmer and one of his friends shouting “Lapin, lapin!!!!”; the friend had driven to the other end of the farm, spotted the rabbit and forced it to hop back towards the farm! The rabbit was circled and the farmer carefully approached it before lunging in to grab it from the base of its ears and its legs (I wouldn’t have known to catch it this way!) before carrying it back to the farm, preparing a MUCH heftier cage and putting the rabbit inside. I felt much better after that!
We headed for an Aire de Service in St Gervais-les-Bains in Hte-Savoie region, very close to Chamonix. We stopped for lunch just outside Aix-Les-Bains, in a spectacular river basin, surrounded by mountains – although the poor weather and low cloud, meant that the view was not as good as it could have been (this comment applies to pretty much all scenic views for the next 3 days!). When we got to the Aire de Service, a sign was erected explaining that it was closed for maintenance works! Not good news, as Callum had a really poorly tummy and was getting very upset, meaning that we had to find somewhere very close by to stop for the night. We followed signposts for a camp-site nearby and quickly arrived at Les Domes de Miage. The lady on reception was extremely friendly and we got checked in (all services available, electricity, wi-fi, etc) and found a spot for the night. It was important for us to be somewhere comfortable, as we didn’t know how long Callum would feel poorly. He had since developed a fever and we quickly settled down for the night.
2nd May – Day 25
We spoke to some family on Skype in the morning and got in touch with our friend, James, making arrangements to meet him in Morzine. Callum said that his tummy felt better and his fever seemed to have broken overnight, so we decided to leave the camp-site and head for Morzine. James had advised us to park in the Carrefour (Champion) supermarket carpark in the centre of the town, as we would not have a problem leaving the van there and his house was very close by. Our arrival in Morzine was only a few days after the winter season had finished there, so it felt like we had entered a ghost-town! James and his fiancée Olivia came to meet us and we went for a drink at a café in town, catching up and getting to know each other better. We spent a lovely evening together back at their place, grabbing some take-away pizza from nearby Montriond, before going back to Suzab for a solid night’s sleep in the supermarket car-park (although I never sleep too well after drinking coffee and beer!).
3rd May – Day 26
James and I start the day with a run (on a woodland trail that went alongside the river), which I then follow up with some Chi-Gung and Tai-Chi. Me, Lorraine and Callum chill out in the morning, before descending on James and Olivia again for lunch, then we go for a walk with James around a lake near Montriond. The lake had burst its banks slightly with all of the melt water from the mountains, so parts of the path have been submerged. Callum and I happened to take a higher path, whilst James and Lorraine navigate the lower paths.
We leave Morzine late afternoon and head towards Lake Geneva / Lac Lemon to a town called Yvoire. There are a few campsites on the way, but we decide to park up in a field just outside the gates to the medieval part of the town. We will need to pay for parking, but it is quiet and there are no trees around, which is a good thing as it is extremely windy!
4th May – Day 27
We walk around Yvoire, but it is fairly brief as nothing is really open and the wind is cold and blowing a gale. We stop briefly in a small café for coffee and a slice of pie, but the service isn’t the greatest and we don’t feel entirely welcome. From Yvoire, we decide to head North and we locate another lake on the map (We seem to have had good times whenever we stop near a lake) and find an Aire de Service in our guidebook that has all services for free!
Our journey takes us partly into Switzerland, as we travel through Geneva, which looks to be an amazing city (fantastic architecture and layout) and I can imagine we will come back another time to explore properly. We also drive past CERN (home of the Hadron collider). We stop for lunch in a mountain valley, after which Callum excitedly suggests that we explore up a nearby farm track. We walk up the fairly steep path, which brings us out into a lovely meadow with views of the surrounding hills/mountains. We have fun running back down and finding good walking sticks.
Despite confusing signposts and no directions specifically for the Aire, we eventually find it and hook up our electricity. A Dutch couple arrive soon afterwards and we make arrangements for swapping over when we’re fully charged (there are loads of spots for parking, but only one electricity hook up). Callum and I play with tractors outside, while Lorraine cooks up peas and meat. Lorraine and I wonder whether a cliff top house is in fact the lair of an evil genius and ponder over where his secret entrances may be around the lake! After dinner, me and Callum go for a little walk down to the beach and Callum does a fairly good job of heaving some large rocks into the water!