Monday 27th July – 1st August 2009

Somewhere in France:well actually South-west France – Challes-Les-Eaux

We arrived in Montreaux just after lunch and again our gps wasn’t quite right as it sent us up a back street behind the Police station. After Ewout got out and went for a walk he found where we were supposed to end up and luckily it wasn’t that far away, so we were soon at our destination for the night. It ended up being a car park for a sports centre but it was right near the lake and convenient to walk into Montreaux.We spent the afternoon walking along the shore into the city, which was a very pleasant with gardens decorating the edges and some interesting buildings to be seen. They had just had their annual Jazz festival before we arrived so there were still a lot of things going on and people everywhere. It was a very beautiful place with views over the lake to the alps but you can see it was set up mainly for the tourist trade with lots of big hotels and restaurants so a bit expensive for us. That night we had another thunder storm, (we seem to have had one in every country we have been in) and it made a lot of racket during the night but the next morning it had cleared up and we woke to a beautiful day. We decided that we would spend the morning looking at the famous Chillon castle which sits on the shores of the lake and dates from the 12th century, strategically located to control movement between the north and south of Europe. It has been made famous by a poem by Lord Byron, called “The prisoner of Chillon” about Bonivard held captive there for almost four years. We had a lovely few hours exploring the castle and then headed off further along the lake, our goal was to get to Nyon for the night but we had a stop near Lausanne for lunch and then we went for a long bike ride along the lake. We arrived at Nyon for the night and the next day went for a look around in the town as it is an old Roman city and we were told by the Swiss Lady we met in Dambelin that it was worth a look at. So we spent a couple of hours having a bit of a walk around town and after doing a bit of shopping go back into the camper to get back on the road. Wethen continued along through the towns and villages along lake Geneva , passed through Geneva itself and out into the Countryside into France.

So now we are in the Rhone Alps region of France, countryside with lots of mountains, lakes and rivers. We have stopped for a few days in a municipal campsite in a small town called Challes-Les-Eaux, it is a really nice campsite with large bays, clean amenities and good for a few days break from the road. We have met some more really nice fellow travellers, a couple from Scotland and an English David and Jill couple who actually lived in Adelaide for a few years about 20 years ago, and are thinking of returning. So it’s nice to talk to someone who knows Australia and Adelaide well and we have spent a lovely couple of nights with them.

We will continue down through France, going by way of a scenic route (suggested to us by a Dutch couple) taking a bit of time to enjoy mainly the countryside until we are due to meet Cousin Mike in Spain. That date we have yet to work out with Mike but it should be in the next couple of weeks so we will talk to him and confirm then make further plans.