Thankfully no more snow during the night and the sun was out bright and early to help clear any remaining ice on the roads, it supposedly reached -9 last night, though we were nice and toasty in the van.
After a brief walk to admire this beautiful snowscape, we got an earlyish start, with a fair drive ahead of us…
After 10 miles or so of driving through the snowy foothills of the Juras we settled down for a fairly tedious motorway journey through parts of Switzerland and then cross country again in the lower Juras, stopping briefly as we joined Lac du Bourget with distant views of Chateau Chatillon at the northern end of the lake…
Completing our journey driving along side the lake to Aix les Bains at the southern end and our Aire for the night….
Though a ferocious cold wind was blowing down the lake, the sunshine was too much for us to resist a lovely walk along the shore, before calling it a day….
Thoughts of the day:
The first part of this journey was absolutely stunning Christmas Post Card scenery but unfortunately though the roads had been cleared of snow, any lay-bys were impassible with piles of snow, so you will have to take my word for it!
I am trying to keep my routes as rural as possible, partly because of the scenic opportunities but also trying not to use the toll roads and thereby keep my costs down.
Having made the decision to head south towards the coast our journey took us back into Germany where there was another Police Checkpoint, though again we were not stopped and then very shortly into Switzerland. The border crossing seemed a bit confusing to start with as of the 3 lanes of traffic 2 were for lorries one appearing to be diverted off before the crossing (this had massive queues and a series of traffic lights to regulate the flow) and the other again being regulated through border control. I followed the third lane which then was subdivided to allow those who already had the Swiss vignette straight through and those that didn’t had to stop and purchase one. I had already bought my annual vignette online (about £38 – 40 Swiss Francs) so sailed straight through – fortunately. I don’t know why but border crossings always make me a bit anxious – I guess it is driving into the unknown.
My journey through Switzerland was on the motorway network so not very scenic, though it did snow pretty much all the way through and the roads were much busier than I have been used to. I hadn’t planned any stops as I will return to Switzerland in May so we left Switzerland part way down and headed off into the Jura mountains (back in France) and were soon up above the snow line…
I stopped here to take this photo, thinking that I might not see any further snow – ha – little did I know as we continued to climb, passing closed ski resorts until we arrive at our Aire for the night – yes – another ski resort above the village of Metabief….
Rather a good covering of lovely snow! Fortunately I was able to reverse onto a partially cleared pitch (thanks to someone having left earlier in the day) as the rest were approximately a foot deep in snow and do I have a shovel? We were soon hooked up to the electric and getting the van nice and warm and spent a happy hour or so walking down to and around the village before it started snowing in earnest…
A little later the sky cleared and the sun came out to play for a while before setting behind the mountains…
Not at all what we were expecting but an absolute joy none the less. Let’s see what tomorrow brings though I am quietly encouraged by the fact that the perimeter road way around the Aire has been cleared, as indeed have the roads to and from.
Thoughts of the day:
I do love a good bit of snow, so this has been a real joy and unexpected bonus – it is so pristine and crunchy – especially when you know you are able to get dry, warm and toasty inside!
All the border crossings into Belgium and Luxemburg were completely unmarked – apart from a sign welcoming you and outlining the speed restrictions applicable. So facing Police Checkpoints each time on entering Germany and Switzerland was a bit of a shock, not that I have been requested to stop at any point.
Another 3 country day for us – woke up in France, drove through Germany and Switzerland and back into France.
The forecast break in the weather has arrived with on and off rain / hail during the day and heavy snow forecast for the Black Forest and surrounding hills / mountains overnight, we are off to hunker down in low lying Aire where we know we will have power and water just across the border into France, literally on the other side of the Rhine.
As we begin our ascent from Schonach, we can’t help but try and imagine what this will look like tomorrow….
Indeed had we been able to find a more suitable place to stay, we surely would have hung around to find out – however….
It wasn’t a long drive to the Aire on the outskirts of Schoenau, a small traditional french village and we were soon parked up, right beside Schoenau Lake…
And set off for a nice walk into and around the village, where every one is a farmer – or at least owns an outhouse and a tractor…
Wandering beyond the village we were afforded distant views of the Vosges Mountains – I wonder if they will be white topped tomorrow?….
Thoughts of the day:
Having made the decision to head south, we have decided to use the Camping Car Park network of Aires that we used and got on so well with during our time in France last year as finding decent Aires in Germany and Belgium was a little tricky and Italy looks to be much of the same but only time will tell.
I like the CCP Aire network as they are always gated securely and generally offer EHU, fresh water and waste water and toilet waste disposal and there is 24 hour contact number if there are any problems – you can also see how many other units are booked onto the site ahead of booking online, which is useful especially where the Aire is very remote or in a city.
Quite a wild and wet night and into the morning, so instead of venturing out we decided to stay put here another night and get a few things sorted out i.e internet. Various jobs done this morning and though still windy the rain has passed through so we wandered down to the beach for a stroll in the afternoon…
Heading westwards (into the wind) we walked along the promenade of Bray-Dunes to the far end of the village and then down onto the beach looking back along the village front as the sun was trying very hard to shine….
Beyond the village and another section of Dune Nature reserve we reached the small village of Zuydcoote and it’s stretch of sandy beach and at this point we conceded defeat to the wind and enjoyed a much faster pace back with wind on our tails….
Well today is the day and we are very excited and yes a little apprehensive as we make an early getaway from Canterbury Camping and Caravan Club site at 7.30am to drive the short distance to LeShuttle. It feels a little overwhelming when you arrive at LeShuttle as it seems there are so many lanes and potential ways to get it wrong but in fact it is all quite straightforward and there really is only one way to go!
After checking in at a machine which has already identified who you are by your numberplate and confirming a couple of details, you follow the road around to pet check in which means parking up (for me in the large vehicle section) and wandering in through the main terminal with Duty Free and plenty of eateries – the process was very quick and straightforward and Tilly got a little bag of treats for her bother and then back to van to wait to be called.
Visible from the van is a large check in board which indicates the waiting time for your call, based on the number that you have been allocated. Within 20 minutes we were off on our merry way to the train via British and then French passport control (all done from the van)….
What an amazingly easy way to travel, so much less stressful for Tilly and so fast, just half an hour and we are driving out of the train and onto the road system in France – no further check points just voila and you are there! Driving more or less straight onto a dual carriageway almost means that you don’t have to think about driving on the right as it is obvious.
Our journey from the terminal is quite short and by midday (11am UK time having got on LeShuttle for the 9.45 crossing!) we are arriving at our first stop for the night at the Camping Car Park Bray-Dunes….
After a rewarding cup of tea and to be a fair a little mental clap on the back for yet another new experience ticked off we got wrapped up (there is a fair chilly wind blowing) and walked the few hundred metres to the beach….
On consulting the map, I realised that we are just a short hop from the Belgium border so we decided to walk eastwards to Belgium, well why on earth not? The beach is a lovely long stretch of sand, literally as far as the eye can see – with Dunkirk just visible to the west and possible (time will tell) the whole of Belgium’s short coastline, visible to the east and Tilly as happy as I am to be back on our travels again….
The border istelf took some finding with the only marker I could find being this rather unassuming block…
So here you are France to the west and Belgium to the east….
We continued our walk into Belgium along the beach De Panne to get a closer look at Westerpunt a 6m high architectural structure ‘offering a symbolic connection between the sea, dunes and residents’ and pretty panoramic views as you can walk over the top, towards France and De Panne Beach in Belgium….
We about turned here and battled our way back against the seemingly strengthening westerly breeze – I think you could say a very successful and enjoyable first day.
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