Day 7 - Port Grimaud, St Tropez

14/06/2016

I woke up parked up in the camperstop buzzing to hit the coast and go for a swim. I got a coffee on the go, quickly packed up the van and hit the road. 200 miles later and some seriously bendy mountain roads I could finally see the beach. I drove in the wrong way and parked right by the beach and had to mess about and bring my van back to the entrance just for the guy behind the counter to glance at it once. I was finally sorted and on my way to pitch up and decided to get the awning setup for extra space, I think seeing the sea got me a bit excited.

I spent a fair few hours just sat on the beach and swimming but I got bored after a while, I can never sit still. I walked along the beach into Port Grimaud which is really amazing, I couldn't help imagining what it'd be like to live there.

There were a lot of restaurants, ice cream shops and other random shops I wasn't really expecting to be there. They even had little boats you could hire just to drive around the port. After a long walk around the port I headed back for a swim. The sea was actually a lot colder than I thought but I soon warmed up after swimming out a bit.

Day 6 - Valence, Saint-Romain-de-Lerps

13/06/2016

I woke up contemplating, do I stay or do I go. I did some research and looked at the route to the South of France which looked like a 6 hour journey. The rain was coming in and I found a camperstop in Valence a halfway point so I decided to packup and go. On my way out I paid for the two nights which cost me £53! I'm so glad I didn't stop there another night. I hit the road to the camperstop I had planned, the rain was hammering down once again and the roads were pretty hard going on the van due to the huge mountains. I made it to the first stop which only fit 5 vans on and that was already packed so I tried the next closest one. I was feeling a little sketchy about this as I crawled up the steep winding mountain roads in first gear. The van was sounding like it was struggling so I tried to keep the acceleration up but that caused the wheels to wheel spin, I've never grabbed the steering wheel so tight I'm surprised I didn't leave handprints. I ploughed on ahead and 20 minutes later I'm purched on the side of a hill, the view isn't as good as I hoped but it seems a nice quiet spot to get some rest for the night.

The rain kicked in AGAIN and I met a guy called Martin who pulled up in his big motorhome. He had been out travelling with his wife/other half since December and had no plans on stopping anytime soon. They had been all round Spain, Portugal and said they can't leave France because they love it so much.  They headed off to another spot as they were unsure if their motorhome would get stuck which left me feeling a bit unsure too but I was already all setup.


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The rain calmed down after a couple hours so I decided to walk into the small town, there wasn't loads going on but there were a few little cafe's and a pizza van which seemed a bit out of place. I decided to grab a pizza for about €7 then headed back to the van to get some sleep ready to hit the road tomorrow.

Day 5 - Geneva, Switzerland

12/06/2016

The rain and thunder started over night once again, leading me to shut the pop-top. However waking up to the sun blazing through the curtains was the best way to start the day. I quickly fired up the grill cooked breakfast, unhooked the bike and hit the road for Geneva once again. I went for a wander round the town and came across Cathedrale de St-Pierre. 

Part of the Cathedral, it was huge!!

View from the Terrace just down from the Cathedral.

After a long wander around the city, I decided to take a boat tour around Lake Geneva to see some of the other towns located on the Lake. It unveiled some interesting history despite the wet weather kicking in. At €16 it wasn't bad, whilst looking on the map I must admit I hoped it was the longer route but unfortunately it wasn't.

Petite Sirene du LeMan, The little mermaid of Geneva

Huge mountains standing tall behind Geneva

I didn't get many decent pictures out on the cruise because the boat was so far away from the landmarks. Once the boat docked I came across this lovely square on my walk back to the bike.

Back at camp cooking dinner, unwinding and planning for the next location. South of France. 

Frisky HQ

Room with a view... Nearly!

Day 4 - Geneva, Switzerland

11/06/2016

The rain had been pounding the roof of the van all night making it hard for me to sleep. I decided to drop the roof at 4am as the rain was coming down so hard. When I woke up I didn’t even bother having breakfast, I brushed my teeth packed the van and hit the road to get closer to Geneva.

The move brought me to TCS Campsite which seems a little commercial, however it has beautiful views right by the lake good and it’s the closest to Geneva. Although I bet it'll cost a lot and it’s still a good 5 miles away from Geneva itself. I felt relieved to be in a new location however the rain was still coming down hard, I decided to give the van a tidy and reorganise – always good to keep my OCD under control. 

Jet d'eau, Geneva, Switzerland

The rain finally calmed down by around 2pm so I took the bike and rode into Geneva. It felt so good to be back out in the fresh air although I was a bit over prepared wearing waterproof walking boots, swimming trunks and my coat. Just my luck that the sun would come out and be roasting, although I shouldn’t complain. Even the homeless guy on the bridge didn’t ask me for any money, did I look that bad!?

Nice to see the weather was finally on form!

I spent a good couple of hours wandering around Geneva looking at the buildings and streets. I came across Geneva's old power plant and some other beautiful buildings. 

Power plant pictured to the left of the image.

Wandering the back streets

Day 3 - Lausanne-Ouchy, Switzerland

10/06/2016

Its Friday!! Not that I really noticed. Bacon and egg butty to start the day followed by a nice long walk into Lausanne Ouchy, what an amazing town. I had a lot of time to contemplate what to do about reaching Geneva. I was considering the ferry but I wasn’t sure which one, I then considered just getting on one and seeing where it took me.. I quickly decided that could turn out to be a very bad idea.

Lausanne-Ouchy, Switzerland

I finally got the chance to go for a swim in the lake, it was actually colder than I thought but the sun had gone in. Either way it was fantastic, floating around with the views of the mountains.

Couldn't stop looking at the mountains all around the lake. 

Back at the van I threw together some dinner and decided to read the weather report which showed heavy showers. I jumped straight out the van and started packing away the awning, I’m fed up of this campsite we’re packed so tight and I don’t want to have to deal with the awning filling with water. Overnight the rain was pounding off the roof of the van, I couldn’t sleep but at least I was glad the awning was away. Definitely time to move on tomorrow!

Day 2 - Lausanne-Ouchy, Switzerland

09/06/2016

After the lack of sleep I found myself hitting the snooze button until 9am when I finally dragged myself out of bed, packed up the van and hit the road on a 5 ½ hour drive to Lake Geneva, Switzerland. This ended up extending to 6 ½ hours thanks to the satnav taking me down 4 different roads in the same town which were too tight to fit the van through, F@#kk!! That 6 ½ hours did also include a quick coffee and pee break of course!

Truckin' to Geneva, Switzerland

Looking like a truck driver

I arrived at the campsite around 5pm excited to see the lake, the campsite was nice apart from the fact we were all packed in like sardines. I setup the awning and went for a walk to see the glorious lake. I took a walk towards Lausanne-Ouchy realising Geneva itself is actually a good 40 miles away from my current location! I still loved it here, so many people were out swimming, jogging, cycling, sessioning the skatepark, playing volleyball, slacklining there was so much going on. On my way back to the van I spotted a couple slacklining across the lake. I could not miss this opportunity, I walked down the pontoon to their start point and some awkward conversation was made due to my lack of French and their lack of English but away I was. I couldn’t walk along it mind, I got a few steps in but I really struggled. Surely a bit of water isn’t that scary?

View of the Lake from the campsites pontoon.

An hour or so later I decided to leave them to it. I don’t know what made me stop at that point but it was a good job, as I looked down I noticed blood oozing out of a 2-3cm gash on my leg. I can only assume the slackline slit me as I fell off it. I slapped some savlon on it and cracked open a beer and relaxed. Oh and by the time I got back to the van I also had big blisters between my toes from them bloody flipflops. 

Day 1 - Reims, France

Tuesday 07/06/2016 & Wednesday 08/06/2016

I spent all day planning, preparing, throwing more things into the van I probably wouldn’t need. I kept trying to sleep throughout the day in preparation for the big journey ahead but my mind would not shut down. I felt excited until torrential rain hit and the passenger door and two rear windows were leaking and flooding the van. I had to throw the tarpaulin over and use some silicone to seal the leaks. Finally 10pm came and I was trucking straight down to Dover to catch the 4.20 am ferry to Calais.

Keeping the van watertight whilst I work on sealing the leaks, 3 hours before I’m due to leave!

I hardly noticed the journey as the adrenaline began; I was so focused on the road ahead I could not wait to get to the ferry. Whilst on the M25 the rain started hammering down, at first I was concerned about the water pouring in again then the driver’s side wiper shot off over the back of the van leaving me with almost no vision for a good 20 miles as I prayed for motorway services. I pulled in to find the awning strapped to the roof rack caught the wiper!

Wahey, we made it onto the Ferry! Approaching a very wet Calais imagining the adventures ahead.

It's a weird sensation driving on the right hand side of the road but I got used to it quickly whilst on the AutoRoute. When I entered Reims it was a whole different story navigating through towns so I just followed what the cars in front did. The first Motorhome stop over did not seem to exist, I searched down the streets and I felt like I was in the right area but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I decided to pull over and search for my next option which was a campsite I had found whilst doing some research before the journey. I soon found out that didn’t seem to exist either. My mind was so focused as the thought of even more driving was the last thing I wanted to do!

I used the satnav's near-by function which suggested Camping de Val de Vesle. I was pretty unimpressed as I was almost at the campsite and all around me was farm land for miles. But lo and behold, the satnav directed me to the small site tucked behind a farm. It was an excellent campsite and reasonable price at €12 including electric. Everything was going so well but the weather didn’t agree as it was thunder and lightning all day, turned out to be a good excuse to catch up on sleep and watch films. 

Frisky in her natural habitat (Ignore the pink curtains!)