Explore europe in a campervan

Excuse any mistakes please as I’m typing one-handed - more on that later…

On Sunday we didn’t go to Thonon as there was a chance the petrol station might be shut - and we wated time to test the battery more. Instead we spent a couple of hours in the internet cafe before heading up the mountain for a few (VERY icy) runs.

The drive to Thonon for gas the following day was rather snowy. We put the snow chains on to get out of the car park and had to keep them on for about 8 miles! Being slightly wiser, we put them on the rear wheels as our Mercedes Sprinter is rear-wheel-drive. It was a lot less of a bumpy ride than when we previously put them on the front wheels! Surprisingly it was snowing all the way to Lake Geneva, where it is usually green and spring-like.

That night Simon invited ourselves over to Vicky and Phil’s Van for a drink and a chat. We ended up heading into town with a few of their friends who live and work in the area. After a couple of drinks in Le Crepu and Cafe Chaud we headed back…I slipped on the snow and hurt my wrist. It wasn’t until the pain woke me in the night that I realised quite how badly and in the morning we headed to the medical centre.

I’ve broken my wrist. After just 5 days of a 120 day trip, after only 3 brief ventures onto the mountain, and not even while snowboarding (when I wear wristguards that I now wish I had worn fulltime)! I am plastered from my hand almost to my shoulder and €180 lighter just from my prescriptions at the pharmacy - strangely I had to buy and replace the plaster used to set the arm. Of course we have travel insurance that should cover this and the, no doubt extortionate, bill I will pay at the medical centre tomorrow when I return for another x-ray.

The whole experience was rather awful. The doctor and assistant, although not unfriendly, had no bedside manner and were pushing and pulling me around without ever explaining what they were doing. I spent about an hour going from one room to another in my bra! And I was not reassured by the other patient they were treating, a young Irish boy, who was screaming in pain and distress as they x-rayed again and again, then set his broken leg.

So it seems our season is over unless we come up with a brilliant plan. We’ll definitely stay a few days, then head to Chamonix where we had arranged to meet up with friends, before returning to the UK. There is a small possibility we could find a (very cheap) room to rent where I could stay all day - of course sitting in the van day in, day out is not an attractive option. It will be a tall order though, to find a cheap room with van-sized parking and wi-fi. But you never know.

Right now we’re getting used to me being pretty useless while Simon has to do nearly everything. He’s been incredibly patient so far but I expect the novelty will wear off!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 11:39 am and is filed under Diary, Campervan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.