Last week we were invited to a party with a difference - halfway up a mountain. The evening almost didn’t happen when we all nearly missed the last chairlift. We didn’t realise we were driving all the way round to the other side of the mountain - not just to the nearest piste, but we were very lucky that the lifty’s took pity on us and even helped to load and unload all the bedding and other general ’stuff’ that was going up the mountain with us.
More >>
I know we’re not campervan-based right now, but our van is still our transport on the snowy roads so I thought I’d share our experience of the essentials that you need when driving a motorhome in snow. I guess many of you in the UK are having to think about this in the current Arctic conditions! Of course those of us travelling in campervans have a distinct advantage - if we get stuck in bad conditions we can brew a cup of tea, blast the heating for a while, fill a hot water bottle and bed down for the night. Luxury compared to shivering in the driver’s seat of a car wondering why the only food is a packet of mints!
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.
It wasn’t until I wrote some notes that I realised we have actually been quite busy - so I will TRY not to go on too much…
On Jan 1st we drove to a nearby hotel to park outside and borrow a little internet, then to the Carrefour car park to park for the night and see if we could get any internet there. No we couldn’t.
Well, the lift that used to carry people up the side of the valley from the car park below the gondola was unreliable last year…and this year they seem to have given up on it. To make matters worse the steps up the slope have been inexplicably removed so without snow it is like walking up and down a mud slide; when it freezes in the town it will be even more treacherous!
Overdue for an update so I’ll try to briefly catch up 6 months in a few paragraphs…
When I asked my sister very nicely if she and her family would mind us occupying a space in their back garden when we returned from the Alps I did NOT expect to be here for 6 months. Living here has been great - the van is hooked up and we can get wifi in the garden - and I don’t think having live-in babysitters has gone amiss for my sister and brother-in-law either! Although the summer seems like a long time ago now it was lovely to have a big cottage garden at our disposal in the warm weather and we managed some sunbathing and a bit of swingball too!
Finally the little story of how we made it back to the UK.
It was Monday when we left Morzine and our Channel Tunnel crossing was booked for Tuesday evening. It was decided that we would take the sat nav’s route, avoiding any toll roads. This involved some mountain roads north of Geneva, but the snow was so far gone that we knew the roads would be steep, but passable. Straight away I was starting to get irritated by the squeaking wheels that had supposedly been cured weeks previously during one of our overnight stays at a garage. More >>
We saw the season to an end with some style - but with one less person in our on-piste party. Steele unfortunately had a pan-accident with some boiling water and pasta which badly burned his foot and he was unable to snowboard for the last few days. If there had been any way to get on a snowboard he definitely would have done so his readiness to stay in the van told us just how bad his foot was. No photos here because it’s too nasty-looking.
A little while ago we were contacted by a writer from InLondon magazine which is published for Australians and Kiwis living in London. They were looking for content for an article about travelling in Europe in a van so we answered a few questions and here’s the article
I think we might be a little less wild than the Australian girls featured as we’ve found that we’re more healthy than ever before - while they got run down and sick! But it’s nice to be quoted in print and to think that we might help others make the choice to escape by van some time.
You are currently browsing the Explore europe in a campervan weblog archives for the 'Campervan' category.
