Overnight, as normal, we had a little rain but by the morning this had stopped and our journey home started. There is no doubt in June or my minds we will be returning. In fact when the time is right for us to live this lifestyle permanently, about 2020, we will be bouncing from mountain range to mountain range. We both love the rugged views and even more the rugged driving.
Even the pylons are painted green.
Our aim was to stop near Reims so we could Carrefour shop. However we left picking an Aire too late. We aimed for one we had used a couple of years ago on the return from Lac Annecy but it was full. The handy app showed another nearby but when we could locate it and asked a local he shook his head saying there wasn’t one, despite there being a sign up on the wall of a house (put no parking places). We headed back to the motorway and picked a small Aire and slept well.
From there we moved on in the morning towards Calais for a bit of shopping. We found the fuel at the Auchan in Avenue Roger Salengro at least 20 cents a litre cheaper than the motorways. When you are filling up with over 80 litres that is more than enough for a #Clewleystopsforcoffee treat.
By the time we get home we will have travelled 3750 Kms, 2343 miles. Our 18 Overnight stops were around £360 (including 4 nights at campsites which accounted for about £230). The tolls were around £225 plus £23 for the Swiss Heavy Duty Tax as we are over 4 Tonnes). We used Tesco points towards the EuroTunnel and ended up paying about £30.
Update from the Motorhome parking at Citie Europe.
We have used the Motorhome parking here many times and today was the first time we have ever witnessed any suspicious activity. While cooking June saw a guy trying to get into a Hymer parked behind us and against the wooded area. Fortunately the van was locked and occupied. The guy ran off into the woods. Bob went to have a ‘look’ but he had long gone. As always security should be taken seriously as you would at home. We never leave the van unlocked or unalarmed. I have other security devices (including my big Maglite) fitted to the Motorhome and ways of monitoring it while we are away. There is kit out there folks please find it and use it, but never stop living the dream.
I write this from a beautiful Aire at almost 2200 metres and with stunning views all around. But first can I have a little rant? There are two categories of motorists I detest; apart from killers of course, they are drivers who do not thank you for lettng them through and those that drive on the hard shoulder of a motorway when there is tailback. The former I am more inclined to think maybe it was just a bad day and they forgot or were listening to little Gertrude in the back and normally they would wave and smile at me for my good deed. HOWEVER the second group I really and permanently detest. Today we spent a couple of hours in a queue on the road that leads to St Gotthard’s tunnel. No idea what the cause was as we turned off to St Gotthard’s pass before we came across the mayhem. During this time at least 10 cars of differing nationalities insisted in undertaking. Now, puts on ex-traffic cops hat, the hard shoulder accounts for about 4 times the fatalities than the other three lanes added together (I think those stats are current, if not let me know ex-traffic lads). There is a good reason for the the hard shoulder, despite some UK bean counter deciding that ‘Managed Motorways’ are the way ahead. The emergency services use them to make to the scene to save life and have been trained to do so safely… Yes I know some need the toilet and don’t have the luxury of one at the rear their vehicle, many were in fact pulling over and having a quick wee….male and female. The oiks that we witnessed today we just careless at the best. What they are implying, I think, is their day is far more important that yours and mine who wait patiently. End rant, I thank you.
Your driver for the day ladies and gents.
Maybe I should have more compassion for my fellow law breakers! Yes, we are now legal in Switzerland. Last night I discovered that our vehicle should have a Form 15.19. (Don’t forget the dot). As we are over 4 tonnes we should have purchased said form as soon as we crossed the border some three days ago…… My only excuse your honour, as feeble as it is, is that I hadn’t planned to come into Switzerland on our freestyle trip and hadn’t researched Switzerland too much.
Our dilemma was, do we just carry on and hope the rozzers don’t stop us or do we return to Italy, do a quick U turn and pretend that was our first entry. We went for the latter. We are normally reasonabley law abiding folk, and while Clewley’s luck has served me well, I wasn’t sure my IPA card could get me out of a ticket. So off we went back down the very wet valley to the border post at Luino. A few clicks later and I managed a U turn to saunter back. Having stopped that the customs point I asked for the 15.19 and was told I don’t need one as my vehicle wasn’t big enough. Not big enough? Doesn’t he know a Clewley when he sees one. Anyway I paid my 32.50 Swiss Francs and we were legal again. Hoorah!
Having stocked up with goodies we joined the motorway and you’ve heard the rest as far as that road is concerned. We never intended going through the tunnel as the St Gotthard’s pass looked far more fun. Time lapse to follow folks…
Great driving roads
Whoever Gottard is his pass is almost spectacular (saving that word for later and also we couldn’t see too much through the mist ). His pass first opened in the 13 century according to Andrew Sykes novel Crossing Europe on a bike called Reggie….great read by the way Andrew if you ever read this.
Having completed this pass in the Motorhome, poor Andrew cycled it!, and as we reached the commit moment for Furkapass (you at the back stop sniggering now!) the gear box jumped into neutral. Right on a roundabout. It took a few minutes but soon we were on our way but I could read June’s face she was a little worried it may happen again. Well relying on Clewley’s luck we continued over the aforesaid pass….I am not saying it again ’cause you’ll only laugh again.
See told you
Now Gottard must have been really pee’d off at the discovery of FP as it is truly Stunning. Not knowing where to look next there were lots of ooing and wows. Basically you just zigzag up the up to 2000 meters and then zigzag back down only to do it up one more time to the night’s stop at the top of Grimselpass. When we get back I will upload a gallery of photos for this trip but it make take a while to select those we want…
Our original destination
We were aiming for an Aire at Berghaus near Grimselpass but there is a traffic light system that regulates going up the pass and the return journey. I mistook the red light as a pass blocked so we found another spot for just £7 .
Top of Grimselpass
And finally, why is this post entitled “20 miles later”? That was the distance, as the crow flies, between last night’s and tonight’s locations. However, a swift trip to Italy, a hunt for a decent supermarket, a two hour traffic jam and a stop for lunch added up to eight hour driving day……oh to have wings!
Heavy storms overnight made the packing away of the girls tent a little damp to say the least. Still we were on the road by 10.00 and off to the supermarket so carefully plotted on TomTom. Well had it not been a Swiss holiday we would have shall we say…. Note to self, check holidays of the countries you are visiting before the food runs low. Thankfully we needed fuel so picked up the basics in a service station before heading up the valley.
First point to stop was the dam just a few clicks along the winding road. There appear to be quite a few Swiss drivers who love hugging the central white line. No matter if they have a drop on their side or a cliff…they don’t like to drive on the edge…just saying.
The car park for the dam is quite small and after waiting a few minutes for a space June noticed a few people walking towards the dam entrance from the north. Just a few hundred metres further along were several parking places with room for the Motorhome and these were free. Back at the dam, as I think I had mentioned yesterday, there is a bungee jumping platform. Sadly we didn’t have a spare 250 Swiss francs so we gave that a miss….this time. We watched a couple of lads take the jump, one of the longest in Europe. Bob now fluent in Swiss asked for a sticker and ended up with a map of the valley, but hey the map was free. Driving up this valley was just stunning. I know I use that word a lot but it was, promise. I could prove it by boring you with footage from the Road Hawk we have fitted to the front screen but I guess you would rather take my word for it. (May get some time lapse for tomorrow though as we go over the Alps).
Verzasca Damn
We stopped at Lavertezzo where there is a double arched bridge, and a geocache if you are up for it too. Parking a few hundred metres north of the bridge at 2 francs an hour or you can get the Verzasca Parking Card from info points, restaraunts, campsites and the machines with a green background. The water is so clear at Lavertezzo there is a company that does dive trips there. Well I guess if you have no coast you have to make the most of what you have.
Lavertezzo Bridge
To be honest it looked great fun and the water was very very clear. Having grabbed a geocache and managed to keep our feet dry we went back to the Motorhome fed the meter again and took lunch at the riverside. Amy, of course, went swimming and deserves a medal…the water was a tad cold. The rocks along this valley are full of mica (see I did learn something from that OU geology course) and glisten in the sunlight. Yes the sun was out!!
Après lunch we made our way to Sonogno (Son-non-yo) which was to be our camp for the night. And what a site. The village is, yes you’ve guessed it, stunning…no really it is look.
Sonogno Aire
The Aire is at the end of the car park and for a grand total of €16 a night we have water and dumping facilities in a beautiful Swiss valley. And the ticket covers us for use of the car parks in the valley until tomorrow at 19.00. Just a 2 minute walk to the village this Aire is really well positioned. The village has a few souvenir shops, a restaurant and cafés. There is a beautiful church looking over what I guess must be the village green.
Today the sun god has come out….the skies are as blue as blue can be and not a cloud to be seen. The site was really quite quiet during the night helped by the barriers being closed to cars at 10.00 pm. We did see a security guard patrolling during the evening but how much of that continued after dark I don’t know.
It looks like we will be carrying out the 3 S’s today, swimming, shopping and siesta’ing. Chloe did say if it was sunny today she would swim out to a pontoon in the lake with Amy…time will tell:)
The lake frontage at the campsite gives great access to the water. Amy was in a quick as she could be. She is a real water baby. As the morning progressed we were joined by a floating bar. This boat went from mooring spot to mooring spot around Lake Maggiore selling ice creams and drinks.
Floating bar with a few clouds in the background now.
By this time the girls were out on the pontoon so we were unable to bankrupt ourselves for a second day running.
The afternoon saw us back in the town…. Wander through a market and the towards the old town where we had a few beers and as we were not in the lake front area much cheaper…..more similar to London prices.
Locarno
I think if we were here on own own June and I could stay in Locarno a lot longer. There is a Sosta just down from the campsite and while this is not much more than a car park the two of us wouldn’t need much more. The girls have enjoyed the lake frontage and swimming and to be honest our fellow campers have been well behaved and some a source of almost constant conversation. With comments like ‘ what is she doing wearing those?’ And ‘what music is that…our speaker system can easily out do theirs if we tried’ oh and the ‘are they real?’ Meanwhile Bob just sat there drinking yet another beer….. And asking why do so many people insist in walking across our pitch? It wouldn’t happen on a Caravan Club site I can tell you!
