Valle Verzasca

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
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
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
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.

Sonogno Church
Sonogno Church

 

 

Oh how it rained

As we left England a really weird cloud formation came in from the sea. A roll cloud. At this point we were glad to be going to France via the Tunnel….. the wind was picking up….a lot!!

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Roll Cloud

As we hit France there was the largest lightening storm any of us had ever seen…..

We stopped in a motorway aire just north of Lillers. Yes there are lots of stories about being mugged and attacked as you sleep by the bad boys but to be honest I have been doing this since 2005 and never had any problems…..

Early start the next day to another aire to the South of Dijon at Poulet De Bresse on the A39…

Typing this from Chamonix as it rains we have decided that tomorrow we will make our way to Italy and Lucca. Apparently this is a really loverly town and they make beautiful ice cream. Wait one for the update on that.

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Chamonix

During our wander around Chamonix today we had to have a #Clewleystopsforcoffee moment of course… Well if I am being honest it was a #Clewleystopsforbeer!

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