Aires and Graces

Hi all. Sorry I have been a bit quiet, but we're camping on the beach near Saint Tropez and Internet connection is tricky as you can imagine. Plus I hav'nt made much of an effort because we are doing so much stuff. Today I'm going to make up for it and do two blogs to update you all.

So we left Geneva, phew, thank the lord. It was a lovely place and camp site, and we are definitely glad we went, but my bank card was having palpitations every time we did even a small daily food shop.

It really was that expensive for everything. We headed out on another beautiful morning in the general direction of the South of France.

As I have mentioned before, we have tried to break up all our journeys, for our sanity and to make the travel time better for the kids. As English people, we generally have a certain view of French people and culture, but one thing they do way better than us is motorway services or 'Aires'. They range from massive all singing all dancing sites with fuel, shops, cafes, etc etc, to smaller picnic spots just off the motorway.

There are no exorbitant parking prices at any of these places, you are welcome to just pull up and camp and make use of the facilities mainly for free. Some of the sites cater for motorhomes or caravans and have water, electric hook up, showers and toilets, although some do charge a small fee for these services. Even so they are way cheaper than camp sites and make travel so much easier and enjoyable.

These Aires are not just next to motorways. Some are located in beauty spots off the beaten track and are well used, well advertised and well maintained.

Kerry had done some research and found an Aire a couple of hours south of Geneva at Lac Montynard which would break up our journey nicely. When we arrived the place exceeded expectation, lovely turquoise waters, well used by water sports enthusiasts and campers but not overly busy. Toilets, shops and cafe with hook up and water if needed for Euro 9 per night.

We only needed to stay for a few hours to break up the journey, but if we are ever in the area again we would definitely think about staying.

We all had a good play on the beach and in the water, had a good scoff and an ice cream or two at the cafe and I managed a quick nap in the van to prepare us nicely for the onward trip to the South of France.

The kids loved it and even though we were really worried about the amount of miles they were going to be sat in the van for, our plan, with the help of the Aires has been pretty plain sailing.

After the Lac, we carried on south through the mountains and some breathtaking scenery until we stopped for the night in an Aire (for free) about 45 minutes short of our next destination Port Grimaude, just near Saint Tropez.

Lao Tzu once said: A good traveller a has no fixed plans, and is not solely intent on arriving.

Chris