19th July 2012

Away from Chamonix early having paid our 12.50 euro charge at the machine, the most expensive aire we have stayed on so far. The bourne here was very poor too but considering the location I suppose we should expect to pay quite a bit. We may only be living in a cardboard box glued to the back of a Transit but I don't think you would get a room with all mod cons in Chamonix for less than a tenner!

As we are obviously in mountain country I thought we had better take no chances and pay the motorway tolls. Very pleasant 85 mile drive to our next stop at Nantua. Satnav almost got us to the right place but at the last moment wanted us to drive down a rough track with a height barrier at the end so we had to take charge and find our own way, only another 200 yards away.

We were very low on water so we waited at the bourne to fill up with water before looking for the best parking place. When we first arrived there were several spaces so I didn't worry but in the 10 minutes it took to get water several more vans arrived and in the end I was pleased we didn't hang about any longer because there were a lot of vans arriving after us.

I  had a brief walk round the town and lake while Lynda sat and sunned herself. As the day progressed more and more British vans arrived, there were at least 5 parked up and we saw 3 others arrive and leave after not finding a space. We quite rarely see British vans so its nice to have a gossip.

A very lazy day altogether spent just relaxing and admiring the view, night time was very quiet so we were happy. A nice aire even though we did have to pay the 7 euro fee to the police staff that arrived during the afternoon.

Breakfast al fresco at Nantua

Lynda standing by the edge of lake feeding stale bread to
the birds. Just think, if that barrier wasn't there I could
'accidentally' drive forward and......