Autoroute Du Rhone, Switzerland

We left Neuchatel at around midday on Saturday and headed out on the autoroute A5. This follows along the north – western side of Lake Neuchatel and was an easy drive with light traffic and good roads. There are numerous tunnels on this route as it passes though the gently rolling Swiss countryside. You just have to marvel at the engineering of these roads. I couldn’t help but think of the amount of time and effort that’s going into the construction of the Mt Albert tunnel in Auckland which really is just a small blip on the radar in comparison.

Above Lac Leman, D1005, Switzerland

The countryside here is that stereotypical picture that you might see on a swiss cheese pack. Gently rolling hills, Alps in the distance and a green that is much  bluer than in New Zealand. It was a beautiful blue sky day and we really were soaking up the experience. At Yverdon les Bains you join the Autroute du Rhone which follows around the top end of Lake Geneva or Lac Leman if you’re French. Here the road clings to the side of the hills above the lake.  There  are many vineyards planted along the steep slopes beside the road.

Just before descending into Montreux we pulled into a service station to change drivers. Neil had done a fantastic job of driving up to this point and now it was my turn. OK, so I know what you should do when getting into a new vehicle, that is to familiar yourself with the controls. That’s the theory but the practice proved to be somewhat different! Suffice to say that the first kilometre or so of my drive consisted of alot of turning on and off the windscreen wipers, lights and other devices as I attempted to turn off the indictator. This together with me fighting the gears (I drive an automatic normally) lead to a fairly stressful first five minutes for both of us with me at the wheel.

Lac Leman, Thonon Les Bains, France

Just as I had begun to settle in to driving we entered a tunnel and heard a gradually increasing roaring sound. The further into the tunnel the louder it got and we both became quite concerned. As we exited the tunnel all was revealed as a group of Hells Angels flew past us. There must have been at least a hundred of them from all parts of Europe as their jackets spelled out their country of origin. It  was a very impressive site and whilst I’ve seen motorbike gangs before I’ve never seen them in this number and so tightly woven together in convoy.

The descent into Montreux is really impressive with the lake below and the Alps standing majestically ahead. Montreux itself looked fairly ordinary although, to be fair, we did not stop to explore it. From Montreux to Rennaz they’re widening the Autoroute and have temporarily narrowed the existing road. There are two lanes on each carriageway – one for cars and one for cars and lorries. The lane for cars is slightly wider than a car and the one for lorries is narrower than a normal lane. This runs for about 8km and is a nail-biting experience in a campervan I can assure you. Because of this work the roundabout layout at Rennaz has changed – unbeknown to the SatNav! As a result we ended up taking the wrong exit at Rennaz and returning to Montreux and then coming back again. In all around 26km of driving in a lane slighter wider than a bowling alley!

Funiculaire & Port, Thonon Les Bains, France

After Rennaz we took the D1005 which is a rural road that skirts the southern edge of Lac Leman. He’re we took the opportunity to take a break and picnic above the lake. We crossed into France at Saint Gingolph without fanfare. It seems that borders here are simply places where uniformed people wave to you!

We drove onto Evian (of water fame) and finally reached Thonon Les Bains around 2pm. This is a beautiful little port town, beside Lac Leman,  with a funiculaire to the port and a quaint pedestrian only precinct. Much of the activity seems focused around the lake and there are numerous cafés and restaurants strung along the waterfront. On Sunday morning there was a little artisans market with a number of different locals selling interesting trinkets.

After a stroll around the town and a visit to the Orange Mobile shop to organise a “Mifi” , to give us mobile internet access, we drove a couple of Kms down the road to Sciez Sur Le Lac which would be our campsite for the night. Fortunately they just had space for us! Tomorrow we will head for Annecy.

Reason To Camp In May, Camping La Renouillere, Sciez Sur Leman, France

J’ai touvé les gens de Thonon Les Bains étaient très amical. J’ai parlé avec les commercants à Bouygues Telecom et à Orange Mobile quand nous essayions d’acheter un Mifi et ils avaient beaucoup de patience. La proprietaire du camping était très gentil aussi. À cette epoque de l’année il n’y a pas beaucoup de personnes dans le camping mais le ciel est bleu et il fait assez chaud. Nous avons la bonne chance et nous sommes très heureux.