1 Motorhome, 2 Lads, 1 massive trip: 26th August

Tuesday 26th August 2008

And then it was cold again! Yesterday we had our most ‘British’ experience of the trip so far, by waking up in what seemed like a large ice bucket - well, almost. We now find ourselves high up in the beautiful Swiss Alps in a quite stunning village called Grimentz, in a handy little free aire with electricity for just CHF 1.50. The journey from the South of France was a long and steep one, but one which was more than definitely worth the effort.

Afte

r leaving St. Tropez we spent a few pleasant days in Nice before we visited our 4th country in the shape of little Monaco. We only spent one evening here, mainly due to us having to park what felt like a few miles out of the centre, in fact we were more than likely parked in France due to Monaco’s ridiculous size. We did have a stunning view of Monaco from where we camped for the night though (pictured). We visited the famous Monte Carlo Casino (also pictured), where we pretended to be loaded for one evening even though we spent not a penny on the tables or machines - we fooled nobody. Perhaps it was because I was sporting “ripped jeans”, not the usual attire for someone driving a £100,000 Bentley and spending £1000 on one throw of the dice. It was fun trying though.

Monaco was our last destination in France as we crossed the border into Italy and headed for Turin where we spent 2 days. We arrived on Saturday evening and we were surprised by the lack of activity in the centre of the town and it’s main streets, hardly a soul was about apart from us and a few street traders who can’t have been doing too well that night. We explored Turin properly on Sunday which meant the town was even quieter, and although almost everything was shut we didn’t particularly mind as we were the only tourists about - which made a change from places like Paris, Madrid and Barcelona which we’ve previously visited. Although I was slightly annoyed as I couldn’t find anywhere open which sold an English newspaper and I was desperate to read about Southampton’s one-nil victory of hapless Derby County the previous day.

Turin is a pretty place, but not much to write home about. Perhaps I’m being harsh, and perhaps I am judging it along with the likes of the three cities listed above, but in all honesty there isn’t a great deal to see unless you can afford to spend 10 Euros going into each museum, which Turin is not short of. We did manage to find a handy free (again!) parking spot though, almost in the city centre. We were parked right next to Turin’s second largest train station, and about 5 minutes walk from the main square. There was a little train noise throughout the night but nothing too drastic. We were somewhat apprehensive about leaving Eric here though, it was the first major city since the Marseille fiasco, but we needn’t of worried as no funny business occurred.

Even though we’d only just arrived in Italy, Turin was to be our penultimate stop there as this was only really a passing visit - we’ll explore Italy in full depth later this year when we catch the ferry from Greece or Albania, where we will arrive in either Bari or Brindisi on the South coast. Our final destination in Italy for now though was spent in an Aire listed in our trusty Camper Stop 2007 Guide, in Breuil-Cervinia, way up in the Italian Alps, within touching distance of the 4482ft high ‘Matterhorn’. The road was long and winding (we should have played our Beatles album on the way up) and it took around 30 minutes to reach the aire, but when we did it did not disappoint. The view of the overlooking surrounding mountains was breath taking and the temperature had suddenly fallen from what we have been used to these past few months, and we attracted some odd looks when jumping out of the motor home in just shorts and sandals, as you can imagine. We stayed only one night and although the guide said we’d be charged 6 Euros, nobody ever came to collect anything so we had another free stop over. Before a quick coffee in a nearby café we made our way back down the mountain towards Switzerland - what would be our 6th country of the trip so far!

We took the SS26 through Aosta (where I managed to pick up a Sunday Mail, thankfully. A tiny write up on the game mind, surprise surprise.) and then took the SS27 on mountainous terrain towards the Tunnel du St Bernard which would take us through the other side of the Alps into Switzerland. Upon arriving at the pay-point we were greeted with a huge sign saying “Camping Cars 36.50 Euros”. 36.50? For a small tunnel? It was quite ridiculous, and although we’d driven a long way to get there we could not justify spending that much of our budget on one tunnel, so we had to turn back to where we were told by the polite English speaking man in the kiosk that there was a scenic route through the mountains which would add around 45 minutes onto our journey. This didn’t bother us though, the scenic route sounds much prettier than a tunnel, and what’s more it’s 36.50 Euros cheaper. The views over the valleys below were awesome, but the road surface left a lot to be desired. They clearly haven’t done any work to this road since it was built in 500 BC.

When you cross the border into Switzerland, everything changes immediately. Not like when you cross from France to Italy or Spain to Portugal where you can hardly notice a difference. Switzerland stands out from any other country we’ve been to so far. The roads are perfectly maintained, everything sparkles as if it’s just been freshly scrubbed the same morning and the people are always smiling and greet you with a smile and a “Bonjour”. It really is a very agreeable little place.

We wanted to head to another aire listed in the Camperstop book in the town which we currently reside, ‘Grimentz’, for the sole reason that the photograph in the guide is stunning. On the left is a motor home dwarfed by huge snow covered mountains, and on the right a place to get water and electric. It said it was free too so that was a bonus. We drove along the SR21 through Martigny, where we had to draw out some Swiss Francs and headed along the straight and flat D9 in the bottom of a valley running alongside the river Rhone (which we’d last seen in Avignon). The flat Roman like road made a fantastic change from all these hills we’d been twisting and turning up.

We found the turning to go up in the ‘Val d Anniveers’ where the village is located two thirds of the way up. Upon arriving in Grimentz we were greeted by a few other motor homes parked in the road side aire, and although there was no snow like the photo, the location was still perfect.
The village of Grimentz itself is beautiful beyond words, and I have absolutely fallen in love with the place. It’s so quiet and peaceful, so pretty and just so perfect. Stunning dark brown wooden chalet style houses are randomly scattered across the hillside, and the village centre is like something from a fairytale. Each building has shutters on the windows, a small balcony and

hundreds of flower baskets hanging off them, which look like they each have a personal professional gardener as they are all so perfectly kept. It adds so much colour to the place. My mother would absolutely love this place too, and when I win the lottery I’ll buy her one of these chalets to retire to.

For me, it feels like the real travelling has started. We’ve had our holiday, we’ve sat on the beach long enough, and now we are into proper Europe, real Europe and certainly beautiful Europe. In my opinion this little village certainly beats any of the major cities we’ve been to for beauty and interest. I could wander these petit streets for hours and never be bored, whereas after a few h

ours wandering a capital city it starts to take its toll, and the interest wears off after seeing most of the attractions. This village is the closest I’ve experienced since I lived and worked in Brockenhurst in the New Forest, which I absolutely adored for it’s charm and tranquillity, but this place is like no other - hopefully the photos attached do it justice. I don’t quite know where we’re going next (that’s quite a nice feeling to have) but if all of Switzerland is like this then we’re going to have a great time here.