We attempt a bit of Autoroute for this part of the journey. This
does not make Onzo happy. Fuel economy hits the deck and everyone is grumpy. No
more Autoroutes for us! The drive to Annecy is uneventful. The grey cloudy
weather begins to lift as we approach. We park up in a central spot with the
intention of going to the Tourist Office to get the low down on parking. Just
as we are about to leave I trip over Moo who is lying in one of his normal ‘convenient’
spots. Nasty twisted ankle is the result. A trip to the Tourist Office reveals
there are two areas that cater for Camping cars. We go to the first one and it
is full. Bearing in mind the number of tourists around at this time of the year
we find it incredible that they only cater for 15 Camping Cars. We have visited
tiny towns in rural France that have more and better facilities than this. So
we journey to the next one which has loads of free spaces but is a located in
one of the less salubrious parts of town more akin to a favela.
Annecy is quite lovely. However we may have made a bit of an error
here. Last night they had their Festival du Lac. The place is heaving. Just
walking the streets is nigh on impossible, particularly the narrower ones. It’s
not just the sheer volume of people either. Cars, delivery vans and to top it
all off the streets in their entirety are being hosed down. This does not add
up to fun walking, which is a shame. After lunch (overlooking the Favela) we
buy some beer and walk to the park on the edge of the lake. Stunning views but
the amount of people is quite staggering. As for the lake there is barely a
patch of water going spare for the amount of boats plying the water. A swift
beer revives the senses and we decide that perhaps it is best to move on. We
also decide a minor change of plan is called for. The remaining places we
wanted to visit in the Alps can wait for another day. Instead we are going to
head for Italy. There’s work required on the Van (albeit minor we hope!) and
completion is getting close on the house. As we leave our decision is
vindicated. The traffic leaving Annecy is unreal. Our aim now is to overnight
and depending on the weather make our way to the Frejus Tunnel and wind our way
to Italy.
