We decided not to stay in Langres on Sunday 8th April so we found this wooded aire nearby.
This sign at the aire's toilet waste disposal facility shows why a little knowledge of a foreign language can be a dangerous thing! (The container toilet waste is stored in on a campervan/motorhome is called a cassette. The translater of this had obviously referred to a french - english dictionary and found cassette tapes!)
On Monday 9th April we journeyed further south and stayed at this aire with a lake view at St Point Lac just south of Pontarlier and very near to the Swiss border.
In the morning of Tuesday 10th April we visited the source of the river Doubs which was close by. Amazing - a large river flows straight out of a cave in the mountainside!
Shortly afterwards we crossed into Switzerland and were greeted by an absolutely mindblowing sight of the main chain of the alps stretching from horizon to horizon as we descended from the Jura into the valley of Lake Geneva.
We stayed the night of Tuesday 10th April at the swiss village of Gryon which is not far past the flesh pots of Lausanne and Montreux which we passed through as quickly as we could. Lots of people with lots of money etc. etc.
When we woke up on Wednesday morning about 15 cms of snow had fallen over night which completely transformed the scene.
Our van on the aire at Gryon Wednesday 11th April.
The road down to the valley from Gryon was reasonable clear so we headed down to Martigny and then on to Brig where we found out the the Simplon Pass over to Italy was only negotiable with snow chains or studded tyres so we booked onto the railway shuttle through the Simplon Tunnel. Cost 22 Swiss Francs - not sure how much this is in pounds or euros but it sure beat getting stuck in a blizzard on a high alpine pass.
We stayed the night of Wednesday 11th April in a car park in the italian village of Feriolo on the very shore of Lake Maggiore. Here's a pic of the village.
Today Thursday 12th April we continued south from Feriolo across the plains of Piedemont through the rice growing area of Italy.
Tonight we are staying in the interesting town of Casale Monferrato. We are parked right next to the Castle.
Casale street scene. And below - inside Casale Cathedral.
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