We thought that we should explore the gravel tracks above the car park (our wild camp at Lac des Plagnes 😄). That had been a super place in which to stay, although two nights is a stretch with our little toilet. When we went to market at Abondance we went to the Camping Car official overnight park and paid to dispose of the toilet contents. There’s a special ‘station’ and you pay a fee for the door to open onto a disposal point and hosepipe.
We might complain in the UK about the number of ‘free’ campers but here in France, as well as these organised campervan locations, you also find overnighters almost everywhere (not only in the car park at Lac des Plagnes). Many places with a view seem to have vans parked there and if there’s a major cycle race, they line the side of the hill climbs (not just for Le Tour).
So, armed with an idea that we could drive over the back to the very top of Chatel, “because it’s there”, we turned uphill and followed a forest gravel road until we reached the Chalets de Lens. There were signs of life at one or two of these summer residences.
We then made a mistake and turned onto the wrong track which got steeper and then less defined. A swift 50 point turn and we were back at the junction and this time took a steep, slippery track up higher, until eventually we reached a col with a view of distant skier hauling equipment.
After that it was a cautious but confident drive down and up past a high farm, to finally join at the top of a tarmac road.
From there we dropped into Chatel, a big ski resort but totally made of wood-clad chalets. It looks beautiful, even though you know they are non-environmentally friendly concrete shells underneath.
It was a nice drive and it’s great to traverse hills in this way, that otherwise would take a chunk of a day to walk (and in a circle at that).
We drove down and down, all the way to Lake Geneva at about 370m and there, to the east of Evian-les-Bains, we found a lovely little campsite on the steep hillside overlooking the lake, at Lugrin.
Camping Myosotis might sound like a nasty skin disease but it is in a most beautiful setting, with views across to Lausanne, maybe 5-6 miles away.
The sun set was behind the Jura escarpment and the overnight view was just as good.
We found two places from which the lake could be accessed for swimming and had two very nice swims. On the walk back I again admired the houses.
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