Jackie worked her magic again and found a cracking campsite within striking distance of the three valleys. Bozel on paper looks quite a low altitude town, but it definitely has the mountain feel. It was the first time we had stayed at one of the Hutopia sites, and we weren’t disappointed. The brand prides itself on a life in nature, with all sites having an almost wildcamping feel. The nearest thing we could liken it to was North American and Canadian camp grounds. Needless to say, with less than 2 weeks of the season remaining, the site was pretty deserted and very relaxed. We purposely booked 2 nights (at €16 a night!) just to give our weary legs a well deserved rest. Life on the road has some boring bits that need to be done periodically such as doing a load of washing! We spent the time at Bozel lazing in the sun by the beautiful pool (which we had to ourselves), cycling into the town just to pootle around and a tiny little gorge walk to keep our legs ticking over (and to stop us drinking too soon in the day!).
When we moved, we were really excited to head for the famed weekly market at the head of the valley in Prangolon- as advised by our trusty wild guide. Well this time it let us down- Prangolon was stunningly beautiful, surrounded by a bowl of mountain peaks…but the market reflected the end of season vibe and consisted of 3 rather bland stalls. It was the first time that we really felt the season coming to a close. Supermarkets were shut, with polite notices on the doors saying “see you in December!”. On our loop back down the valley we dropped in at Champany- a small ski village we had visited years ago when the kids were little. It was a similar tale- all shops shut and not a soul to be seen- we did however find the most picturesque fishing pool to have our picnic lunch by. We knew that our time was limited in the mountains and coming to a close. One last throw of the dice to visit the instagram hotspot of the Lac de la Rosiere…a 30 minute drive up the opposite valley side to where we currently found ourselves.
Well the throw of the dice paid off in bucket loads. After driving up to Courchevel, and then considerably downhill towards the lake in a parallel valley, we didn’t really know what to expect. At the end of the road, not only the lake met us with it’s crystal clear waters, but also the most idilic and van friendly park up you ever wish for.
Slowly but surely the day trippers disappeared and we were left with the lake to ourselves. The lake was as stunning as the images suggest- the only disappointment was that there was no swimming allowed. What we had was a photographers dream- a stunning location with time to let the light change, develop and enhance the natural beauty of the lake. It was a really privileged day and night we spent at the lake.
The following morning was cold, really cold! We got up early to explore the lake and desperately needed hot coffee when we got back to the van. What was amazing was the absolute stillness and silence where we camped…it was much later in the morning when other visitors started to arrive. Once we had warmed up, and the sun finally made its way above the high peaks to warm the valley, we decided upon a quick walk to a nearby set of water falls. Courchevel have really upped their game and made a real summer attraction of this area, with purpose made family BBQ areas, clearly marked trails and loads of information boards to let visitors know what is around them.
Once we were packed up, we were so close to Courchevel it would have been rude not to visit. What we found however were ghost villages- with absolutely nothing open- way beyond what we had experienced in other villages- it was like an apocalypse had occurred. We needed to move on, and we knew just the place to go- Lake Annecy. Jackie had been on the forums and people were saying that Annecy was really busy- we found that hard to believe looking out at the deserted villages in the mountains.
It soon transpired that the rumours were true- with it being the weekend Annecy was rammed. We were not worried about accommodation however as the ASCI guide listed more than 20 campsites in the area that offered rates from €16 to €22 a night. We decided to try luxury at €22 a night- it had a pool and a gym…but it was full! The early retirement Gods must have been looking out for us and making sure we saved our money! We got in at Camping Solitaire du Lac, a site we had visited on our very first European campervan trip 4 years ago. It was fab- on the lake, clean and dirt cheap at €18 a night with electricity. It was busy, but the site had a lovely relaxed vibe- mainly because the average age of the campers were 70+. What we loved about our time here was the people that we met from all across Europe- sharing experiences and taking advice from people who had been retired and travelling for years. Much to our embarrassment, all conversations were in English due to our lack of language skills. We were befriended by our Dutch neighbours who had impeccable English- in their mid 70’s and so wise about life. We met a German couple in the most amazing Mercedes overlander truck with Richard having another van porn moment and chatting all things vans with the owners. We had a lovely couple of evenings sitting out, drinking and chatting with a young couple from Germany who were so interesting- he had just completed his masters and his wife was Ukrainian- neither could speak each others language so they conversed in English- their shared language. This really did put our language to shame- as they both spoke 3 languages fluently- him English, German and Dutch and her Uranian, Russian and English.
Overall we spent 4 days around the lake, cycling, swimming and pottering around the town. It was a real slow down being in one place for more than a couple of nights and it was just what we needed. We still remained really active, clocking up miles on the bikes and walking whenever we could, but it was good to let our bodies recover from the exertions of the Alps.
Check out part 10 of our summer adventures here.
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