During our summer break  back in Canada ( but also at other points in our van travels ) we’ve been asked lots of questions about our somewhat extended “life on the road”, ranging from the technical, to the personal, to the financial, to the operational and various other aspects of it. Over time I’ve made a bit of a mental list of them and recently collated some of the more common ones – in the coming weeks I thought I’d add an addendum to the blog as a short “Q and A”. If some were asking it, we figured, likely others were thinking it ! We’ll kick it off at the bottom of this week’s edition  ( feel free to send us any others that you would like answered ) 😊.

One of the toughest things about travelling in Europe is the simple fact that you are so spoilt for choice. We’re finding ourselves a little bit tormented in a way, and by moving on in the direction we are going we always seem to be passing up something else that we feel we really should be checking out – a nice problem to have though, I suppose. Seems each time we make a detour there is something else equally appealing if we could “just drive a little further on” ! So that’s kind of how we got where we are now (  south eastern France, exploring some of their historic villages and cities ) and we have absolutely no regrets. Why go straight south when there are so many great detours to distract us !

 This past week the route took us further south in France, through the stunning castle village of Chateau Chateauneuf, the foodie haven of Dijon ( yes, home of the eponymous mustard ), a few other smaller villages and ultimately to Annecy ( sometimes known as the “Venice of the North” ) – one of France’s prettiest small cities where we spent a couple of days. The week wrapped up with a foray into the Alps at Chamonix, and while not quite the outcome we hoped for it was probably one we should have expected 🧐.

If Flavigny was impressive, Chateau Chateauneuf took it a notch higher. The same historic, original French stone buildings and cobblestone streets, but Chateauneuf also had the most imposing castle perched high atop a knoll with the most expansive views. Taking the self guided tour of it was well worthwhile – interesting to see how the nobility lived back in the day. 

World-renowned Dijon was only 40 minutes  away and with more to offer than just its famous mustard we enjoyed wandering its historic streets and parks. Sadly, it’s famous market was not open the day we visited but we had no problem finding other sights to enjoy and an excellent lunch to savour- a foodie haven so thought it a good spot to sample the local fare.

Close to Dijon was the smaller city of Besançon and, while we would not have made a special trip to see it, there was a very worthwhile reason for the detour there that we made. While the Mercedes dealer in Troyes couldn’t help us with the EGR part we needed, the Service Associate very thoughtfully arranged for it to be delivered to the nearby Besancon dealership – most conveniently they could also fit us in for the installation. With service appointments often needing to be booked weeks in advance, we were incredibly appreciative of the cooperation between the two dealers that made it possible for us to continue travelling with what ultimately amounted to a very minor interruption.  Thank you, again Saber and Cédric !

Annecy, a beautiful small city on Lake Annecy, and just a few hours further south, was effectively our last stop in France. We had read much about this place and seen quite a few pictures so were keen to get there and explore it for ourselves. It did not disappoint. With our van parked up right on the waterfront and just on the edge of downtown, it was one of the most convenient locations imaginable and gave us lots of opportunity to explore Annecy’s beautiful attractions. It’s popular, being just an hour or so south of Geneva in Switzerland, and being a weekend it was extra busy, however the crowd of visitors from all over the world simply added to the ambiance.

At this stage, we planned  to finally start heading east with our first stop being to visit some old friends in the east of Switzerland. East was also the logical direction we should’ve been heading ! Rather than scoot across the top of the industrial region of Italy as originally planned, we opted to cross the Alps and go straight up to Switzerland, but planned a route which would be all virgin territory to us. This gave us the opportunity to sneak in a visit to Chamonix, ( a skiing mecca and home to Mt Blanc ) just before leaving France. It was probably optimistic to think we could park anywhere near the place ( but thought we’d roll the dice ) – even a nice view of Mt Blanc alone would make a visit worthwhile and it lay right on our path to Switzerland anyway. See below – let’s just say it was fortunate we did not go too far out of our way !

Till next week, 

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In Case You Wondered:

 Q: Do you guys argue from time to time and isn’t it difficult living for extended periods in a ( relatively ) small space ?

A: A surprisingly common question ! Yes, we do, mostly about driving directions but sometimes about destinations, and routes as well. Made worse when one of us is sick, or something goes wrong with the vehicle ( the severed ABS brake cable issue in remote northern Norway in sub zero temperatures would be a good example ), or when the weather is bad ( “Jeff, remind me, again, why are we here in March ?” ) ! We actually don’t find the space “small” and we see MANY travellers in vehicles smaller and less well equipped than ours. We are very  thankful for all the facilities and features our van has – helps minimize those arguments !