Mountain Biking, Mont Blanc'ing and Mountain Blogging!

Ok, so this is a first. I'm writing this from the van, off grid in a walker's car park with the sun streaming through the windows and the peak of Mont Blanc for company. We've really hit another jackpot with this one, but more on that later. Saying that, I may have to defer posting this, as the downside (if you can call it that) of being high in the Alps is a distinct lack of phone or WiFi signal. I'll try, but it may get posted tomorrow when we get back down in Annecy. Post script - there was nothing approaching a strong enough signal, so posting this from a lakeside spot the following day (Thursday 18th October).

Anyway, much to catch you up on, this is now blog 29 and well into 7 months of being away - it's gone like a flash I can assure you!

The last blog post saw us into our first day in the Vosges, a lovely 5 star campsite near the village of Bussang. Jase came back from his ride with tales of lovely mountain bike trails and having found himself as part of the Cannondale Enduro series route! Later in the afternoon we enjoyed a lovely afternoon dip at the side indoor pool. Followed by the closest thing we've got to a roast in our van, bangers, mash & onion gravy - lush although so much washing up it definitely wasn't one to be done roadside!

Monday morning dawned bright and sunny although we realised what a shady pitch we'd chosen. The site had quietened down, so we decided to move across to a much sunnier position - a good move with a fortnights worth of washing to get done! By the time we'd "moved house" and got the washing done, it was time for lunch and then we headed out on the mountain bikes together for a bit of a look see. The village had a good dozen or so routes from the front door, plus access to a long Voie vert using a disused railway path. We selected a fairly short route, but being set in the hills whichever way we went, we had height to gain. The initial route was only about 10km but plenty of stiff climbs and good off road descending too. It was a great start. Back at site we headed poolside again for a lovely dip.

Tuesday morning and again the weather was fab - Jase had done loads of homework trying to map the good weather and it had definitely paid off. We headed back out on the mountain bikes for a longer route - this one had a really steep climb (walk) but then a lovely decent back through the woods and a great chance to see the autumn colours coming through now. We also found a lovely pond & stream where we spotted a couple of kingfishers Back at site, and headed poolside again to sooth our aching legs!

Wednesday morning and sunny again (sorry, I know you've had it bad back home). Jase wanted to strike further afield today, so he headed off on his mountain bike and I stayed more local on mine, riding around the town's historic trail, park and spending a bit of time seeing if the kingfishers were regulars at the pond - the answer there was a no! Interesting to learn that Bussang used to be one parish with neighbouring St Maurice, but the locals got fed up walking 3km to Mass, so got their own church and parish set up. Bussang also has the source of some famous springs which were known as far away as Paris and are celebrated with this sculpture. End of the day spent poolside again.

Thursday and a bit of a cloudier start with a few spots of rain. We decided to head onto the Voie vert along the disused railway on the bikes. The outbound trip was lovely, basically a freewheel all the way! Plenty of lovely autumn colours to see, and river banks of the Mosel. We stopped at a lovely place for lunch, again riverside.

The ride back was harder though as not only was it uphill all the way, the wind had also got up and was in our faces! We did get a couple of kingfisher glimpses on the way back plus a couple of other lovely birds too. With help from a well timed Boost bar I made it back - 62kms done so well and truly shattered!

Friday morning and back to sunnier conditions, so Jase headed out for his final ride, and I'd planned to stay close to camp, feeling tired after the previous day. However, our neighbours at site had their TV so loud I couldn't bear it so headed back to the pond hoping for sightings. Did see a few things, but just nice to be in the peace and quiet really.

Back at camp and those neighbours had gone, but a very noisy French crowd had arrived clearly for a boozing weekend - bottles of JD on the table at lunchtime! We spent the afternoon avoiding them one way or another, and making the most of the sun.

Saturday morning and we had a busy day of housekeeping planned. More washing plus the van needed a spring clean inside and out. We were planning another block of time away from campsites, so it's important to make sure everything is cleaned down and tidied up as far as possible. Once all the jobs were done we had a final dip in the pool.

Sunday morning and again fabulous weather. The plan was to head towards Annecy as the weather was due to be better further south now. After a big fuel stop (€110-ouch!) we headed back down the Col du Bussang through the forest with stunning colours - we really felt like we'd seen the onset of Autumn through the course of the week - and headed south. We still had plenty of time on our toll sticker for Switzerland and the journey made more sense to head that way (can you guess what happened next....?!). Anyway, as we head on the distance signs to Interlaken get lower and lower, and the weather stays absolutely crystal clear. We get to the split for Interlaken or Lausanne, and Jase says "which is it then?", and of course I say "Interlaken". It was only about 50km out of our way, but that implies there is a plan! Part of Jexit was always about being able to make snap decisions, and follow our noses to the good weather/scenery/event.

Once nearer the lakes, we decided to take a drive up to Grindelwald where we knew we'd get great views of the Eigar and we weren't disappointed.

The only issue we had was a completely lack of Swiss money - well, we weren't planning on going back! As all the parking was pay only, and with no options on Park4Night we decided to head back down and see if the layby we'd used the previous time overlooking Brienz was available. We were in luck and with clearer skies the views were even better this time.

Monday morning and after a fairly quiet night, the day started very bright and clear. After breakfast we headed back up to Grindelwald and parked up by the Wetterhorn in order to do a walk. We set out from the van initially doing a walk with views towards the glacier and seeing the site of the worlds first aerial cable car - unfortunately never much of a success thanks to the war, but fair play for trying in 1908! We then headed up towards a disused restaurant at Milchbach and took the wooded valley trail back down towards Grindelwald. The result was a 6mile walk, 111 flights of stairs (which I reckon must be about 300m of height gain) and some truly stunning views.

Back at van we head a spot of lunch, and then hit the road to cover some of the distance to get us back on track and towards Annecy. The journey took us past the airbase at Payerne and as luck would have it, just as 2 F18s came in to land!

We'd spotted a free Aire just outside Geneva by the side of the lake which we headed for. On arrival though it was purely a car park along a very busy road, and with the Police doing a drive by in the first 5 minutes, we decided this wasn't the spot for us. Jase luckily found another more cheeky spot near a woods by a large sports complex about 10minutes up the road. It was nearly dark by the time we got there, but it seemed fairly safe and very quiet.

Tuesday morning and after a trouble free quiet night (aside the odd acorn dropping on the roof), we had a quick walk around the woods. Again more stunning colours on show.

We then headed the hour or so towards Annecy with a pitstop for food and LPG too. Our initial plan had been to grab a spot in the town Aire which we knew was fairly small and likely to be busy - for some unknown reason all the campsites around Annecy close by mid September! However, we got there and it was far from salubrious and completely full. How many people were taking notice of the 24hr maximum I'm not sure. No matter though, we knew of another Aire at the other end of the lake but I'd also spotted a bit of a cheeky spot at the top of the Leschaux/Semnoz climb with views of Mont Blanc. Being such a clear day we thought it was worth the hike up. We've ridden the Semnoz before and knew it was a lovely wide road without too many hairpins so up we went. The views at the top were amazing, right back over Lake Annecy and with Mont Blanc in the background.

We found the parking spot and set ourselves in. After some lunch we had a nice wander up onto the hills, spotting the take off site for the local model aircraft club and watching a few people having their first attempt at parapenting! Scary stuff.

Last night it was cold up here, but the views are worth it and with the van heating on, we were as warm as toast. We had another couple of vans for company, but other than the chinkling of the mountain goats, it was silent.

This morning the sunrise was awesome, coming right above Mont Blanc. We've been for a lovely 4mile walk to Cret l'Aigle which is a high point with commanding 360 degree views. We've decided to stay up here again tonight and already have another van for company. The view as I write this is just stunning, and it's warm too. Never in my wildest Jexit dreams did I think we'd be able to stay in such amazing places. I knew staying off grid would take me a while to get used to, and I know they aren't all be as amazing as this (we've already had our fair share of car parks!), but I feel this is what a proper off grid Jexit experience should be.

And so to our next plan. The weather looks good for most of France (yes we are staying well away from those nasty floods further across France). We've been looking towards the Auvergne region for our next stop, more on that next week.

Til next time, stay safe all

J&J