Annecy

February 11^th-13^th, 2026

My drive to Annecy was long (5 hours) but nice.  I crossed over the Rhône and also passed by a nuclear power plant as France 19 of them.  It was a bit of a different sight to all of the wind turbines, solar panels and the solar generating power plant (in Morocco) that I have seen on this trip.

 

Woke up in a bit of fog.

Crossing a nice bridge...but a little one compared to the Viaduc de Millau!

Cruas Nuclear Power Plant

A cool bridge near a quaint town with the mountains in the background...it's unfortunate that a bunch of trees were in the way (I had a good view from 500 meters back on the road, but nowhere to stop).

Lac du Bourget, near the city of Chambery.

Arriving at Lake Annecy.

It's a beautiful spot.

Arriving in Annecy, I’d picked a municipal camp spot which was just a small parking lot with a grey water waste drain, but unfortunately all 10 spots were already occupied.  I drove 10 minutes on the road beside the lake to a campground, but it was closed for the winter.  Actually, all official campgrounds were closed for the off-season. 

I found a few parking spots on my app that stated it was okay to stay overnight, and I headed off to check them out.  They were located on a switchback road up a hill near the city and the lake.  One of them turned out to be non-existent anymore with some previous logging activity leaving a mess at the entrance, plus it was a muddy looking road and I didn’t fancy getting stuck.  The other one had a picnic table, located just off the paved road.  It seemed a bit exposed, yet remote.  I pulled in and took another look on my app as I hummed and hawed as something just didn’t feel right.  Some of the reviews on the app mentioned being approached by “libertines” who pulled up in their vehicle, boxing their campervan in.  If you’re unfamiliar with that term, here’s one definition: “Who seeks, with a certain refinement, carnal pleasures.”  Umm…okay, no thanks.

 

I drove back down the hill and recalled that I had seen a few converted vans in a larger parking lot, just a stone’s throw from the one that was full.  There was a height limit barrier at the entrance, but someone had posted on the app that they had just used the exit to get in.  Sure enough, that worked and there were 3-4 vehicles who looked to be spending the night there.  It was just starting to get dark, and I was glad to have found a spot as it had been a long driving day. 

Octi's parking spot for the next few nights (she's just to the left of centre).  Turned out to be an alright place to camp, and right across the road was the lake.

The next morning, I drove to Supair’s office.  It was nice to meet some of the people with whom I’ve been dealing with for years, purchasing paragliding gear from them and sorting through post-sale support issues.  Three years ago, I met some of the other paragliding companies I represent in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic and I definitely noticed an improvement with how we communicate and work with each other.  It was a relatively short visit but I’m happy I made the effort to come to Annecy.  

Supair's office.

It was raining and the forecast was rain for the rest of the day and evening.  I decided to return to the same parking lot and hole up in Octi for another night.  The forecast for the next day looked promising and I hoped to wander around the historic part of Annecy as I recalled it being quite lovely when I visited Annecy back in 2010.

The following morning was brisk, but sunny, much nicer weather to go for a walk along the lake to the historic centre of Annecy.

Looking towards the city.  There's a park on the other side of the Thiou River that outflows from Annecy Lake.

Looking back towards the lake.

Now towards the city.

I like this building that bisects the river.

This seemed a bit out of place, and a bit heavy.  It was a painting on a window cover and the bottom says "AI will destroy democracy then humanity".

Back to nice things...

The lake level is high, thanks in part to yesterday's heavy rains, so the river was also high and flowing rapidly.  All of the weirs were fully open.

Note the snowcapped mountains in the background.

A few streets were lined with vendors, mostly food related stalls.

What a beautiful morning!  Even nicer when you contrast it to the grey, wet day of yesterday.

Even a swan was enjoying the morning.

After an hour of walking around the city centre, I decided to relocate about an hour south for one more night in the region before I start my progression across France to catch a ferry in Cherbourg in five days time.  

Damn pole got in the way...

I saw a few paragliders hanging out in the sky across the lake, about halfway down the mountain.

I like how this photo focussed (I took it as I was driving).  Double click it to see a bigger version.  It makes it look like a miniature world.

This is my view from my new camp spot.

And I had the place to myself.  It was a parking lot at the edge of a small town called Bourgneuf.

The only drawback was the nearby church, with a bell that chimed every hour and a single ring for the half hour.  It stopped at 9 or 10 pm but I was worried about the 7 am ring.  Surprisingly, I woke up just before 7 am, heard it, then went back to sleep.

The first Pastel de Nata I've seen since Portugal...and it was a pretty good one!

Viaduc de Millau - What a Bridge!

February 8^th-10^th, 2026

I think I saw a news story on TV about this massive bridge, called the Viaduc de Millau, opening in France back in 2004.  It looked massive.  In fact, until last year, it was the tallest bridge in the world, superseded by the Changtai Yangtze River Bridge.  I studied mechanical engineering in university and even though I almost immediately switched to IT, I still have appreciation for the applied sciences...so I had to go check it out since it was only a 3-hour drive away!

On my drive to the bridge, I saw the slowest turning wind turbines I've ever seen (apart from them not moving at all)!

Unfortunately, as I was driving to Millau, a new noise started while I was in 5th gear.  I pulled over, stopped Octi as I needed a nature call anyways, but hoped that the noise would disappear once I got back on the road...well it didn’t.  Damn.  Could this be a transmission issue? (or “gearbox” for some of you)  I planned to call some garages in Millau in the morning.

There it is!

My first view of the Viaduct.

Driving into the information centre which doubles as a rest stop.

Looking back at the info centre area while walking up to the viewpoint.

The bridge from the viewpoint.

A nice couple from Montpellier were visiting with a female exchange student from Boston and the guy snapped the pic for me.

The small city of Millau, the bridge's namesake.

The following morning, I called a few garages in Millau.  I’m glad I can “get by” in French as it wasn’t easy understanding some of the mechanics I spoke to.  However, they all had the same message, “We’re too busy to help”.  I started calling places in the nearby city of Montpellier and was losing hope but then on my eleventh phone call, I found a friendly sounding mechanic named Benjamin who said he could look at the van tomorrow at 2 pm, after the standard 2-hour lunch break in France.  Sweet.

Before leaving, I strolled into the visitor's centre which was right beside my parking spot.  There was an interesting video on the construction, and the model you see below, but not a whole lot more.

Driving across.

What a lovely valley that it crosses.

A viewpoint where you can see all of the bridge at once...but it's pretty far away.

There were a few paragliding launches nearby...too bad there was no one flying...it would have been a long walk back up by myself, plus I didn't know where the landing zones were.

I like bridges...especially big ones.

A slightly zoomed in view.

Sorry, I just can't get over how impressive it is!

Driving down into the valley.  A cargo truck just arrived at the top before I started down.  I'm glad I didn't meet him part way as it was narrow and there were a couple of hairpin turns that I had to back Octi up to make it around them. 

Driving to the base of the bridge to see how close I can get to one of the pillars.

Are you sick of pictures of the bridge yet?  I'm not!

That's a frickin' highway all the way up there!

This pillar is taller than the Eiffel Tower.  I comment that it would be good bungy jump or base jumping platform...usually the French are a bit crazy!

Wowsers!

Okay, last one...I promise.

After my intense scrutiny of the bridge, I drove about 45 minutes to a tiny hamlet called Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon with only 200-300 inhabitants.  At the heart of the historic settlement was a medieval hospital established by the Order of the Knights Templar which was closed after the Order was disbanded in 1308.  I picked this tiny place because it looked like it had a nice campervan spot.

Starting into the valley where the village is situated.

The Order of the Knights Templar were distinguishable by their red cross as they were a military order of Catholic faith.

Walking to the fortification.

The main entrance.

Some of the homes inside the castle walls.

The main bell tower.

Must be a lovely spot for lunch on a sunny summer day.

The morning of the 10^th, I drove to Lavérune, a town outside of Montpellier, where the mechanic I spoke to yesterday was located.  The industrial area where the garage was located was jam packed with cars and I did three loops around the block until I finally just parked right in front of the garage, blocking any access out of it, but that turned out to not be a problem. 

 

Benjamin was a super friendly guy.  We went for a test drive in Octi and he confirmed that the fifth gear was an issue and I either needed the transmission rebuilt, or the more likely solution was to replace it.  Oh dear…  He made a phone call and his parts supplier stated it would be a few weeks before they could provide a reconditioned gearbox.  That’s not going to work, I must catch a ferry back to England next week.  

Benjamin reassured me that as long as I didn’t use 5^th gear, I’d be fine to make it back to England and even complete the road trip with Naomi to Scotland.  Great…apart from the fact that Octi is turning into the new Betty, Betty 3.0.  Betty was a Ford Transit van that I bought in England in 2010 to drive around Europe for the summer and it turned into a total lemon.  Just check out Betty’s Operation from this previous blogpost.  Betty 2.0 was a van I bought in New Zealand and its only problem was trying to sell it.  As for Octi, I’ve already replaced the wheel bearings and the steering column boot…now a transmission needs to be done…I just can’t seem to win with campervans!

I rejigged my travel plans for the next week, not that I had really made any solid ones, but I was thinking about driving to Monaco which for some reason, I thought would be cool to check out.  I decided that it would be prudent to start heading north and not throw on too many excessive kilometres on the van, but I did want to swing by Annecy to visit one of my paragliding suppliers.  So, I head northeast for a few hours and ended up near a small town called Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas for the night.

Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, I never did go into the town...

...as I rolled into this quiet camping area just before sunset.

Tomorrow I'll head off to Annecy...and try and remember not to use 5th gear!