Day 3 Airolo

We all came out to Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky.....

Paul has announced that he will cook all the meals, no resistance from any of us. Thanks Paul, Danke, Merci, Gracias. He can cook, recommend him to all.

Preparing for another day on the road as we head away from France into Switzerland, another hot day and Garry and Paul cannot resist having a swim beneath snow capped mountains.

The waterfall besides our campsite. The Cascade de Sareene.

A few supplies perhaps for the journey?
Time to head out towards Grenoble

A lovely drive along the valley the clear waters of the La Romanche beside us all the way into Grenoble. 

And the Wheels on the bus go round & round. Garry expert now on lefthand driving. Now we are in AutoRoute Toll country, and it is expensive in France.

We head north towards Chambery then over the border into Geneva.
The fastest route is the A41 approx. 150 klm and we would have paid 80 euros for the privilege. That hurt

Just over the border into Switzerland, border check, patrol officer asks Garry where he is going, he replies Switzerland, (no offence or intended remark) ahh smart A....heh, Garry then asks if he speaks English, a pause then "We only speak French in Switzerland." Now that's being a S..A..
Toll 40 Swiss Francs or Euros. Fortunately this is a one off toll that lasts for a year.  

 Lake Geneva above, is that Montreux on the other side?
Wonderful scenery in Switzerland, flyovers, deep gorges, tunnels, wow spectacular. 
Finally enter the Gotthard Strassen Tunnel, 18 klm long, single lane each way, so concentration is paramount. When opened in 1980 this was the longest tunnel in the world.
The train tunnel which is under Gotthards is the longest tunnel at 57 klm in length.

Arrive late afternoon after 450klm, now we have to find a camp for the night. Got one sorted right here says google. A longer than expected winding road to the narrow poorly marked entrance to the camp which says is about 300 mtrs down this steep narrow lane. I say I will walk down to see if it is possible as we would not be able to reverse back up the lane in the motorhome.
2 klm later and I finally arrive, could be tricky. I have been away longer than anticipated the Amigos send Garry out as a search party. he arrives as I am discussing details about the site and costs $50 euro. Reasonable. About half a dozen permanent caravans on site.

Garry and I arrive back at the point where we left the van to find out that there had been an accident with our motorhome and another parked  car. (Range Rover). A local driving up the narrow lane asked Ross to back-up, this is where the incident occurred. The lady whose vehicle was damaged was very understanding, but lashed the local driver for his inconsiderate behaviour. Rosario said she used all the expletives you could think of...it was in Italian of course.

I am puzzled as to how the caravans permanently on site managed to navigate the lane. I make an attempt to ask these questions to the local owners, using charade type gestures, as neither of us can speak each others dialects. Pointing to the vans and the single entry point to site, I gestured how the other vans managed to come onsite. Demonstrating by wiping the sweat from her brow, she said Phew! 

It sounds a bit like the Hotel California, you can enter anytime, but you can never leave.

A German holiday maker who comes every year for 3 months, alongside the 90 year old owner and young buck Gazza