Big Billy Trip 3, Beaune to Annecy

ROUTE - Beaune, France to Annecy, France
Distance - 234km (1,039 km total)

Day 3. We had a good lie-in, and hit the road at about 11.30. The aim today was to get to a wicked-sounding campsite near Mont Blanc, going via Annecy for lunch. The weather was beeeyootiful, so the driving was much more pleasant. It was however very hilly, so the distances took a lot longer than the previous 450 miles. It was stunning driving though, as we were basically ascending the foothills of The Alps, cutting through tunnels, and along viaducts. We made it to the Annecy exit by about 2.30, and it actually took about an hour and a half to get into Annecy on the local roads. The driving remained very picturesque, so we weren't that bothered, but our stomachs were disagreeing by the time it hit 4pm.

Anyone that's ever been to France knows that they like things to happen at fixed times of the day, so trying to get lunch at 4pm was not easy. Add to that we'd travelled to a holiday town well out of season, and you get a combined crossover episode of our two favourite dramas – the "we're out of season" soap, and the "driving around aimlessly" comedy. We ended up eating fairly shit food at a roadside cafe calling itself Le Brooklyn. I don't think my burger was cooked properly, and I expect to see it later.

It being quite late in the day, and not wanting to drive up Mont Blanc with dodgy headlights, we decided to stay put in Annecy. The Lake here is beautiful, and the surroundings are the epitomy of Alpine. We know them very well now as well, because episode 3 of "driving around aimlessly" was spent trying to find a campsite that was open. They're all signposted from the main roads, but they are of course in much nicer spots, at the end of long windy roads, which take you 10 minutes to get to, only discover they're closed.

On the fifth attempt, and having almost fully circumnavigated Le Lac, we found Coeur du Pres, a fairly rustic (read, a bit tatty) campsite that was completely empty but completely welcoming. The elderly proprietor did have to take the lawnmower out of the ladies' toilet to allow Freya access, but he was most sweet and pottering and doddery.

And that's where we are now; Freya's reading, I've just written all that above, and we're drinking honey and lemon (expensive 9.75 EURO honey, buzzed by local bees or summat) with a little dram of whiskey in it, before we cutch up in bed. Tomorrow, we're going to enter Italy through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Wicked. x