Back in France, 2018 🇫🇷 – Michael and Pam's Travels

Date: 3rd October 2018

Travelled: 407 kms from Hône/Bard via Annecy to Saint-Gengoux-De-Scisse, Burgundy.

Visited: Saint-Gengoux-De-Scisse

Stayed: Saint-Gengoux-De-Scisse aire, free, all services including electricity. N46.46103, E04.77499

Budget: 122 days @ €92 per day.

Having visited Forte Bard it‘s a very late start for our run through the alps. We stop at Aosta for lunch and a last Italian Lidl supermarket visit before France (the beer and wine is cheaper).

Running north now, Mont Blanc keeps an eye on us. It’s a bad day for paying tolls today, some €25 from Hône to the tunnel.

Our last picture in Italy as we say goodbye. We pay the tunnel toll of €59 and 11kms later we are Chamonix in France.

We stop at Chamonix, and walk up to the tourist office to check on the Mont Blanc gondola. We passed through here a few years ago and the gondola was closed due to bad weather. Checking the website for the last couple of days, it states ‘closed today’. We are told it is closed because of technical issues, so no gondola this year either.

So we drive on for another hour or so to Annecy and get a free overnight park in the aire N45.89073, E0613915. It was a pull up, have a drink and dinner then go to sleep stop.

We are up relatively early have our normal coffee and fruit and get ready to go. The aire has several more motorhomes than have places, so we make for the services and get out before the real chaos begins. As we roll into the morning traffic in Annecy our only plan is north-west with as little tollway as possible. Stopping for breakfast an hour later, we look through our guide and set the GPS for Cluny. In the lower Burgundy region and start making tracks.

We turn into Cluny. It has an aire so we stop first and have a look. At €10 with no services, we drive back out and park across the road. We’ll check out what other options there are later.

Walking up to the main boulevard in Cluny. There are some nice shops, particularly the patisserie. So we may drop back there later.

Interesting memorial to the victims of the Second World War. We gather Cluny was heavily bombed.

The guide book recommends visiting the Abbey at Cluny. Originally built in 900AD. It has been re-constructed and added too over the past 200 years.

We pay our €7.50pp and go in for a look. The Abbey which was once Benedictine but split to form some other order. The Abbey was eventually looted and trashed during the reformation.

So in reality there are only sections of the original 9th century abbey that still exist. They are the large and small right transept. This is the small transept. Remembering this abbey was based on the Cross of Lorraine.

Inside the original large right transept. The statuettes and stonework in here are stunning.

Part of the original cloisters. Well the arched pillars are original.

So that’s it we have done the Abbey and don’t feel inclined to pay €10 to stay here in Cluny. So we roll out of town, the GPS set for another village 12 klm to the north.

Arriving in Saint-Gengoux-De-Scisse we find the aire on the edge of the village. As soon as the Hymer is level and plugged in we head off for a walk.

Walking along we find the Marie (Town Hall). Nice trees but no one is about.

Looks like an old wine press, but the sign is all in French. More importantly there is small bar next door, so we pop in for a glass of wine and a beer, €4.80. A wine and beer in Italy was always €10 or more if a touristy place.

Back in the Hymer, we have dinner and a couple of delicious pastries we purchased earlier at that patisserie in Cluny. That’s it, our first day back in France after 10 weeks in Italy has slide by…

Michael and Pam

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