Aix- les-Bains

Not much to say about this, to be honest. The lake was lovely, with a tree-lined walkway. We didn’t venture into town, just went for a lakeside walk.

Our parking here was at a Camping Car Park- a sort of midway between an aire and a campsite. Now we’ve been to these before, most recently in Seurre, but this one was a real disappointment. Firstly, it was difficult to find, even with co-ordinates, secondly, the actual entrance was very tight, and thirdly, the site itself was a real mish-mash. It had clearly been a campsite in a previous life, but there was little demarcation of pitches (some of which were very small for Motorhomes) and the terrain was unkempt- even neglected. On a Camping Car Park the nightly cost is around €12 for which you have barrier access, Wifi and services such as water and electricity, but it should also be a pleasant place to be.

Anyway, having picked what seemed to be a pitch, we set ourselves up, including hanging out some laundry we’d done en route at a supermarket 24hr laundrette. The laundry was almost dry, having been subject to a few minutes in the tumble dryer. We ventured to the lake, had an ice cream and a drink then returned for an early dinner as rain was forecast and we were BBQing. Andrew had just finished making the “tomates farcis” (stuffed tomatoes- yummy!) when the predicted rain started, a few hours earlier than forecast. Laundry in, we sat outside under the awning as long as we could, before stowing away table and chairs. That evening we were treated to quite a thunderstorm. Great to view from the safety and comfort of the van. The rain continued and we left in the morning, not having seen any more of Aix-les-Bains but vowing to write a not very complimentary review of the site.