Thonon-Les-Bains

We had a very good coffee and chocolate croissant at the cafe about 100 meters from the van - a very cool wooden cabin called Les Terribles.

We then picked up our bread and as they had such delectable cakes we picked up a little extra for afternoon tea.

We then got on the road down from the mountains north to Thonon-Les-Bains on Lake Geneva.

The forecast was for a lot of rain so we decided to take the toll motorway with no hairpin bends.

We left Mont Blanc and the mountains covered in cloud.

We went through the main part of Saint Gervais and saw the telecabines that go up to the ski slopes - and down to Chamonix.

The motorway was so smooth and easy to drive with no navigation required so I was able to relax and take a few photos on the way. It only cost 8 euros for the toll section - so it’s a very reasonable price.

Here’s our first glimpse of Lake Geneva/ Lake Leman.

We checked into the Thonon-Les-Baines Camping Saint Disdille site which is huge with over 500 sites or cabins.

We were able to use the ASCI card as its now off-season making it a reasonable 20 euros. It was half full with no kids around - but its like the invasion of the grey nomads now!

The site is next to a natural birdwatching area and also a beach on the lake. We first checked out the birds and found a huge cormorant breeding colony with a few ducks and coots.

There were many more birds at the entrance on the lake.

We then went over to the beach which was feeling very empty as the beach bar had closed - as had the nearby restaurants.

It was very beautiful and calm. We watched some ferries cruise across to Lausanne on the other side of the lake - and their wake eventually reached us from a long way away. We went back to the campsite intending to come back later for a swim.

However we initially had a drink at the campsite bar when the rain started - so that was the end of that idea.

We went back to the van and Glenn went for a shower. I was hearing some commotion and a police car arrived. I then saw a big plume of smoke a few rows away from us in the cabin section.

Glenn came back to tell me he had been helping try to put out a cabin that was on fire with extinguishers and take the gas bottles off cabins near to the fire.

We went over near the fire and at least 3 cabins were now on fire. It was really ferocious and was burning the trees above.

The firemen took 20 minutes to arrive and put out the fire quickly. But by that time about 4 cabins had been burnt out and 3 damaged on the outside.

Luckily no one was inside. It’s unknown what started the fire. We suspect an electrical fault.

After all that we found that Glenn had a couple of bits of burning plastic on his shirt - one had burned through to his shoulder - not badly luckily.

He then went off to have a shower. We then went to use the on-site barbecue to cook our dinner.

It’s very high tech - controlled by an app that you download on your phone.

While we were there the firemen were being given free beer by the campsite owner. Glenn went over to explain his part and got some too.

It was a bit of a shocking day to see how vulnerable cabins and I’m sure Motorhome are to fire. It shows its a good idea to keep space around you as much as possible when camping.