Lyon to Chamonix-Mont-Blanc

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Glorious sunny day. Absolutely perfect weather for a drive to the Alps. We slightly overslept but not a problem as not as far to travel today as on previous days. We only used a short distance of motorway just to get clear Lyon, after that we used the alternative D roads, which were quite uncrowded and truck-free being a Sunday, and headed in the direction of Geneva.
An uneventful drive which took us very close to Switzerland and followed the border for several miles on the outskirts of Geneva. From here the scenery suddenly changed from quite flat and agricultural to mountainous and dramatic as we came within sight of the Alps and in particular the stunning white covered Mont Blanc. It completely dominates the landscape and we had it in view for the last 20 miles as we approached Chamonix where we avoided the approach to the Mont Blanc tunnel which would have taken us whisked us off to Italy. There were a couple of tunnels on our route but only little ones.
Bob had found us a lovely treasure of a campsite almost in the centre of town and completely overlooked by Mont Blanc. What a view.
We were able to take full advantage of it with an absolutely stunning day of sunshine so sat outside in the sun and admired the scenery before taking a walk into the centre of Chamonix, only 1km away. Stopped for a drink before walking back along the river. Looking at the location of our campsite against the backdrop of Mont Blanc I think it probably has the very best position in town as it has the full aspect of the mountain directly behind it. As I sit in the Tandy typing this, I can see that magnificent brilliant white mountain through the window and we are really looking forward to a cable car ride up to the top tomorrow.
Campsite is "Camping Ile des Barrats" in Chamonix.

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