Chamonix - avalanches, soggy dogs and campervans!

Don't know about skiing - much better chance of white water rafting the amount of rain we've had in Chamonix! It's rained almost non-stop for 3 days and nights, although we have managed a couple of good walks while we've been here. There are marked walking trials everywhere, but because the paths are all covered in snow they're really hard to follow - you can't see where they're going! Yesterday we had a great walk - over 2 hours all in the snow, in places it was deeper than Alfie's legs are long! We'd only gone out for a bit of a stroll in between downpours, but as usual we ended up climbing a mountain. We found the path by following the bear prints in the snow (ok, maybe they weren't bear prints but they were bloody big and they definitely weren't human!). Alfie loved it; he goes mad in the snow, charging about and doing a bit of 'belly-skiing' (he finds a slope then pulls himself down on his belly - daft dog!). It got a bit nerve-racking though when we came across an avalanche across the path which we had to walk across (sometimes I'm sure Rob's after the life insurance!). The snow had formed into hard balls covered in mud where it had rolled down the mountain. Because of all the rain the risk of avalanches was really high -we could hear loads of controlled avalanches being set off early one morning. We have been to Chamonix once before in the summer when it was almost deserted, but it's great in the winter with all the skiers and snowboarders around. The whole town is buzzing, the restaurants and cafes are all dead busy and there's loads of stalls selling just the sort of food you need after a few hours frolicking in the snow (Hot!) and even hot wine to wash it down with. We have learnt by now that wet and muddy dogs, boots, jackets, husbands and wives are not a good combination when you are living in a small VW campervan - we almost all moved into the laundry room it got so bad! Anyway, Daisy started without any problems, despite being parked on an ice block for 3 days and being hammered by the rain, and delivered us without any moaning to Switzerland. After a drive along the Swiss side of Lake Geneva and a stop at Montreux to visit the 13th century Chateau de Chillon, one of the best preserved medieval castles in Europe, we headed to Bern which is where we'll leave you until next time ....

Mont Blanc through the cloud

Montreux - Chateau de Chillon 1

Montreux - Chateau de Chillon 2