Dave and I had been discussion returning to the Alps (predominantly Switzerland high peaks) for many months. Both of us had been before separately, neither of us had really achieved what we had set out to do. For a number of weeks there was much pouring over guide books (at this time there was only the "red" collombe books in English, or some glossy coffee table books), with maps obtained by a visit to Stanford's in London followed by intense discussions of where each of us would like to go. I knew of a campsite at Randa, below Zermatt, and this was to be the first stop on the tour, with no internet it was first hand experience that mattered in this decision process, especially for the first night.
We set out in Dave's van and crossed the channel late into Friday night. taking it in turns (2 hours on, 2 off) we drove through the night, crossing into Switzerland at Pontarlier, we effectively followed the straight line on the map (the autoroute network in France was not as comprehensive then as it is to-day, and half of the distance was done on "N" roads). Any car with foreign plates approaching the border (and yes we had to show passports) got stopped under the pretence of checking you out to see if we had more than 2 days of food, and pressurized into purchasing a motorway "carnet". As this could only be bought with cash it severely eats into the float, but did mean we could charge around to the Rhone valley.
Around lunchtime Saturday we rolled into the campsite and parked up - time for a stretch and sort out the gear. But most impressive of all was the view and the fantastic Blue Skies
Dave and I had been discussion returning to the Alps (predominantly Switzerland high peaks) for many months. Both of us had been before separately, neither of us had really achieved what we had set out to do. For a number of weeks there was much pouring over guide books (at this time there was only the "red" collombe books in English, or some glossy coffee table books), with maps obtained by a visit to Stanford's in London followed by intense discussions of where each of us would like to go. I knew of a campsite at Randa, below Zermatt, and this was to be the first stop on the tour, with no internet it was first hand experience that mattered in this decision process, especially for the first night.
We set out in Dave's van and crossed the channel late into Friday night. taking it in turns (2 hours on, 2 off) we drove through the night, crossing into Switzerland at Pontarlier, we effectively followed the straight line on the map (the autoroute network in France was not as comprehensive then as it is to-day, and half of the distance was done on "N" roads). Any car with foreign plates approaching the border (and yes we had to show passports) got stopped under the pretence of checking you out to see if we had more than 2 days of food, and pressurized into purchasing a motorway "carnet". As this could only be bought with cash it severely eats into the float, but did mean we could charge around to the Rhone valley.
Around lunchtime Saturday we rolled into the campsite and parked up - time for a stretch and sort out the gear. But most impressive of all was the view and the fantastic Blue Skies