Relax, it's all downhill from here!

Being in Montreux while the jazz festival was on, managing to get a pitch on a very busy campground on the Saturday night of the festival, and with the city putting on free transport to get to the festival, we felt there was only one thing to do last night. Yep, go to bed at 9.30pm. We did toy with the idea of going in especially when we heard the great names that would be playing. Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Chaka Khan. Then we realized if we picked the right rest home in five years we'd probably get to hear them all for free anyway. We couldn't distinguish songs as the music drifted across the lake last night, but it was a pleasant vibe on a summer's night. We heard that the Festival organizers have said that this is the last festival that will be held down on the lakefront in Montreux and instead it will be moved elsewhere within the city. We were very glad we'd had the early night when we woke at 5am this morning. We had three tents in close proximity, so ...

Well wouldn't you know it. I let Pete know last night that there was no point getting up early as our chosen supermarket didn't open til 8.30am and was only 11km down the road. But I woke up at 5.30am anyway, and so did Pete. So we quietly packed up the tent and then brewed up a coffee while we caught up on messages. Set off at 7.30am feeling good and strong after a day of basically sitting round in the shade and just planning, and cooling off as needed. We cycled out of Thonon-les-Bains to the next town on the lakeside, Evian-les-Bains. Whatever Thonon lacked, Evian had it. The town opened out onto the waterfront with some beautiful big old buildings and impressive gardens. It was a pleasure to just cycle along the lake edge, admiring the architecture and the sunlight shimmering off the surface of the lake. We were brought back to reality with a stint along the main road which had us upping the speed so we didn't frustrate the traffic too much. Had to turn inland for our ...