Life in a Campervan in the Portes du Soleil

We avoided the toll roads to get to Morzine, admittedly it took us over 3 days to get here but we saw amazing parts of France, slept in beautiful villages, and had the experience of watching the snowy peaks of the Alps appear from behind lake Geneva. There are Aire campsites (small car parks kitted out for camping) all across France but the website that lists them really isn’t great, which meant we spent a lot of time looking for them on the way over and ended up sleeping on the edges of roads for most of the journey. I’d say you need to really plan in advance and give yourself plenty of extra time to get to places.

The Portes Du Soleil is pretty well kitted out for campervanning if you a) know where to look and b) know what you’re doing. We arrived on the evening of a mini dump of snow and visibility was bad, cue driving around aimlessly looking for somewhere to park. Les Gets was the chosen spot.

There’s an aire camping at the bottom of the hill by the Perrieres ski lift. It’s basic. It’s a car park. But you feel safe surrounded by a load of other vans. Technically you’re only allowed to stay there for seven days max but according to our new french friend, Jilly, they don’t check all that regularly.

There’s a blue machine there too, which allows you to empty your wastewater tank and toilet and refill water and boost electricity for 5 euros. That’s IF IT ACCEPTS YOUR BANK CARD. That was our first big problem. For some reason the machine doesn’t like Halifax and it doesn’t take cash. We sat behind a German van for half an hour, watching longingly as it refuelled so we have proof that the machine does work.

We ran out of water pretty quickly, and because I hadn’t quite adjusted to life without a shower, the situation got pretty desperate. So we went in hunt of a campsite. There are three in the close vicinity of Morzine, Le Solery in Saint Jean d’Aulps, and Les Marmottes and Le Pre in Montriond. Both Montriond sites told us their taps were frozen but the lovely Pierre in Saint Jean came to our rescue. He allowed us to refill for 2 euros.

Lots of people also park in the main Carrefour car park in Morzine, it’s 5 euros for 24 hours but there are no facilities there. So I advise you to stock up before staying there for any length of time. And the toilets there really aren’t great. However, we’ve used it a lot! It’s perfect if you fancy a night out with a few drinks and don’t fancy driving anywhere. It’s shut on a Wednesday to make way for the Market so plan around that. There’s also a campervanning contingent in the main bus depot up in Avoriaz, but again, only go up there if you have enough electricity, gas and water to get you through. In the height of winter, once parked, it can be hard to get out. Also, other than public toilets, there are no facilities.

Eventually, we returned to Saint-Jean and became residents at Le Solery. We worked out it costs us about 15 euros a night during peak season, which isn’t cheap. But there are showers, toilets and it has a lovely camper community feel.

We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, broken boilers, no heating and water in temperatures of minus 15 and no food on a Sunday when shops are shut. But on the whole, it’s been a great experience. And certainly isn’t over yet! We’re now looking forward to BBQ’s by the lake in the summer, sleeping with the windows open and travelling around the region.

The key to a happy life in a motor home is planning. If you have water, gas and electricity then it’s one of the most peaceful and relaxing experiences. And as we learnt, you can solve any problem pretty easily and we also found that the lovely people of Morzine and the surrounding areas are always happy to help you out if you need it.

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Read more about parking in Morzine.