Out of the mountains and into what looks like a week of wall-to-wall hot sunshine as we hit the halfway point.

Blue lakes and big mountains

One travel day (over the Brünigpass, the high point of the tour at 1008 m), two nights in the home of meringues and a couple of touristy things.

Our first “rest days” as we stayed in the same place for three nights. Not quite the relaxation we’d hoped for as the frequent rain disrupted plans and made tent life a challenge. Luckily our friends were happy to share their van awning!

Onwards tomorrow to Meiringen, and hopefully some drier weather…

Further into the mountains…

We seem to have been to a lot of places already – but not all by bike as our transport to Switzerland involved both an overnight ferry and the Nightjet overnight train. We’re now at our first campsite trying to dodge the torrential thunderstorms rolling through! Forecast is looking pretty wet for the next few days – a bit of a contrast from our sunny Bretagne tour last year, so we’ll see how we hold up.

Every so often we like to remind ourselves what Snowdonia slate and rain is like. This year’s visit was in the form of sunshine and showers from a cosy little cottage near Bethesda where, against all odds, Jo also managed to do some work…

A warm and sunny week’s skiing and cheese in Belle Plagne. Key lessons: family skiing is a long game, and we’re now at the stage where we need to go somewhere less flat…