We want to go to Chamonix but it’s bad weather there. So we delay our arrival in Chamonix by making an ever-increasing loop, staying in

 

  • BURGUNDY
    Villages near Saffres

    (oh it’s still raining in the Alps)

     

  • NORTH-VERCORS
    Village of Presles

    (maybe now we go… oh, nevermind, thunder and lightning)

     

  • OUVÈZE VALLEY, BARONNIES AND MONT VENTOUX LANDS
    Vaison-la-Romaine

    (aaaaand, still raining)

     

  • PROVENCE’S LUBÉRON
    Buoux

    (it might light up in Cham next week)

     

  • SOUTHEAST-VERCORS AND TRIÈVES
    Village of Chichilianne

    (we’re on our way to the rainy lands),

     

  • CHARTREUSE AND LAC DU BOURGET

    (we can even see Mont Blanc, almost there),

     

The typical tourist speeds from region to region, to string together famous attractions, like he hops from bakery to bakery to pick the cherry off the top of every pie. We're hopping too, delaying our arrival in Chamonix. But no big tourist tsunamis, no hamburger tents, no shops with Made in China souvenirs. The COVID19-policies still strictly restrict access to France for foreigners.

Nonetheless some French folks are travelling, though we only notice them on the highway when see yet another RV, another white cubical colonist, take to the south. One even pulls a car. Looks like he's forgotten his pool table, his swimming pool and his beauty saloon.

 

The Dauphiné and Provence hills in between the lowlands and the Alps.

 

How to drive to Chamonix when you don't want to go to Chamonix.