Departing from our friends with a last supper at Pizza Express in Meribel we headed towards the Swiss border. Malin had a terrible flu and was staying in the bed at the back of the van most of the time. It was already late so we only went an hour or so until we found the Thermesay campsite along the A 430 road between Albertville and Annecy. Suprisingly it was still open, even though the hour was late. The following morning we woke up to the most gorgeous scenery. Snow covered valley, bright sunshine and a mist. Peaceful. A few croissants later from the local bakery we drove towards Annecy and the border along the beautiful Lake Annecy. Once in Annecy Malin emerged from her bed rest and we took a walk along the narrow streets. Thinking about it we realised it was still a few days until new years and all the roads from the French border to anywhere in Switzerland, would be motorway. In Switzerland you have to pay motorway tax by buying a yearly sticker. Not nowing how it worked we decided that it was better to remain in France until the new year and then head on. We therefore drove "back" to Chamonix. Malin was still suffering from the flu so no skiing attempts were made. Instead we went up the Aguille du Midi and looked out over the valley and tried to see Europes highest peak, Mont Blanc, in the mist. On a shopping spree we bought two Patagonia jackets and a down jacket from the Åre brand Peak Performance. Chamonix is definitely a shopping town. Lots of sports shops catering for any mountain sport ever invented. Compared with any of the other "resorts" we passed through this was a real town not just a tourist resort. On New Years Eve we said good bye to France and went through the Mont Blanc tunnel to Italy, paying Ff 195.