So I feel like it’s probably time for me to weigh in on what seems to be the hot topic of Chamonix alternative living at the moment: The restrictions and changes currently being implemented around town and in the valley in an apparent ‘attack’ on van dwellers, or so people are calling it.
DISCLAIMER: (Why do all of my posts have one of these?) This is just my opinion built from my own personal experiences I have had and observations I have made while living full time in my van in Chamonix for over twenty months now, from my time spent car living here previously and also some from the experiences I’ve had van living and traveling in other places around Europe too. It is not a direct criticism of anyone in particular. Anyone and everyone is totally within their right to disagree with me here, as I am within my right to disagree with a lot of the things I have witnessed people say in this debate recently.
It wasn’t always luxury…Pre-Effy travel and accomodation….. 
…….#Priuslife
SPOILER: My opinion is more than likely not going to be what you’d expect
Now it’s no secret that Vanlife has become super trendy, Instagram, Youtube, Facebook and every conceivable form of social media are filled with posts about people converting vans, turning away from usual societal constraints; rent, tax, bills, social conformity, etc, and choosing to live life on their own terms wherever they please….myself included.
Now Chamonix has always been, in my experience, one of, if not the easiest place to live in a van in Europe (maybe except for Norway), but recently there have been a few changes made to a couple of locations around Cham in, what people have been calling, an ‘attack’ on the van dwelling community. Naturally a lot of people have become annoyed by this, especially considering there has been no official statement made regarding why these changes have been made.
For anyone not from Chamonix or aware of the situation, in the last three weeks, two popular van parking locations have been modified to make parking the vans more difficult, not impossible, but more difficult. Low post and rail fencing has been put up along the sides of the road on Route des Gaillands to prevent people from being able to park on the verges and pavements, and the fifteen or so spaces opposite MBC on Route de Bouchet have had a pavement/posts built at the back so that the spaces have been shortened, meaning that extra long vans or motorhomes would struggle to fit in without overhanging on to the road. I’ll add that the carpark and lay-by parking at the side of the road at Gaillands and the few spaces at the end of the lake are still accessible.
Parking in the Carpark at Gaillands is still available and in the lay-by’s on the road.
Obviously it is summer now, the favourite time of the year for the majority of van dwellers, the weather has been great, the lifts are all working and the summer seasons visitors have all descended on Cham, so naturally it’s s pretty busy around town now. Anyone who’s ever been here in the summer knows just how busy it gets and how much the town is lacking in parking, even just for cars so I can understand that people are feeling hard done by for having parking taken away for no apparent reason.
There has been a surprising (to me) level of outrage among a lot of people, believing the actions of the Mairie are unfair and unjustified in what feels like a personal attack on people just choosing to live a different way of life. “We’re residents too, we should have rights”, I’ve heard people say. “We live here, we shop locally, buy our lift passes, contribute to the economy, work in the local businesses, basically everything normal residents do except for paying rent and taxes, “. But for me, that is the one important difference. Yes, I like to consider myself a resident of Chamonix, but I am under no illusions that I have any rights to free parking or any other benefits.
I, myself chose to live in a van, like so many other people, and at the same time I made that decision I knew there would be things associated with that choice which would make life slightly more challenging at times. We all know about the common ones, ‘Where do you shower?’, ‘What about a toilet?’, ‘How do you cope in the winter?’, but quite frankly, if you are choosing to live in a vehicle; unless you are fortunate enough to spend the majority of your time in a very accepting part of the world (Looking at you Norway), or be financially stable enough to be able to afford to pay for campsites, parking is more often than not, going to be your biggest challenge.
Now I am aware that these parking restrictions that have occurred in Chamonix recently have not just affected the van dwellers. As I mentioned before, Chamonix, particularly in the height of summer is a nightmare for parking, every conceivable place you could park; roadsides, verges, free and paid car parks, are all full. So it’s no secret that this is something that Chamonix as a town needs to improve. It basically comes down to the fact that there is just not enough parking here. As a result it obviously seems counter-intuitive to remove access to approximately 40, seemingly, perfectly good parking spaces, so surely we really need to consider why this has happened.
Unfortunately, and again this is just my opinion based on my observations and experiences but I believe there are some glaringly obvious reasons for why this has happened:
First of all, I suppose I should start with one of the main reasons I believe the parking has been restricted at Gaillands: A few weeks ago, when the heatwave was beating down on Chamonix full force and the temperatures were over 40 degrees, I saw a number of vans drive off the road and in amongst the trees towards the Acro park. Now on other occasions I have witnessed others do this, but they have only ever parked just off the road, these seven or eight vans however somehow managed to drive all the way in to the back and stayed there for several days, setting up camp with what could almost be described as semi-permanent looking structures. Now it’s no secret that we live in a very fragile environment, I’m not saying parking like a moron is going to make the glaciers pack up and leave the valley immediately, but we all have our own roles to play in trying to protect this vulnerable little paradise we call home and just doing your best to behave responsibly is as good a start as any. Driving far off the roads and car parks, in to forests, damaging the natural environment, in my opinion, is not appropriate. People will obviously say it’s because they were in need of finding shade, but sorry, you chose to live in a van, dealing with the heat is your burden to bear. (I won’t even get started on the people running their engines to keep their batteries charged and their electrics running….get a solar panel people!)
Yep, the heat of summer is hard work, but the Mairie are not going to start to provide free air conditioning for vandwellers so learn to suffer a bit and get used to it.
Secondly setting up outside your van like you’re in your back garden isn’t cool. No one wants to stare at your washing lines, tables, chairs, bbqs, sun loungers, awnings etc. You name it? I’ve seen it. Now some people will say there is nothing wrong with that, that they always clear up after themselves and pick up their rubbish etc, but we have to remember we live in a tourist destination where places need to be shared and enjoyed by everyone, not everyone wants to see an enormous row of vans all with their outside set ups in an otherwise beautiful location. Yes it’s lovely as a van dweller to be able to park somewhere picturesque and sit back to appreciate the environment you’re in, but don’t spoil it for other people too. When your picnic set up or whatever you’ve chosen to have outside your van, spills over on to the pavement where people/families are trying to walk and have to actively avoid your carnage, that’s not fair. If you want to set up like that, maybe you should consider going on a campsite where you can pay for the privilege of having an outdoor space to play with.
Basically what I am saying is, don’t take the piss! We need to be grateful of the luxuries we do have: We are in France which, when compared to other countries in Europe, you realise is very tolerant of vans and provides facilities to enable us to live this life very easily: Free places to fill up water, empty waste water and generally park for free. Many countries are far less equipped to deal with vans and many towns/cities/resorts are far less tolerant than Chamonix, even with the latest restrictions. (Just think, we could be like Saas-Fee or Zermatt and be in a completely vehicle free zone where the nearest parking sometimes doesn’t even permit large vans, or costs an extortionate amount of money) We also need to remind ourselves that we are the ones that have chosen to live or travel in vans, and as such need to remember that it is not the job of the place we have chosen to settle to provide us with parking, yes the town benefits from us spending money here, but we also benefit from not paying for accommodation. Other people are paying rent/taxes, why should we get anything for free? Even though I have never paid for parking here, I do not believe that it is my right to have parking provided for me, or have a leg to stand on, if or when, that parking gets taken away. Basically, without being too harsh, I think the people whining about losing this small amount of parking need to get over themselves. So what if you got asked to move on once, had your tires sprayed or couldn’t park in your favourite spot for some reason, thats part of living in a van, lose your sense of entitlement and be thankful that you are fortunate to live a way of life that enables you to live very cheaply in a very special part of the world.
Now all of that being said, the vast majority of people I see come and go in their vans are respectful, both of other people and the environment they are in. I am not saying the people who are living full time in their vans in Cham are any better or worse than the people that come for either the summer or the winter, but there are positives and negatives to both. When you full-time in a place, you get to know of better, well hidden parking gems that take time to discover, you begin to learn what is tolerated and accepted and generally how to stay out of trouble with police/council/locals, however I find it can also make you a little complacent and comfortable. On the other hand, people here just for a short period of time do not have the benefits of knowing the place so well, so have to park in some of the more obvious places; A lot will go on campsites, at least for a few days to be able to shower/do washing/charge electric/refill water, and many are very respectful due to not knowing what is generally accepted in an unfamiliar place. That does however, also sometimes work in the opposite way; When people are just passing through and there are no consequences for them if they choose to behave in a inconsiderate way, park badly somewhere, or in a place where parking wouldn’t usually be tolerated, they may get away with it for a couple of days and then move on again by the time any consequences come to fruition.
Now I am not saying I am perfect, far from it, but in the time I have been in Chamonix, I have only ever had my tires sprayed once, and that was last winter, when I parked my van on a section of road which then got closed due to avalanche risk, the spraying therefore was clearly for my own safety. I’ve found after spending a while here in the van observing these things happening, that there are usually reasons; either you’ve been parked in one place for too long, your own safety due to avalanches, etc, access is needed to set up for events, road works, vehicles parked in ways which prevent snow clearing, etc. Whatever it is, if you think about it, you can usually find a reason for it, it is not just a personal attack on you.
The new parking restrictions, I agree, are annoying, but there is plenty more parking around Cham. It’s only a small section of Gaillands and the MBC spaces that have been affected, probably a grand total of 30-40 parking spaces? I guess another issue is that Flegere car park is not available this summer due to the new lift being built, but really, to me, part of the fun of vanlife is finding somewhere to park, I can immediately, off the top of my head think of at least ten other free, easily accessible, parking spots in the valley, each with enough space for five or so vans minimum, and most with space for many, many more. Most of these are very well located, some with facilities and far more picturesque than the areas that have been taken away.
I built my van as a place I would enjoy spending time, so that even if the place I parked wasn’t so nice, I’m still inside my happy little bubble, now I’m beginning to think I’m alone on that one?!
I don’t want to rant and point fingers at people anymore than I have already because this isn’t about that. It’s about not getting dragged back in to the social drama that you finally succeed in getting away from when you choose to move in to your van. I think we are very blessed to live this way of life, have the freedom to roam anywhere, all the while taking our houses and all of our belongings with us, pretty much anywhere in the world and I think it’s a shame when people living such a supposedly ‘free and liberated’ way of life get dragged in to politics and controversy about something that really is a very, very small issue. Just take it on the chin and take a look at all the other advantages you have given yourself in life by choosing to live this way. I think you’ll find theres a lot more positives than negatives.
If anyone reading this has their own opinion on the situation, please let me know, I am intrigued to hear others thoughts. Alternatively if anyone is coming to Cham in a van at any point and is concerned about finding places to park or how to blend in, feel free to send me a message here, using the form, or on Instagram and I will happily share some parking spots with you. I have chosen not to post them on here publicly for a number of reasons but I’m not a hoarder and will happily share the knowledge I’ve picked up in my time here. Happy Vanning!
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