CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

Motorhome adventures in the French Alps give Marcus Leach and family the chance to reconnect with nature and nurture

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Not for the first time in my life, I found myself utterly overwhelmed by nature. Standing high up in the French Alps, surrounded by jagged peaks, the silence broken only by the occasional whistling of the wind, I was filled with a deep sense of wonder.

For all our world travels, the distant mountain ranges we've crossed and the lesser-trodden paths we've explored, there is something about the French Alps that keeps calling us back, an irresistible pull that never fades. And so, once again, we found ourselves weaving through these great folds of land - only this time, we weren't alone. Now Kim, the children and I were travelling in convoy with my Mum.

One of the greatest joys of travel, at least for us, is sharing it with others. There is something special about opening someone's eyes to places they have never seen and giving them the chance to expand their horizons. That's why we were so keen to make this trip a family affair. Not only to revisit some of our favourite places, but to share them with my Mum for the first time.

There was also another reason for us all travelling together - we wanted to get her back out in her motorhome again. To say that she is well-travelled would be an understatement, but after my Dad's unexpected passing 18 months earlier, she had, understandably, stopped exploring.

They had taken so much pleasure in travelling together, and as she has said more than once, “It was never my dream to travel, it was ours.”

On the road again

Feeling unsure whether she wanted to make the travel dream a solo one, she had left her beautiful RP Motorhome, a Rebellion 4, on the driveway for the best part of a year.