Into Germany - The Black Forest

Germany

Heading across to Freiburg in Germany, blink and you miss the border with France. We stop at what we presume to be the Rhine and turns out to be a disappointing Wash or something and the Rhine is 200m up the road! Actually even this was a little disappointing, but presumably it becomes more special further along.
We turn up at the chosen campsite and find we have gone from one extreme to the other, last night’s lovely lake to the equivalent of Butlins! It’s a huge site with lots of static vans and hundreds of day-trippers, quite hideous but we stay since its late afternoon and very hot.
Andrew is partially pleased I think since he suddenly has young bare flesh to ogle at opposed to the over 60’s group which we have mostly encountered to date.

Here we are at the end of the second week. I know the cynical amongst you may be wondering how we are getting along together and have there been any rows! Well, we are getting on great and so far no problems with the confines of the van. We haven’t rowed but of course have had a few cross words and I have only thrown the map at him once.

What have we learnt about each other? Fortunately I don’t think anything too major or concerning; Andrew is a little obsessed when it comes to keeping the van in good condition, always closing latches and keeping items of similar nature ‘grouped together’. Of course the van should be kept clean and nice, and indeed it is, but it caused quite a stir when I located the serviettes in the book cupboard!

What does Andrew say? He is just too adorable and says there is nothing about me he didn’t already know…however, my clumsiness has become more apparent!



Week 2 – 18th to 24th June

Well I do believe it might be someone’s birthday this week…but then again, since I will be turning 33 perhaps its best to just ignore it! Since my boyfriend didn’t get around to buying me a present and couldn’t find what he wanted in France, I think he would be inclined to agree…

Todtnau – Black Forest

Leaving Butlins behind, thankfully, we head up into the mountains again, this time in the Black Forest. The scenery rivals that of the Vosges but perhaps doesn’t tip it. We stay at a sweet little site near the town of Todtnau, which is amongst the highest peak and in the South part of the forest, and take our first real hike up into the mountains and through the forest, which is stunning. It’s a very hot, beautiful day and what better way to reward a 10km hike and undo all the good than consuming a (very) large ice cream, well it would be rude not to eat it all!!

We travel to the Northern part of the forest; it’s a pleasant enough drive but we end up in a tourist trap eating Black Forest Gateaux, which we thought would be fun but was a little disappointing. After a long hot day of driving, on route to chosen campsite we see another, much closer, which turns out to be a little gem, located in the valley of the forest by a stream. The night, however, brings another storm and the thunder actually makes the van tremble!

Verdun to The Vosges

Week 2 – 11th to 17th June

Verdun

A brief stop in Verdun, which was surprisingly pleasant; expected the town to be a little non descript but actually it had a nice feel to it with an attractive Cathedral and plenty of cafes along the river. We drove across what were the battlefields and as such are home to many memorials and old forts. The main memorial contains in its vaults the bones of thousands of unidentified soldiers that you can actually see through windows in the base of the building, which is a little unsettling. We went into Fort de Vaux, which was an interesting experience and certainly does help you appreciate the terrible circumstances these men existed in.

Nancy

Camp sites are short around Nancy so we stayed about 20km outside in a little village called Villey de Sec which was situated in beautiful countryside on the river.
The outskirts, like most cities are pretty ugly but Nancy itself is a delightful town and its ‘Place Stanislas’ most certainly lives up to its reputation; a big open square home to the Opera House, Hotel de Ville and a select few restaurants, enclosed by stunning gates and pretty fountains, with Mr Stanislas (its inspirer) standing proudly in the centre. Pretty, old streets & buildings, an attractive Cathedral and the pleasant Parc de la Pepiniere to lounge in make for a very enjoyable town to spend a day in.

Mr Cheesbrough cooked our first BBQ which was very good and the envy of all other campers we are quite sure!

The Vosges – Le Tholly

Making our way through the South Vosges region we begin to see some truly lovely countryside and sweet little villages as we climb into the mountains. We stay at Le Tholly and don’t do too much here to be honest, other than take it easy, enjoy the countryside and relax in the sun and by the pool. Well for one day at least as the next day it chucks it down all day, but interestingly we discover we are quite happy in our new home, playing scrabble and reading – whoever would have thought it!

The Vosges – Routes de Cretes/Longemar Lake

We spend a day driving through the Vosges region; it is pretty high mountainous area and the best scenery so far, despite the weather being a little haphazard. The cows had bells on, in true Heidi style, and it was all I could do to stop Andrew cavorting down the mountain in his own special rendition of Goat Peter. There is skiing here in the winter and its weird to imagine the contrast in scenery.
The day is completed perfectly by a sunny afternoon and chancing across the loveliest campsite so far. Its busy but for some reason people haven’t taken the special motor home pitches right in front of the lake. It is quiet, tranquil and beautiful. We even almost made it up for sunrise over the lake, well actually not at all but 7.30 which is a good effort since our natural waking time seems to be 8.30!
Would have been tempted to stay on here but having already been in France a week longer than we thought, Germany was beckoning.

Somme to Epernay

Somme Battlefields

First stop is the very lovely town of Arras, said to be one of the prettiest towns in the north and indeed it didn’t disappoint. Sipping a coffee, looking out onto a very picturesque square housing a very handsome Hotel de Ville, one has to ask how a place so pretty can be twinned with Ipswich!

The Circuit de Souvenir is a route which winds through the old towns within the Somme area, many of which display memorials and exquisitely kept graves for the soldiers of the 1st world war. The graves are tended with such precision; perfectly straight lines and mowed lawns, each with an individual beds of flowers. There are tributes to all nationalities and a huge memorial for the 70,000+ British troops whose bodies were never recovered.

This isn’t our usual cup of tea but something was pulling to visit and we were surprised at how moving and thought provoking we found the experience to be. What particularly touches is how serene, well preserved and respected this area is now when once it was such a bloody battlefield and full of shocking destruction.

Stayed in Peronne and encountered our first crazy storm; full on thunder and lightening for hours was quite surreal, if not a little scary, in the little Lunar Champ!

Laon

Famous for having one of the earliest and finest gothic cathedrals in the country we make a stop here for a few hours. One town split so very obviously - the lower part is somewhere you would want to drive through very quickly whilst the upper part is like an old medieval city that you only discover once you enter its walls - a strange and likeable place.

Epernay

The champagne region! Need we say more!
Missing Reims we head to the much prettier town of Epernay for a couple of days. On the Avenue de Champagne we visit the Mercier Masion where a little train takes us down into the cellars for a tour and interesting insight into the makings of champagne, topped off with degustation (tasting) of course. The Avenue is full of such Masions, some of which are housed in very attractive buildings.

A week gone already! Andrew has declared that ‘its grim up North’ actually derived in France rather than England. It sounds a contradiction as the people are helpful enough but it is fair to say they are blood miserable! In a whole week, only one butcher stands out as having being jovial.

Dover to Lille

Welcome to our journal. We aim to provide you, our avid readers, with an informative, concise and witty encounter of our European Adventures; actually we are finding that easier said then done, but at the very least it will be something for us, and the kids when they come along, to look back on!

The very rough plan is this:

June – Head across Northern France, into Germany and travel up the West coast to Scandinavia.
July – Take in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.
August – Back down the East side of Germany, possibly through Austria and Switzerland.
September – Italy
October – Probably still in Italy and onto Southern France
November – Spain and Portugal and back up the west side of France and home.

Nothing is booked of course, we will just cruise and chill and see what life throws at us. As such, it is quite likely that the above will change over the months.


June - Bon Voyage Angleterre; Bonjour Francais

Week 1 – 4th to 10th June

It was hectic and surprisingly hard work getting here but as we boarded at Dover and watched the white cliffs fade away and photographed the seagulls in pure tourist tradition, it all finally started to feel real. Our European Adventure has begun.

Calais - Dunkerque

Arrived in Calais about 5pm and headed for the nearest camp site 5km away; after driving for a while we figured we had missed it! Ah well, adopting the ‘lets just carry on’ theory that’s what we did in search of another site. A slight touch of de ja vu as we drove down the same road (or was that the 3rd time) we eventually found a site just west of Dunkerque. As we will discover more than once, getting to the general area is easy, finding exactly where you need to be is the tricky part. Not a lot to offer in this area but we were able to feel the first of many sands between our toes.

Bondues - Lille

Moving towards Lille we stayed in a nice little town about 12KM outside and thought this would be a fine opportunity to put into practice our plan to cycle into the cities. Off we set on a cycle path along the canal, which should be straight forward enough but somehow we actually missed Lille and stopped cycling when we came to the end of the path in some dodgy looking down town council estate - about 10KM too far! Must be the natural fitness which comes so easy, especially to Andrew - after 10 minutes into the ride (on flat ground I may add) he apparently suffered, as an athlete of his calibre does, lactic acid build up at an accelerated rate resulting in severe muscle fatigue.

So we find Lille, and of course being as cultured as we are head straight to a restaurant and partake in the famed moules et frites (that’s mussels and chips to anyone less lingual than ourselves!) Fed and watered we absorb the ambience and cycle around the cobbled streets and quaint buildings of the lovely town.