Lake Titisee 16-17 Oct 15

Over the Rhine, through Freiburg, along some very pretty roads in the Black Forest and a patrol around Lake Titisee to see where we could stop for a night or two. Eventually we found Sandbank Campsite on the southern shore, which closed for the season on Sunday 18 Oct, so we had a good choice of pitches. Of course, we chose one right on the edge of the lake next to the footpath that runs right around the lake. This meant that hundreds of nosy Germans would stop and peer into the bus as they walked past.

We walked the 20 minutes or so into the small town of Titisee, which, in itself, is not unattractive, but we had been spoiled by the stunning towns and villages of the Alsace and so it seemed a bit bland. There are quite a few tourist shops selling Black Forest specialities and cuckoo clocks, and loads of tourists milling around, so we had a large chunk of Black Forest Gateaux (it's the law that you have to eat this at least once) and then wandered back to the campsite where we had a few beers in the nice bar on site.

On the morning of the 17th I woke up, looked out of the window and the world was white. It has snowed in the night. We had no snow chains and we totally unprepared for freezing weather so we were panicking a bit in case we got stuck, but luckily it all cleared very quickly. We made good use of the site washing machines and nearly-dryers to catch up on the dhobi and, as the dryers hadn't, we had to spread clothing all around the bus to let it dry. The innovative use of clothes pegs and handles was a triumph!

Part of the campsite deal was free travel throughout the Black Forest, so we caught the train to the next town, Titisee-Neustadt. Big mistake: a) it was a Saturday and what shops there are were closed and b) it is a dump. We quickly went back to the station to catch a train back, only to realise that the Germans are worse than the French for long lunch breaks and there was no train for over an hour. Accordingly we retired to the very weird station bar (they still smoke indoors in Germany apparently) and had a beer at the incredibly cheap price of 2.20 yoyos a pint!

Eventually we found a train to take us back to Titisee, had a nice schnitzel in a restaurant and walked back to the mobile laundry basket to settle down for the night.

In all, Lake Titisee is very pretty indeed and we could see why it would attract so many tourists. We have, however, now seen it and entered it on the list of places that we probably wouldn't revisit.