Germany - 18 Sep to 14 Oct 18. Week 4

Monday saw yet another big queue at the stellplatz for the baker's van, which arrived with the usual din and screeching of tyres.  We wanted to stock up on groceries before crossing the border into Belgium, so we found a nice supermarket near Trier, then into Luxembourg to fill up with fuel (the price had risen by over 5c a litre over the time we were out). It was then the usual severe vibration testing on the Belgian "roads" before we parked up for the night in a delightful village in the Ardennes called Redu, famous(?) for being a book village. We might have had a long wait for the bakers to open though - it only opens from Friday to Sunday.

  

Redu, Belgium

On Tuesday we continued our journey home, stopping at the FLT space at Thieu, where we enjoyed a glass of wine in the warm sunshine. 

Thieu

The ice cream man cometh

On Wednesday we arrived at Cite Europe. We mooched around and crossed back over the ditch on Thursday morning, arriving at the caravan and motorhome club site at Crystal Palace for opening at midday. From there is was visiting relations on the Thursday and Friday, before heading to Twickenham on Saturday to watch Harlequins beat Agen. Mind you, the trains continue to be absolutely appalling. 2 hours to go 15 miles. Could have walked it quicker.

Richmond

Home again to the fantastic, high quality Boulangerie/Patisserie of the UK!

There was no church bells in London early on Sunday morning, but there was an inconsiderate fellow camper banging pots and pans at 0700hrs. Still, despite the heavy rain and the early start we were very pleased to leave London, but who on earth decided that a 20mph limit was a good idea on the way out. Imbeciles!

Germany - 18 Sep to 14 Oct 18. Week 3

Monday 1 October. If it ain't raining then it ain't Fussen. It rained all morning. As soon as it showed signs of easing we went for a very long walk - all the way to Austria! A walk this far deserved a decent lunch so we stopped for a rather nice Jaegerschnitzel before heading home.

On Tuesday we continued our journey by covering the short distance to another camperstop at Pfronten, passing the meadows where the famous Steve McQueen motorcycle jump took place on the film "The Great Escape". Once again it was an evening check in, so we set out for a long afternoon walk, culminating in an ascent of the mountains on the German/Austrian border. It was 4 miles to the cable car, then a chair lift, then another few thousand million feet to get to the Ostler Hut where we had a delicious sausage soup and a pint of beer. It was worth it for the  beautiful views from the top, and we had to continue admiring the views over a rather nice apfelstrudel in the Berghaus Allgäu before descending and walking back home to check in,  absolutely knackered.

Wednesday. They offer tourists a free bus and train pass here. We got one after filling in thousands of forms and today we thought we'd spend the whole day having a break from walking  and letting the  trains and buses take the strain. No one told us it was a bleedin' bank holiday and  there were very few trains and even less buses. Still, we took the slow train into Kempten and had a walk around, albeit there was nothing much open and the station was a mile from the centre of the city. We had coffee and a sandwich and made our way  back to the station, got the train back to Pfronten and decided that we weren't going to venture out when there are no buses and trains running on a stupid midweek bank holiday! 

Kempten

The following day we drove on to Lake Constance/Bodensee and a nice stellplatz at Steffen near Meersburg. It was a warm, sunny day so we walked into Meersburg, wandered around enjoying the sunshine, then trundled back to sit outside and enjoy the warmth.

Meersburg

On Friday we took to the bikes with a view to taking the ferry to Konstanz, but it turns out that they  charge a fortune for the bikes and we weren't that interested in visiting the city. Instead we cycled along the lakeside path after enjoying a glass or two of local wine. On the way back we got chatting to another  British couple on the site, ended up going to their van for the evening and drinking rather too much wine. 

On Saturday we were feeling a little wan. We drove through some lovely scenery, including the Black Forest, to end up in Kaysersberg in the Alsace. It was a slow day and an early night.

Through the Black Forest

Kaysersberg

On Sunday the bells started, so it was up at dawn to try and get some decent photos before heading to the bakers to buy bread, fresh croissants and an absolutely delicious rhubarb meringue pie. Following breakfast it was back through Strasbourg and out of expensive France and back into Germany where we set up for the night on a very nice stellplatz in Saarburg. The stellplatz staff sold home made cakes which looked absolutely delicious. We were, however, still stocked up on various sugary eats so we had to leave them.  

Early Morning in Kaysersberg

Saarburg