Travel Musings

 All good things come to an end, they say. I've had a marvellous two months, and the memories will last for a long long time. I divided the long trip back up to Calais up into three manageable stops. The first, Toul, was described in my last blog, and the remaining two Aires were selected only for their position on the map. Saint-Imoges was just a simple crossroad village with no shops, and the only things of note were an immaculately kept Commonwealth War Graves Commission site in the local church (total respect to the CWGC), and a forest walk with some pretty, but small, hidden away lakes. The graves were mostly of soldiers from Scottish regiments - Black Watch, Gordon Highlanders, and the Seaforth Highlanders, and they all died within a day either side of 21st July 1918. That's just a few months short of the ceasefire. What a pity The next day, Tuesday, was foggy and dull, and it remained so throughout the day. The Aire at Parc d'Olhain was set on the top of the only sig...

 Driving in Germany and France on a Sunday is such a pleasure, because lorries are not allowed - hence every rest stop on the motorways is jam packed with them, just waiting for Monday to come around. I had chosen Toul as a stopover for the night, not because I wanted to visit Toul, but it was a third of the way back to Calais. As it turned out, it was a good choice. Toul was a nice antidote to the wooden German towns I had been seeing, and it was actually pleasant to have a little decrepitude again!  The Aire held about 12 vans, and for €7 per night also gave you free electric hook-up and waste disposal. It was obviously popular as I got there at midday, and only two spots were left. There are two points about Toul that warrant mentioning - it has a most unusual cathedral, and the town is surrounded by ancient, but pristine, ramparts. It was Sunday, of course, when I did the 10 minute walk into town so it was 90% closed. But, there were a few bars open.....and a Spar that was...

 On our last full day in Gengenbach, we walked up a very steep hill to a church overlooking the town that promised to give good views - and it did, although as you can see it was a blustery and cool day. Then, on Friday morning, I set off on my own northwards to a town called Kehl, situated just the other side of the Rhine from Strasbourg - this meant I was still in Germany. Kehl itself is a tidy town but not an awful lot there to make it a tourist attraction, although the riverside walks are picturesque. There is a tower in one of the parks built by public subscription, and the view from the top towards Strasbourg is well worth the hundreds of steps taken to climb it. A water tower right by the campsite When did you last see one of these? On Saturday I rode the bike into Strasbourg, crossing the Rhine into France via an unusual footbridge. Strasbourg is a bus, bustling city, full of really old buildings, and dominated by the cathedral. I didn't go in as the queue was really long, ...

 It had to happen sometime, but the weather caught up with us in Lindau.  Lindau is on (Lake) Bodensee, and is supposed to be very pretty. However a thick wet mist had descended, and the forecast was the same for the next few days. We were on a rather expensive campsite (more to do with fleecing visitors than the facilities provided), so we cut our losses and headed northwards towards the Black Forest region.  The first stop was at a Stellplatz in Emmendingen, just north of the university city of Freiburg. However, whilst the town was inoffensive, there was nothing there to keep us more than one night and on Wednesday moved further north to Gengenbach. Gengenbach is certainly worth visiting, and has a quite charming town centre complete with an immaculate Benedictine Monastery. The Stellplatz is only a few minutes walk away, and an excellent example of how to accommodate motorhomes. Today, Thursday, is the last day of the official tour, and tomorrow I head off northwards ...

 Friday and Saturday were unbelievably hot for the time of year - so much so that at one point I had to escape the sun by going back into the van, and it was 30deg in there. The drive south west from Oberammergau to Fussen was very scenic. We skirted the Alps so were mostly on the level, but there was always these mountains dominating your view to the left. Fussen itself is just an ordinary Bavarian town, more famous for its lake and the nearby Palace of  Neuschwanstein, but it is pleasant and welcoming. There are old buildings, churches and castles in the town that are worth visiting, but there is also the usual excellent street life. Saturday started bright but cool, but with a good forecast for the rest of the day. We decided to ride our bikes around the local lake, Forggensee. Once again the scenery was superb, and the photos struggle to show just how beautiful the area is.  We had a tour of Neuschwanstein booked for Sunday, not realising that it was a German Bank Hol...