The plan for this trip was to head through Belgium and Luxembourg into Germany and to Lake Konstanz to spend a week or so down there. However, as we are starting to discover, no plan survives contact with the enemy - or the weather!!
We left home at 7am and got about 3 miles before we (Jo) remembered that we (Mark) had forgotten to put the bikes on the back of the van! We went back, rectified this and then hit the road again, having a really easy run to Dover, followed by an easy crossing to Dunkirk. We planned to travel the 50 miles or so to Bruges and spend some time there. We had identified an Aire right in the city centre so drove straight there only to find it absolutely rammed, but there was a significant overflow into the neighbouring car park. We managed to find a pleasant spot right next to the river, settled down, had a quick scoot around by bicycle to get our bearing and then back to Frank for dinner.
After food we went for a walk around the city centre and the old town. It really was very attractive, but also very expensive and a bit of a tourist trap, with chocolate shops everywhere. Loads of lace, embroidery and horse and carriage trips, and loads of Japanese tourists! We stumbled across a Tango Dancing 'party 'in a square and spent a pleasant few minutes watching - envious that all these people had the ability and confidence to dance so publicly. It did look very elegant.
Bruges seemed such a tourist magnet (not really our thing) so we decided that we would be moving on in the morning.
252 miles; Overnight stop 25 Euros !!!!
Monday 10 August
Started the day with a run along the river, then on returning to Frank found a leak on the water system (again!!). We therefore planned a route south via a Frankia dealer - sods law though, by the time we got there dry as a bone.
Even so, we barbequed by the van and had a pleasant evening, aided by some Belgian chocolate which was very nice!!
130 miles: Overnight stop 8 Euros.
Tuesday 11 / Wednesday 12 August
The plan today was to continue south and into Luxembourg - fill up with cheap diesel and we had identified an overnight stop at a place called Diekrich. The further into the Ardennes we headed the more beautiful the scenery. This continued as we headed into Luxembourg - absolutely stunning scenery, but not much going on!! It seemed to be very very quiet and clean and tidy! We filled up with provisions in a very tidy supermarket (expensive!) and filled up with diesel (cheap at 75p / litre!) The aire at Diekrich was full so we carried on towards Germany, heading for Trier.
We found a Stelleplatze just north of Trier - it was absolutely lovely parked amongst the vines. we went for a walk around the vineyards and then settled down at the van to read, and were entertained by a German party at the winery all having a sing-song. It was a lovely day, and it is really warm and sunny!! Decided we will spend a couple of nights here and explore Trier tomorrow.
Woke up to a misty morning which was soon replaced by sunshine. Went for a run through the vineyards and then we cycled into Trier using a really great network of cycle paths that wound their way through the most beautiful allotments and communal gardens full of flowers and vegetables.
Trier was a nice town, pretty busy with a bit of atmosphere. Did a bit of shopping and mooched around before heading back to the van. We spent a lazy afternoon amongst the vines, found a farm shop selling fresh produce where we bought stuff for supper, and chilled out in the sunshine. very hot!!We cycled back into town in the evening, and found it much quieter, but we had a nice ride along the river before heading back.
147 miles: Overnight stop 20 Euros. (2 nights)
Thursday 13 August
We decided to split the remaining drive to Kontanz in half, so we identified a stopover at a town called called Rheinmunster on the German side of the Rhine near Strasbourg.
Our journey there took us through a corner of France
(Alsace) which was absolutely beautiful - we had three hours driving in France before crossing back into Germany. The only problem was that when we followed the Sat Nav route, it directed us to a ferry that couldn't take vehicles as big as Frank, so a 20 mile detour to the nearest bridge!!
We found a decent stopover which was outside a 'Eurocamp' type of set up around two swimming lakes. We had a fantastic supper of fresh prawns which we had purchased along the way. As we were settling down for the night, and with no warning at all, the most incredible winds kicked off - things were blowing around everywhere. a mad rush ensued to get the awning down and all the windows secured. The winds were followed by an amazing thunder and lightning storm and torrential rain. At one point it did feel like the van was going to blow over!
150 miles : Overnight stop 8 Euros.
Friday 14 August
We hit the road earlyish today with the intention of reaching Konstanz.
We had an interesting drive through the Black Forest, including a very steep and windy climb and descent. We looked at the maps and yet again that idiot Garmin had plotted the shortest route, irrespective of road conditions, vehicle type etc. We must invest in a sat nav that can have vehicle weights and dimensions plumbed in! It might avoid us trying to cross rivers with ferries only big enough for cars and mountain passes best negotiated in a rally car!!
After a bit of hunting around we settled on a stelleplatze at a town called Reichenau. We weren't sure at first - but we went for a ride on the bikes and discovered we are only a spit away from the lake and there is a brilliant network of cycles paths through acres of market gardens.
It seems we are now paying the price for the good weather we enjoyed at the beginning of the week as it it getting wet and windy, although still quite warm.
130 Miles : Overnight stop Nil (should have been 12 Euros but we couldn't find any way of paying - machine rejected all our cards!!)
Saturday 15 August
We moved around Lake Konstanz a bit today - initially to Konstanz itself, hoping to stop there and explore but it was very busy and the Stelleplatz was packed, with not prospect of a space there.
Plan B was to drive to the other side of the lake to a town called Meersburg. We had been told that it was a lovely town so we pottered around there and found somewhere to park at a Stelleplatz just above the town. This was another one where you paid by credit card only at a machine or with 12 x 1 Euro coins. Again, the machine wouldn't accept any of our credit or bank cards and we didn't have enough coins. We left a note in Frank's window (good old 'Google Translate') and headed off to explore and get coins.
The weather was getting worse so back at the van we looked at the weather forecast - rain and thunderstorms for the next 5 day around Konstanz. The best option to find better weather seemed to be to head west, so we got the maps out and spent the evening in the van planning our route - back towards France.
Neither of us were really taken with this part of Germany for some reason. It all seemed very grey, but maybe the weather contributed to this feeling. We may have to try it again sometime, in the sunshine.
47 miles : Stelleplatz 0 Euros again (we tried to pay - but were defeated by the machine!)
