Summer 2018 Trip To The Rhine

Day 1 July 21st 

Off we go!

We arrived back from the Isles of Scilly late on Friday night, so it was something of a struggle to get the washing done and prepare the clothes and other gubbins for departure. We battled through though and we’re down in the compound by 2.00pm and on the road before 3.00. Up the good old A303 round the M25 and down the M20 for our first stop at the Swan Inn in Little Chart. Our first overnight in a pub carpark - and excellent it was too! A nice spot next to a paddock with horses, a warm welcome from Brian, the landlord. And a couple of pints of Red Top, from the Dairy Brewery, combined with a lovely chicken pie. Early night and awoke to the sun shining and the horses snorting. 

Day 2 July 22nd 

A quick stop at Folkestone services then on to Dover for the 12.15 ferry. As we got there by 10.00 we were put straight on the 10.40 boat - and off we went. First time for us on DFDS, but seemed fine. Daffy happy to guard the van on the crossing, Ali read her book and I took advantage of the duty free fragrances to make myself pong nice. Sadly, they didn’t seem to stock Old Spice. So no purchases made, apart from a Twix. 

Exciting plunge

An easy couple of hours drive via Lille to our first Continental stop at Le Nouvion En Thierache.  A sleepy little town with nothing much to see. Camping Lac De Conde is unsurprisingly right next to the Lac. Although “big pond” would be a better description. Murky water, with a few big fish swimming lazily around, teasing the anglers, and the remains of a lido, with one of the steepest water slides I’ve ever seen. All disused now (I guess all the bathers died from water borne diseases) as is the more modern swimming pool next door. The whole leisure complex looks slightly abandoned, with its best days behind it. Maybe the customers jet off to sunny climes these days? Nearby is the Hotel De Plage, and an uninspiring Crazy Golf course. 

Day 3 July 23rd 

A rest day! No travelling! Sitting in the sun! Went to Aldi! Things don’t get much better. 

Day 4 July24th 

Place Ducale

Packing done, we set off in warm sunshine. First stop was in Charleville-Mezieres for a quick beer. We found street parking next to the campsite and crossed the River Meuse via a pedestrian suspension bridge. The Place Ducale is bordered by bars and restaurants and is worth seeing. It was done up to look like the seaside, with lots of sand, sun loungers, beach huts and even a small lighthouse! Sadly there was nowhere where we could swim, so we got back to the van and headed off into Belgium (with an unpleasant pic-nic stop at a derelict frontier post on the motorway) before arriving in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg! Our campsite for the next two nights was just to the south of the city, mainly occupied by Dutch folk. Yes! It was very ,very Dutchy! 

 A nice little snack bar on site with cold beer and lovely pizza. Yum! Strange showers which last for 7 minutes, with the facility for one break of up to 3 minutes followed by a shutdown for 5 minutes. Lovely park next door with a photo exhibition of birds, some of which flocked overhead in the evening before descending to roost.  

Day 5 July25th 

Luxembourg Cit

A bus stop just outside the campsite provides an easy and cheap way in to Luxembourg City. Buses run every 20 minutes and 2 euros takes you all the way. The city is quite compact so we managed to see all the main attractions (from the outside) and had time for lunch before the bus journey home and more sitting in the sun time. The city is interesting, rather than spectacular, and doesn’t really have any “must see attractions”, but we liked it and enjoyed the mix of tourists and prosperous looking business people wandering around the squares. At lunchtime. In the main square, there was an opera singer in full gown accompanied by a grand piano. Earlier, while I was in McDonald’s buying Ali a smoothie, a well dressed local gentleman offered to show her a picture of his ‘tiddler’; which turned out to be a sausage dog! He went on to point out the folly of Brexit to her, but had fallen silent by the time I returned, his attention taken up by important looking papers on his table! I managed to order an alcohol free beer by mistake at lunchtime. I need to concentrate more.  

The wrong beer.

Day 6 July 27th 

An early start this morning and after stops for supermarket stuff and a tank full of cheap  Luxembourgoise diesel it was off to Germany. A detour via Schengen, famous for its agreement. And then down the Luxembourg side of the Moselle before crossing into Germany at  Trier. A brief stop in a carpark as we needed the loo and then onwards through the suburbs. “Not much worth stopping here for” I mentioned. Only to discover later that the city earns 4 pages in our guide book and contains a whole host of World Heritage sites. As well as being the birthplace of Karl Marx. Just goes to show you should always so your research!  

Onwards down the valley. Full of vineyards until we reach our campsite near Cochem. A lovely pitch on the riverbank at the Mosel Island Site, which has excellent showers.  

The next day spent sitting watching the traffic going up and down the valley whilst drinking beer.  

Daffy enjoyed several cooling swims in the river and scared the life out of an elderly German gent. So a good time had by all. A huge range of traffic. We spotted..... Kayaks. Paddle boards. Rowers. Speed boats. Jetskis. Huge cruise boats. Ferries. Huge cargo barges. Sleek passenger trains and long goods trans loaded with....goods. Plus lorries cars motorbikes pedal bikes camper vans on the road. And ducks, lots of ducks. All very interesting to watch whilst sipping a beer. A brief trip into the village for the supermarket, notable only because Ali had a bottle of rhubarb pop for the first time in her life.  

Sunset on the Mosel

She drinks a lager drink, she drinks a rhubarb drink.

Have I had my tea yet?

Day 8 July29th 

Off we wend down the Mosel valley. Early thunder and a few spots of rain, but the sun was coming out by the time we reached Koblenz, at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel. Not easy at first to find parking, but we followed a German motorhome who was doing the same as us and eventually found a place right by the river, about 10 minutes walk from the Deutchers Eck. We toddled down there for the usual photos of Ali next to statues and then it was, magically, ‘beer o’clock’,  just as we arrived at a nice biergarten. Daffy had a bark at a gent who turned out to be half of a Scottish couple on their way to Budapest, on a river cruise. Imagine! What times we live in! Scots able to travel freely across Europe! Anyway, they were both very nice and accepted Daffs apology. They were off to Bingen next, as were we. “Probably see you there” we joked..... which we did. Then into town for a cash machine and an ice cream and off up the Rhine past castle after schoss.  Bingen, for some lunch by the river and a thought we might spend the night in the carpark on the edge of town. Looked a bit dodgy though and the motorhome spaces were virtually underneath the railway track. Any lingering thought about stopping evaporated as the 3.50 to Berlin thundered overhead; followed by the 3.55...4.00..4.05..... 

A very big statue in Koblenz

So, we continued, as planned, to the campsite right opposite the Loreley rock. Plenty of space, despite it being a Saturday in late July, and a pitch right next to the river. As we were getting set up, the chap from next door came and warned us about the wind, which had earlier suddenly blown down the awning on the caravan the other side of us. All the peoples’ belongings were strewn about. We decided to move further back to avoid the problem; and also to avoid the upsetting scenes when the wind victims returned from their lovely day out, to find a scene of devastation.  

The Lorelei rock

Sunset. Midge alert!

We moved to a little terrace at the back of the site. Daffy promptly fell over the edge and had to be rescued by combined Anglo-Dutch forces. The rest of the day passes peacefully watching the never ending procession of river traffic, trying to avoid being lured towards the rocks by the beautiful maiden, and the trains zooming past on both banks of the river, in and out of tunnels, whose portals have been made to look like little castles. An evening stroll on the little beach at Sankt Goar, to watch the sunset, ends with us legging it back to the van, chased by hordes of midges.  

Day 9 July30th 

On up the river, past Oberwesel and Bingen. Then along the autobahn to join the Deutchers Weinstrasse. A quick pic-nic in a large stellenplatz, which we thought about, but rejected as it was too big, then in to the spa resort of Bad Durkheim A lovely place full of happy people enjoying a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon, strolling through the parks and gardens, paddling in cooling streams, eating ice creams of all shapes and sizes. We join the fun with a beer (me), a glass of reisling (Ali), ice creams (me and Ali) a paddle in the stream (all 3 of us). As we stroll back, we hear music. On a little stage in the park a couple are just starting an afternoon performance. The singer, who must be 70, has a long dress and beautifully permed blonde hair. Her partner, on the Hammond organ, may have been even older. They seem to specialise in hits of the 60s. A young man wearing those bouncy blade things on his feet is dancing enthusiastically in front of them, lost in the music. Mature couples get to their feet and begin to dance. It’s is all indescribably perfect. I reach the conclusion that I love Germany! We continue on. People pat our dog. The sun continues to shine.... Faintly we hear “Sunday morning, up with the lark. Think i’ll take a walk in the park. Hey hey hey, its a beautiful day” being belted out in the distance  

Wine bought

Settled for the night at Weingut Boos

Along the Weinstrasse through some pretty (and pretty narrow) villages until we settle on a stop for the night at Weingut Boos. A nice little grassy field next to the winery. Her Boos speaks no English and, despite the fact that we make it clear that we don’t understand a word he is saying, continues to speak to us at length. We both end up cocking our heads to one side, like Daffy does, when he is trying to understand what we mean. It doesn’t work. Still, we sample some wines, buy 6 bottles, for a grand total of 15 euros, drink one (litre) and fall asleep. Awoke to bright sunshine the next morning and irritated Ali by waking her to ask “what was that song they were singing as we walked away through the park yesterday?” 

Day 10 July31st 

A few hours visiting Mc Donald’s, a supermarket, a DIY store and Decathlon in Neustadt, for a few things we needed. Followed by a drive through the Pfaltz mountains via a place called Frankenstein. All turned out to be a bit disappointing. The hills look lovely from a distance, thickly covered in pine forest, but when you get into them there is ‘nothing to see’. Lots of timber and paper Mills on the way up, with a little bit of the Welsh Valley villages about the places we pass through and no places to stop for a drink or a pic-nic. The route down was a little more scenic, but again, no sign of anything a tourist might stop for and, at the end, some closed road and a busy diversion. We make the decision to press on to the Black Forest and travel quickly to our next destination, Baden Baden.  

The route goes back into France for a few miles. The stellenplatz in Baden is a bit bleak and too far from the centre to walk in the heat so, after a few words are exchanged, we press on and find a lovely place to stop by the swimming pool in Oberstrot. We trot back down the hill to the village in search of a cold beer, only to find there is no bar, or shop, or a thing. Back up the hill with tempers fraying! As the temperature has dropped a bit we feel its OK to leave Daffs in the van for a rest while we go and have a lovely cooling swim and a beer! We love these open air German pools. Lot of people all having a relaxing time in the sun. Swim for two and a couple of drinks for less than 8 euros! A quick bbq and then off to bed. 

Day 11 August 1st 

Through the Black Forest! Lovely scenery, empty roads, a beautiful walk up to the waterfalls at Afflingen and then a stellenplatz at Oppenau. We wander into the village and end up staying out for pizzas and too many beers. Lovely food and lovely beer! In the morning we walk the 100 metres to the pool for a quick dip and a shower. Again it’s perfect! Just a few elderly folk enjoying a chat in the water and a couple of mums teaching their little ones how to swim. This pool even has a huge water slide, which we decide to miss out. 

A walk in the Black Forest

Day 12 August 2nd 

Onwards in a southerly direction with a stop at the open air museum at Gutach. Lots of local wooden buildings have been moved to the site and you can wander in and out of them, getting a flavour of how life was in the Black forest in the olden days. ‘Bleak’ seems to sum it up. Harsh weather and a struggle to scrape a living off the land. The locals survived through a combination of dogged determination, the wearing of ridiculous hats and the manufacture of cuckoo clocks to sell to unsuspecting visitors.The museum was good value and they let Daffs in for 50 cents so he was able to wander around with us, improving his knowledge of rural German history and the construction techniques of traditional wooden buildings.  

A few miles down the road was the Stellenplatz at Triberg (quite a busy one with lots of Spanish motorhome for some reason) where we set up camp for the night. Rumbles of thunder and a few big raindrops made everyone scurry inside as it was getting dark. Time to put the kettle on... 

Day 13 August 3rd 

Down the hill into Triberg, the centre of the Black Forest cuckoo clock trade. Many shops selling said clocks in all shapes and sizes, but temptation resisted and a walk instead up to Germany’s highest waterfall. Very scenic. We bought a bag of peanuts to feed the red squirrels, who must have all been away on holiday, to escape the crowds of cuckoo clock junkies – so I ate them instead while Ali went to a bird of prey display. The afternoon turns out frustrating due to the many whole stretches of roads closed for summer repairs. We couldn’t work out how to get where we wanted and ended up out of our way on a stellplatz at a place called Donaueshingen.  The stellenplatz has no water or dump station, but it is apparently nearby, close to the sewage works. I take Daffs off to look for it and discover the source of the Danube instead!.............. Which was nice! Two small streams converge and there is a statue marking the official start. Further research revels there is a spring in town which is the actual supposed start, so we stroll in later and find it. What looks at first like a huge hotel with tables outside turns out to be the local brewery, so, not wishing to be rude we stop and enjoy a pint or too. 

Possibly the start of the Danube

Funny how a road closure can lead to unexpected delights. 

Day 14 August4th 

Much excitment

As close as you can get!

But in the morning it gets even better! I discover that we are only a few kilometres from the Swiss border and that, only a few kilometres further on are the Rhine Falls! After finally tracing the sewage works, just a stones throw from the source of the Danube, and having had a swim and shower in the lovely open air pool (not actually in the sewage works) we make the short trip back to the Rhine. We manage to leave the EU without any fuss, and having taken back control we arrive at the falls. Ali’s comments on seeing them for the first time are unprintable, but roughly translate as “gosh, what a big waterfall that is”. We wander around with the crowds and have a boat ride up to the base of the falls. All very exciting. Then a quick swim in the river for Daffs and we re-join the EU and head back into the Black Forest. We stumble across a campsite and decide to splash out for our last night in Germany. It turns out to be next to the brewery! There is a band in the evening and open air tables filled with happy Germans. Right on time, the band strikes up and the familiar strains of “Amarillo” waft through the warm evening air. Dreams are made of nights like these! 

Day 15 August 5th 

Final day in Germany features a trip up Belchen mountain in the gondola. On a clear day you can see as far as the Alps. Today it is a bit cloudy and we can only just make out the distant outlines of the peaks, far to the south. A lovely circular walk winds up to the summit, and back down again. Lunch features two very long sausages and a vary chatty German lady who knows Devon well. 

Then it is Beck to the gondola and literally downhill driving for an hour until we reach the Rhine Plain, near Frieburg. A whizz up the motorway to the campsite at Strasbourg, for a couple of nights. 

Day 16 August 6th 

Quite pretty

Quite pretty too.

I was last in Strasbourg in 1978, on my second year university field trip. We stayed in the Youth Hostel, and the campsite is, excitingly, in Youth Hostel Street! Sadly, the hostel itself seems long gone... Although, perhaps not so sadly as my memories of it are of cramped, smelly dorms and staff who would happily serve beer to thirsty students in the bar up until 10pm and then try to maintain silence thereafter! The little pub in the street round the corner that we all went to a couple of times also seems to have gone. Like all distant events, I remember snippets of the field trip vividly (the angry hostel staff, the little pub, the cold day I had to stand outside the cathedral trying unsuccessfully to ask passers by to complete a survey as part of someone else’s fieldwork project.(why on earth didn’t I just sit in a bar and make the results up like everyone else did?)), but the bulk of the 4 or 5 days have faded from my memory, especially the stunning beauty of the city, which I enjoy showing off to Ali - as if it’s my home town. The streets are packed with visitors doing exactly the same as we are, and we all have a lovely time. Daffs even manages to grab a couple of swims in the river close to the Ponts Couvert. A really perfect day. 

Day 17 August 7th 

The aire at Montherme

Up early, to get Daffs to the vet for his pre return to the UK treatment, then homeward, avoiding the toll autoroute as much as possible. We cross back into Germany once again and then up into Luxembourg, where we fill up with cheap diesel in the same garage we used on the way down. Through a bit of Belgium and then back into the French Ardenne to spend the night by the River Meuse. Aftrr flirting briefly with one aire, we settle on a better one in Montherme, right by the little marina. As we are eating our tea, a few ducks wander up to see what’s going on, closely followed by a larger number of ants. We retire for the night. 

Day 18 August 8th 

Hot day. Lucky Monsuier Softee arrived

Another day of Country hopping, from France, into Belgium and finally back into France for the run in towards Calais. Nice scenery to begin with, in the Meuse valley, but, as we head into Belgium the attractiveness starts to fade, along with the quality of the road surfaces. The next few hours are spent being jiggled and joggled about, until we enter France and smoothness is resumed. Final night at a lovely farm aire a few miles west of Calais. From our pitch opposite a, recently cut, corn field, we can gaze out across the straits of Dover and see the lights of Kent twinkling out in the gathering gloom. A few flashes of lightning and claps of thunder announce the end of the sun and heat. Maybe nature’s way of telling us it’s time to go home.  

Last night. England on the horizon!