Wheels Around Europe . . . . . . . : Into Germany

Tuesday 1 May 2018

Into Germany

After a rather stormy and rain drenched night we woke to a distinct chill in the air and so left our free site at Lac de la Gileppe and headed off into nearby Germany and the historic town of Monschau. What should have been a thirty minute journey turned into more like sixty minutes due to a road closure.

The detour took us through the Parc Naturel Hautes Fagnes – Eifel, which was a very senic detour.

The town of Monschau is very quaint and has changed little since the 1700`s.

The rain stayed off and weak sunshine did it`s best to warm us but it was distinctly chilly so a walk through the town was completed then back to Ed to move on.

Next stop was on the River Roer which together with the nearby town of Schmidt, was very significant in WW2

Schmidt was almost completely destroyed in WW2 as it holds a strategic position overlooking the Schwammenauel Dam. In 1944 as the Allied army was advancing through Germany, the Germans still controlled the Dam and the Allies were desperate to capture it to stop it being blown up, flooding the Rur valley and killing large numbers of Allied troops. There was prolonged heavy fighting and severe casualties on both sides.

Lunch was enjoyed here before moving on to Koblenz.

Koblenz sits at a point where the mighty Rhine River meets the Moselle River. There is a spit of land called Deutsches Eck (German Corner) that juts out into the river with a very grand monument atop. Our campsite for the night overlooks this impressive monument and there is a foot ferry crosses the river to the old town which we took advantage off today. A cable car also goes up the the second largest preserved Fortress in Europe called Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.

Tomorrow I think we will head off down the Moselle River.

The weather picked up considerably in Koblenz and the forecast for the next few days is good.