Fussen to Walchensee

Poor internet last night so no blog !

Wednesday 5^th June

This morning we too a leisurely stroll around Füssen, the Bavarian town at the southern end of the Romantic Route that meanders from here, through Bavaria, up to Würzburg.

We enjoyed visiting some of the town's on this route last year and there are some real gems, wonderful, pretty, scenic town's and villages with a lot of history behind them.

Füssen is a typical Bavaria tourist town with a castle and museum and lots of coffee shops and bars. There was a relaxed atmosphere with a German trio of singer's in the square next to the fountains and pavement cafes with parasols out to offer shelter from the strong mid day sun.

Behind the castle on the hill is a park and River walk by the Lech. The trees also offered some welcome shade.

After lunch we set off in our now familiar eastward quest with a not too long a journey to Walchensee.

Another spectacular Bavarian Alpine lake.

Ed the motorhome is parked up on a motorhome Stellplatz at a little village called Einsiedl (GPS  47.56957 11.30192).

I must say, the scenery in this area is just breathtaking. Around every corner are amazing scenic vistas.

There are services here if needed but we don't need them tonight, the sun is keeping the solar panels active and the leisure batteries nicely topped up. So for just 6 euro we get to park in a beautiful location on the edge of the lake.

The weather is glorious, warm and sunny, what's not to like ?

Since we had to endure the chores of the laundry wash yesterday, we decided to treat ourselves to a meal in the onsite restaurant at Camping Brennen, within sight of of Neuschwanstien Castle

Very good it was too, schnitzel, fries and salad washed down with a large beer and a fabulous view of the lake. Delicious.

Earlier today, I looked into booking tickets for Linderhof Palace for tomorrow. This is another of mad King Ludwig ll creations. The website tells me you have to book a week in advance, or take your chance turning up on the day !

So that's what we plan to do. 

They open at 0830 so we'll get there early and take our chances. 

All tickets are sold as part of a conducted tour, so no wandering around on your own.

Unfortunately, the Venus Grotto, for which the palace is famous is closed for restoration until 2023. It must be a big job they are doing there.

Reviews on Tripadvisor seem to mostly agree that it's worth visiting even without the Grotto.

This evening were enjoying the last of the days sunshine and we'll take a walk into Einsiedl later.

Update, well there wasn't much in Einsiedl, just a private sailing club and a beach.

I got talking to a couple on the beach who were from Ukraine.

They have travelled down from Berlin and are heading in the direction of home now via Poland.

I got talking to them because they were flying a drone and it had been gone for so long, out of sight I thought they had lost it. 

But no, they were flying it, I think he said 4 kilometers away across the lake !

It turns out to be his hobby and he's made films throughout their trip.

He uploads the edited films to YouTube and offered me the link to his page. So I gave him my email and I hope he sends the link in the future when they are done.

Füssen in the sun

Füssen town

German costumes

Füssen in the sun

Füssen church

Füssen Museum

Füssen Park walk by the river

Time for a rest

Füssen Castle

Füssen in the sun

I pointed this out to Louis

Füssen town fountain

Stellplatz at Einsidel with our German and Dutch neighbours

Off for a walk through the woods

A walk through the woods to the lake

Walchensee

Walchensee

Walchensee

Our route today, Fussen to Walchensee

Onward through Bavaria Geisingen to Fussen

We left Geisingen this morning and headed east across Bavaria to Lake Constance or Bodensee as the Germans like to call it.

It was looking good in the morning sunshine with the snow covered peaks of the Alps in the background.

Last year stayed a few days in Meersburg on Constance.

We tried in vein to find a layby to stop in for lunch, it seems there are very few on this road.

Eventually I decided to just take the next right turn off and see what was there. Well it wasn't a layby, but it was a great spot for lunch.

It was just a grass verge really by a cycle track but with a large tree for shade it did us well as a lunch stop.

There was also a metal artwork structure but I wasn`t quite sure what it was meant to represent.

Next it was on to Hohenschwangau where Neuschwanstein Castle sits in it`s amazing location.

This castle is famous for it`s appearance in Chitty Chitty Bank Bank amongst other things.

It was built by the mad King Ludwin II in1869 but never completed. Although heavily in debt, he had a passion for building these grand castles but eventually the German Government had him certified as insane and intered him in Berg Palace where he died in 1886.

My research suggested quite a climb up to the castle and lots of steps inside so Sue wasn't taken with that idea. I'd also read that most people's lasting memory of the castle is from the exterior with the stunning mountain scenery.

So I decided to try and get the money shot from the suspension bridge I'd read about.

That too was thwarted by a parking attendant stopping me driving up.

So although we didn't get as good a view as we'd have liked, we saw enough to get the feel of the place. 

From our campsite tonight we can see the castle lit by the evening sunset and it is quite a sight.

Since we were in need of laundry facilities following the puking dog incident, life on the road in a motorhome isn`t always idillic, I decided to book Camping Brunnen for tonight where there is a laundry.

It sits in a beautiful spot on the shores of Forggensee, with Neuschwanstien Castle and the mountains as a backdrop.

When we arrived there were three ladies playing long horns on the lake shore, a lovely introduction to the place.

The laundry is presently turning in the washer, and I have my eye on a table in the restaurant for dinner.

I'm also looking forward to a walk around some of the lake after dinner.

Our lunch stop

Our lunch stop and sculpture

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

Lakeside Camping Brunnen

Long Horn players to greet us

Forggensee

Neuschwanstein Castle

Todays Route

Hornbach to Geisingen through the Black Forest

Brexit and Trump, I`m thankful to be out of the country today spending quality time with our European cousins.

There`s not a lot to report for today, we left Hornbach and headed the scenic route (non motorway) to the town of Geisigen. Interestingly we`ve not paid a single road toll on this trip so far.

We`re on the town Stellplatz (GPS 47.91987 8.64963) which we`re sharing with mostly German, and Dutch neighbours, not a single other Brit here.

It is another sleepy town surrounded on all sides by the forests the region is named after.

We`re actually not that far from Schaffhausen where the Rhine falls are that we visited last year and were so impressed by. 
A spectacular sight, but we`ll avoid that temptation and press on with the plan.

Part way through the journey, my trusty old Samsung phone that I have the music stored on, stopped working. It was plugged in so there was no reason for it to go off, but it did. I therefore presumed it had failed due to old age !

After messing around with it it seems it`s the cable has failed not the phone, so bingo, all back up and working now J

After tea we wandered up to the town and enjoyed a beer in the square.

Like I said it`s sleepy here …… so we soon wandered back.

Oh, last night we enjoyed the delights of a puking dog, probably as a result of something he snaffled off the pavement during the day. Not recommended.

Tomorrow we are moving on towards Füssen, set in the heart of beautiful Bavaria. There are a number of sights I want to see in the region so I think we`ll slow down the pace a little and take time to enjoy the scenery and the sights of the region over the next few days.

We have TV signal again tonight but the only channel we can get is SKY News with wall to wall coverage of Trump.

I`m sat outside writing this and enjoying the evening sunshine that has returned after a rain shower at tea time.

The shower has cooled things down somewhat thankfully.

Internet is really slow tonight, I`ll update a few photos when I can 

Thieu to Hornbach

We were both very tired after yesterday's early start and slept like logs after an early night.

Prior to sleep, I had a walk up to the boat lift and it was interesting to see these huge cargo barges (as in my picture yesterday) being lifted up to the higher level.

There were tourist boats doing their thing with lots of whooping from happy tourists following a tour of the building and the machinery.

In the morning I was chatting with the only other Brits on the Aire, a couple from Norfolk.

They were telling how nice Luxembourg city centre is and with a motorhome Aire right by the centre in a park. This gave me ideas and thoughts for the return journey perhaps ? But much too early to think of that.

Our planned route took us through the country of Luxembourg and the home of cheap fuel.

Plenty of others had the same idea and there was quite a queue at the pumps.

It cost 1.13 euro per litre which is £1. The current price in UK at the moment being about £1.30 so it is a decent saving.

We arrived at our destination for today, a small town called Hornbach, just east of Saarbruken.

The Aire is very pleasant situated on the outskirts of town which I intend to explore after we had some tea.

It's very warm here today, my phone telling me 32' so I'm hoping it'll be cooler later for the walk. Otherwise I might have to buy a large ice-cream ! or even a beer.

We have full services here tonight, electric hook up, water and a place to dump waste water, all for a bargain 7 euro.

The walk around the town revealed it to be a sleepy place with not much going on but it was quite pleasant. But no ice-cream or beer was purchased mainly because I forgot my money.

We have TV signal again tonight

Tomorrow we head off across the Black Forest region of Germany

Queuing for diesel in Luxembourg

Stellplatz in Hornbach Germany

Stellplatz in Hornbach Germany

Stellplatz childrens play area

Hornbach town

Hornbach town

Hornbach town

Hornbach town sculpture ? you decide, courting carrots maybe ?

Our route across Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany

From Home to Thieu

  

Today has been quite a long drive by my standards and quite tiring.

We left home at 0500 and after stopping for breakfast at Cobham services and we arrived at our destination of Thieu in the Hainaut region of Belgium at about 1500 and after 375 miles of driving.

The journey was mostly uneventful except for two incidents, someone in a caravan waving frantically at me and pointing to the roof, our roof as they went past ! 

I was at a loss to know what they were pointing at or trying to alert me to. After some consideration I decided that if there was something loose I'd be able to hear it flapping and if it was something like a roof light I'd be able to hear it blowing.

I decided to stick my head in the sand and carry on. Only when we got to Cobham did I realise one of the roof lights was slightly open and probably flapping ! 

Doh, another lesson learnt. Some have lost their roof lights on motorways when they forget to close them and the wind gets underneath !

I was still very surprised we couldn't hear it when driving though.

The other event on the M40 was a bird strike, not just any bird but a kestral I think.

I didn't get a good look but I'm pretty sure it was.

It just came out of some trees at 90' to the motorway and struck the top of the van, nothing I could do to avoid it.

It really bothered me that I'd just killed a such beautiful bird of prey. 

Ah well, on the upside, I suppose some local field mice prey will have enjoyed a better day than they expected as a result of the premature demise of their hunter.

The tunnel crossing was quick and without any delay, straight on the train as soon as we got there and an on time departure. 

We're parked up this evening on the dedicated motorhome Aire (GPS 50.47133 4.09005) in the village of Thieu, adjacent to the Canal du Central in the Hainaut region of Belgium, close to Mons.

Thieu is famous as having the second highest boatlift in the world.

It was constructed in the 1990's along with a new stretch of canal next to the old canal where there is a smaller boat lift that works on a balance system – one side lifts and the other drops.

The village of Thieu which surrounded the old boat lift had 250 houses and the town hall demolished back in 1990`s to make way for the new canal, which takes boats up to the new big lift.

There are no services here, just convenient safe free parking. 

Fortunately we not in need of any services as we have plenty of water on board and the sun is doing a good job of helping the solar panels charge the batteries.

After tea I went for a walk up to see the boat lifts and below are some photographs.

There is some great cycling around here on the tow paths.

Oh yes, I spoke to two people within 10 minutes of arriving here, I Belgium and a Dutch man. Each separately said " Ahh, you English, you here in Europe while you still can eh?  while they still let you come"

Bloody hell, can`t escape Brexit anywhere !

The Ramp onto the Channel Tunnel

Driving onto the Train

On the Train

Canal du Central at Thieu Motorhome Aire

Thieu Motorhome Aire

Thieu Motorhome Aire

Canal du Central at Thieu Motorhome Aire

Canal du Central at Thieu Old Boat Lift

Canal du Central 

Canal du Central New canal on the left and old canal on the right

Canal du Central at Thieu New Boat Lift

Canal du Central at Thieu New Boat Lift

Canal du Central and Thieu Village

Another shot of the Old Boat Lift

Our route from Calais

Back on the road again …

Last week an alert arrived on my phone courtesy of our all knowing masters at Google. It was to inform me that on this very day last year we were enjoying the spectacular sights of Venice, and they even included some photos to remind me.

After a few minutes reliving those un-forgetable sights, sounds and smells I was pleased to realise we would soon be back on the road again with different set of destinations to visit and explore.

Hopefully they will be just as memorable and enjoyable as last year.

We don`t have quite as much time for this trip, six weeks as opposed to last years twelve weeks. But I still hope we can pack in some interesting places along the way.

The plan is to drive from Calais down through Belgium, arrive into Luxembourg with empty fuel tanks to cram as much cheap diesel in as possible, then into Germany travelling east through Bavaria. 

We`ll then head for Vienna for a waltz and a whirl around the beautiful Austrian capital.

From there we will head south to the clear warm Adriatic waters of Croatia that I enjoyed so much last year.

Messing around in the sea in my Kayak with Louis on board and swimming were definitely one of the highlights last year which I hope to repeat.

I was amazed by Louis reaction to the kayak, he can be a bit excitable and I was half expecting him to be leaping around like a nutter.

Not a bit of it though, each time he just went straight off to sleep and seeming to enjoy the rocking motion, while I did all the work paddling of course !

Just the occasional glance around for reassurance and he was happy as a pig in muck.

We`ll probably explore places we didn`t go to last year and maybe do a bit of island hopping.

But as always, the plan may change as we go along and the mood takes us. 

Or we`re just tempted by places we find on the route, so watch this space !

I`ve done some research on the Blogger.com help forum and couldn`t really resolve either of the two issues I`ve had with this blog.

The first one is the comments people leave, some seem to come through to me yet others don`t. So if I don`t acknowledge you it`s not because I`m ignoring you, I probably just didn`t receive it.

The second problem was getting the map to load to show the latest pin drop. 

You may still have to drag it across.

So, Ed has been packed and polished and is all ready for off tomorrow.

We`re booked on a 1020 Channel Tunnel crossing so it`ll be an early start for us.

happy memories from last year

happy memories from last year

more happy memories from last year

 

 Ed the motorhome is displaying new graphics this year, thank you Lauren.

See you on the other side of the water, or La Manche as the French like to call the English Channel.