Well that’s the European part of this trip over, It has been fantastic 11 weeks and we are both upset that it is ending, it’s strange how easily it becomes a way of life and the camper becomes your home. But ever onward we are meeting Mark tonight then onto Bristol on Sunday.

The trip up from Luxemburg was very straight forward with 2 stops in aires, one free and the other 3 euros (we remember why we love France, it is so camper friendly) On one of the aires there were 8 brits thats more English than we have seen in 11 weeks. (so I had a good natter) The only tricky bit was around Lille where we nearly became a bonnet mascot on a Romanian truck
!!!!!!!!

We also had some rain.

TopTip

When standing in a car park on a windy day, doing a Winston Churchill impression with a cigar, and the kettle starts to whistle when you put your cigar on the tarmac, always trap it with stones, or it can get blown under a car and you look a twit stretching under a strangers
car.

This has been our first trip to Germany with mixed views. The Rhein is a tourist trap with lots of industry and city’s. Lake Constance is pretty but expensive, and very busy with a major traffic problem. The black Forest is just that, with a few nice little lakes where the sites are, and the ski areas don’t appear to be used during the summer. The Bavarian Alps are good just like Austria. The Moselle is our favourite, its similar in geography to the Rhine but without the industry and city’s

Nothing we have found yet in our limited trip matches say the Lake District or Cornwall.

Its strange how people holiday, the Dutch move into Germany and Austria in there caravans. The Germans move down to Austria and northern Italy, and a few brits get everywhere.

The picture is of our last stop in Germany, a stellaplatz on a vineyard at 5 euro a night only 2km from a lovely small town, a lot different from the stellaplatzs on the Rhine or in the south of the country where they are the same price as campsites

Back in Luxemburg at a marina aire, great pitch for 11euro. Just filled up with diesel 1.18 euro a ltr

Murphys law

As we all know if you drop toast it lands butter down, well our toilet has a red light that tells you when it requires emptying. well it always comes on just as you are going to bed or during the night, giving a nice job first thing in the morning.

Well we are back on the Moselle which to us is better than the Rhein or Main.

We had a interesting walk yesterday, it was supposed to be up the river over a bridge and back down the other side. With not having walking maps for every area it all went a little wrong. In a vineyard the signs were missing and we ended up doing a high level walk. But at least the views were good. time we got back down to the river it was 3.30 and 8 miles back to camp. So we did the only thing any self respecting Englishman would do. We went for a beer and then caught a bus.

Feeling left out

We are on a site with 240 pitches. there are 6 German outfits, 233 flatlanders and 1 Brit, and we are the only ones without bikes, and 14 of us are not wearing clogs.

Germany

The Rhein between Frankfurt and Koblenz is a bit like a marine motorway with boat tours. It is very busy as a commercial artuary with all the trappings that come with tourism. The pictures you see in books of boats and castles along high cliffs, is actually only a 40mile stretch between Koblenz and Bingen.

One tricky point about the Rhein and its tributary’s is flooding as you can see while we were there the river levels where high, but not as high as it gets as electric boxes in campsites are located about 6ft off the ground, and a lot of buildings like the restaurant on this site are built on stilts

Top Tip

Sites with new landscaped pitches are best reversed onto so when you start to sink you can drive off, and then pitch on the service road.

Ciao darlings we are now in Italy at a small site in the western dolomites at Monte Tellago. The trip over from Austria is a good run over the Brenner Pass. We used the ordinary roads as you need to purchase a pass for the Austrian motorways and we are over 3.5 ton so it’s quite expensive. It is about 120 miles from Innsbruck to Torento and the valley is quite narrow so hence the motorway for most of the distance is either on concrete stilts or through tunnels.

We had a good lunch stopped at this very high class restaurant. Pommr Frittes in plastic cartons. But probably the last chips before Pizza land (Italy)

One little bit of trouble in a small village with narrow roads, one street was a wing mirror to narrow. (but at least it just folded in)

Finally I would like to thank San Fran Keith and Mark for naming the Egyptian goose and the Mandarin duck thanks guys it makes us feel we are not alone out here.

Like of the day

Seeing my first black squirrel

Dislike of the day

Realizing that I know the difference between a wood anemone and a wood sorrel also a cowslip and a ox slip (am I being brain washed?)

Dislike of the day

Writing reminders in your diary using abbreviations and not remembering what the abbreviation stands for.

Like of the day

Eventually remembering what the abbreviation was.

Top Tip

When using walking sandals be aware that in inclement weather hail stones get into the sandal and make walking difficult until they melt.