Homebound through Southern Germany
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Once in the Baden-Württemberg state we
travelled fairly quickly passing through Bad Waldsee, home of Hymer, and
after a long "umleitung" (diversion) due to roadworks continued
through the busy town of Aulendorf with the amazing "Walter's
warehouse" a huge junkyard in the middle of the town. Bypassing
Sigmaringen with its massive schloss on a hill we followed the brown signs
to the Donautal, the infant River Danube along a pleasant valley with
rocky gorges in places and many well signposted cycling tracks.
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Rottweil town centre
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Rottweil window detail
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After calling in to the stellplatz at a carpark in Balingen, free but
occupied by long term residents who stared at us in a rather unwelcoming
way, we drove further west to Rottweil where there was a free stellplatz
next to the sports complex (with signs that it was to be relocated later
in the year). Apart from a few cars parked almost blocking access to the
borne it was a reasonable place to stay overnight. The next morning we
walked into the centre of Rottweil a pleasant town with many old buildings
and lots of apothekes (pharmacies) for some reason. Apart from a
Rottweiler statue at the entrance to the helpful tourist office we weren't
bothered by any live dogs!
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We headed further west into the Schwarzwald stopping at Triberg with its
many cuckoo clock shops including several claiming to have the world's
largest etc., and groups of British schoolkids the first English voices we
had heard for a while. We continued through the forest driving through
small villages with traditional large farmhouses to Hausach where we found
the stellplatz on the edge of the town next to the sports complex - we
noticed that many towns seemed to have excellent modern sports facilities.
We walked into the town centre, a workaday place with a small Woolworths
and statues and a stream along the pavement
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Triberg Cuckoo Clock shop
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Hausach - statue and stream on pavement
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Hausach modern art
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The next morning was cloudy and misty with no views over the forest as we
drove north to Freudenstadt and over the Schwarzwaldhochstraße, no
doubt picturesque in fine weather, then down into the sunnier Rhine
valley. The map showed a car ferry across the Rhine at Greffern so we
headed there and crossed the river on a small free ferry which ran every
few minutes but with a weight limit of 3.5 tonnes. Now in France we parked
up for the night in a large parking area by the ferry in Drusenheim
together with another British motorhome. The next day we took advantage of
the prospect of shopping in a large hypermarket instead of Aldi and Lidl
stores so drove to Haguenau where we eventually found the Auchan in the
centre commercial on the ring road, unusually for France not well
signposted from the town centre. After a top up of provisions and fuel
which was a lot cheaper than in Germany (several Germans were filling up
large plastic jerrycans) we headed north to Wissembourg taking the bypass
although the old town centre looked interesting, but we had a fair
distance to go so will save an exploration for another trip. Back in
Germany we reached Annweiler am Trifels in the Pfälzerwald with a
stellplatz by a large park. The town centre had many timbered buildings
and although the shops were mostly shut for lunch and early closing we
were amazed at how much stock was left on display outside; obviously more
trustworthy folk around here. Nearby were signposted walks to the Trifels,
three castles on the hill overlooking the town.
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Greffern free ferry across the Rhine
Annweiler am Trifels
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The next morning we continued towards the industrial town of Pirmasens
then on an almost empty autobahn to Birkenfeld. Missing a turning to
Morbach we cut down a country lane and at Winzenburg came across one of
those amazing incidental sights of a house with a garden full of gnomes
and kitsch statues we had seen for sale in the Czech Republic. Crossing
the Hunsrück hills we reached Bernkastel - Kues on the Moselle river where we
parked at the (daytime only) motorhome parking area and strolled around
the old town. We then drove along the northern river bank and stopped
overnight at a grassy riverside stellplatz at Kinheim, not busy as there
were no electric hookups but €6 a night and an honesty box to pay €2
for the water tap and waste point.
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Gnomes in Winzenberg
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Another wet day followed as we headed northwest towards more industrial
towns trying to avoid town centres but ending up in commuter belt villages
with slow chicanes and speed bumps. After driving straight through Düren
we reached Jülich and the stellplatz at Brückenkopf Park which cost €4
each to enter the park but we couldn't decide if it was a children's
theme park or a show garden and it looked deserted in the steady drizzle
so we didn't bother. There were two stellplatz listed there, one €6 by
the main carpark and a free one around the back with warning signs about
car thieves so we decided to continue westwards towards the Netherlands
and found a small but busy free stellplatz at Waldfeucht just by the
border. Strange how these places vary but we didn't get a nod or smile
from any of the other vans staying there, just the occasional stare.
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Bernkastel old house
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Now in the Netherlands on straight flat
roads with lots of traffic lights and speed cameras, we drove through
several small neat towns hoping to get some provisions but didn't see a
single sign for a food shop. After a brief stop at the De Groote Peel national
park, an area of flat heathland and peat bogs apparently famous for the
variety of birds although they must have been hiding when we visited, we drove alongside canals
and on ever busier roads to 'S-Hertogenbosch and around the ring road to
the ACSI listed campsite at Le Rotonde which was by a motorway service
area so we continued to Leerdam and spotted a sign to a small campsite,
Camping de Grienduil at Nieuwland. As it had been so wet the friendly
owner put us on a small gravel area beside his house together with three
other motorhomes -very cosy for the night!
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Nieuwland large mobile baker's stall
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We took a short walk into the village where
a massive lorry and trailer selling bread turned up in the afternoon - a
sort of mobile market - glad we didn't meet him along the narrow lanes
with ditches either side.
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Windmills at Kinderdijk
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Windmills large and small
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Our final day abroad we didn't have too far to drive so headed for the
windmills at Kinderdijk where we found a free on street parking place a
few hundred metres away. We then had to tackle the Rotterdam ring road
motorway which wasn't too busy being a Sunday. At one point there were
eight lanes in each direction but the signposting was good so drove around
the east and north of the city until we found the route to the Hook of
Holland ok. We thought we would top up with diesel before leaving Europe
but only found one expensive filling station open about a kilometre from
the ferry terminal, the rest of the town being deserted on a Sunday. After
lunch parked up by the railway crossing and watching the hoards of
cyclists heading for the nearby beaches, we boarded the ferry and
had a slow journey back to Harwich and home
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Bavaria
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Europe
2008 summary >>
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