Tuesday 14th September
Spent a bit of the morning in Eguisheim village - it is very colourful with its marzipan houses and fountains and flowers. We checked that Henri Brecht was still in business - we have bought his wine before, but unfortunately he is closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so tasted and got some from one of his neighbours. Then on to Leclerc on the outskirts of Colmar - what a treat to be in a French supermarket! The German Aldis and Lidls were OK but we have really missed the choice that we are used to at home and in France. Prawns always taste so good in France and lunch today up on the Col de Bonhomme was great!
Travelled as far as Lorraine, stopping for the night at an Aire/France Passion in the village of Bruley, just north of Toul. This was a large parking space in the centre of the village - interesting watching the comings and goings of the locals and very quiet at night.
Wednesday 15th September
On the road again, just stopping to buy our baguette before getting onto the autoroute near Verdun. Did the bulk of thejourney today, 218 miles, and now at a very green campsite at Boiry Notre Dame, near Arras.
We'll stop at a supermarket somewhere tomorrow as we like to buy a few things to bring home - especially a huge leafy lettuce and some sausages - guess which for who?!! Then to Calais for our ferry late afternoon and home hopefully in time for John to get to the Drama Group Dress Rehearsal. (The Group are possibly looking forward to the return of their Lighting Man - for
performances Friday and Saturday!)
And so another brilliant adventure comes to a close - and a very memorable one too.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Monday, 13 September 2010
des Trois Chateaux, Eguisheim France
Saturday 11th September
We had to give up the keys to our en-suite facilities this morning as it was time to move on - but not very
far. A beautiful sunny day, so we decided to c
onquor Zugspitze - the Top of Germany. This can be do
ne as a round trip, starting at Garmisch-Partenkirchen station on the cog railway. This climbs very
steeply up to Eibsee, a beautiful lake at 1000m. At this stage we couldn't see the lake, but when the train had climbed up up to Riffelriss, we had 5 minutes to get off the train to see the magnificent view - down to the lake and up to the summit of Zugspitze. (The announcement in English said it was for the "shooting"!) Back on the train, and straight into a tunnel that weaves its way through the mountain. We emerged almost 20 m
inutes later at 
the Zugspitzplatt at 2600m beside the glacier. Went for a tramp around in the snow and up to a little chapel. Also watched a far-away group who appeared as little ants following each other on the glacier. We sat on the terrace to eat our Kartoffelsuppe watching a patch of cloud wafting over the summit, but even if there wasn't going to be much view, we needed to get up there. So onto the large Gletscherbahn cable car to the top (2962m) passing lines of climbers going up the hard way. It was a restricted view for us in some directions, but just watching the climbers one by one achieve their goal, was great. The way back down again was much faster than the train - another big cable car that zoomed us down quickly to Eibsee. The very hot sunshine had brought everyone out to this lovely spot this afternoon, walking, cycling and messing about in boats. We walked a little way beside the lake and passed piles of very neatly-laid out equipment obviously waiting for some activity group to arrive (Explorer Scouts??) - there were planks, poles, ropes, life-jackets, towels, drinks, apples, biscuits ....
Our trip was rounded off by catching the train from Eibsee back down to G-P. Another brilliant day.
We wanted to feel we had started on our journey towards home today, so drove the short way back into Austria to a campsite at Erhwald where we could watch the evening sun turn the rock face of the Zugspitze rose-red.
Sunday 12th September
It turned out to be an even hotter day than yesterday, so made the most of it as well as covering a few more miles westwards. Stopped for a walk and coffee beside Gruntensee and then again for lunch at a Gastof by the road - not quite sure where - but arriving at Lin
dau on Bodensee (Lake Constance) about 2.30. For several miles we were following the same car, which John thought, from a distance, was British (don't often see one). At traffic lights as we reached Lindau, we caught it up. In the back window was a sticker from his garage in Broadbridge Heath! We had no chance to make contact though as they went ahead and we turned right to the Stellplatze. Then spent more than 2 hours walking all the way around the island of Lindau which was very busy with sunny Sunday afternoon visitors. We watched big trip boats in and out 
of the harbour and the lake was alive with sailing and motor boats - and a few swimmers. Ther
e was also some sort of gathering of
classic cars to attract the crowds, so a very lively atmosphere. Only trouble was that we were trying to leave Lindau at the same time as many others, so we didn't get as far as the far north-west end of Bodensee for our night's rest, but left the traffic at Nussdorf to stay at this little site - Camping Nell - beside the lake.
Monday 13th September
The very hot day ended with a thunderstorm, but it seemed to clear the air and today has been fine - just not quite so hot. The friendly site owner told that just around the corner was an Information Office with an Internet Cafe, so we thought that was worth a visit, having had a few days without publishing the blog. Er, closed Mondays! Never mind, we bought fresh warm rolls in the shop opposite and set off in the van. Just north of Bodensee, we needed to do a bit of motorway and there was a services aire, so stopped to see if we could use wifi there. Yes, no problem, comfy chairs and excellent coffee and hot choc., but when it came to connecting to blogspot the IP address was blocked - perhaps they thought it was a dodgy site!! So we continued on our way, stopping for our long lunch break today at Titisee (OK another lake, but they are all so lovely). We had to keep our heads down as this is where we stayed at the campsite many years ago and left without paying!! Well, that is not quite true as it was in the days of Euro cheques, which they accepted, but never presented to Barclays - you dare say anything, Lynda M.!!!
Too late to catch up with us now - we are back in France, staying the night at Des Trois Chateaux, Eguisheim on the edge of the Alsace. We've been here before, but not as busy as it is tonight - they only had 4 pitches for us to choose from. Vineyards all around us. Moving on through France over the next three days.
We had to give up the keys to our en-suite facilities this morning as it was time to move on - but not very
far. A beautiful sunny day, so we decided to c
onquor Zugspitze - the Top of Germany. This can be do
ne as a round trip, starting at Garmisch-Partenkirchen station on the cog railway. This climbs very
steeply up to Eibsee, a beautiful lake at 1000m. At this stage we couldn't see the lake, but when the train had climbed up up to Riffelriss, we had 5 minutes to get off the train to see the magnificent view - down to the lake and up to the summit of Zugspitze. (The announcement in English said it was for the "shooting"!) Back on the train, and straight into a tunnel that weaves its way through the mountain. We emerged almost 20 m
inutes later at 
the Zugspitzplatt at 2600m beside the glacier. Went for a tramp around in the snow and up to a little chapel. Also watched a far-away group who appeared as little ants following each other on the glacier. We sat on the terrace to eat our Kartoffelsuppe watching a patch of cloud wafting over the summit, but even if there wasn't going to be much view, we needed to get up there. So onto the large Gletscherbahn cable car to the top (2962m) passing lines of climbers going up the hard way. It was a restricted view for us in some directions, but just watching the climbers one by one achieve their goal, was great. The way back down again was much faster than the train - another big cable car that zoomed us down quickly to Eibsee. The very hot sunshine had brought everyone out to this lovely spot this afternoon, walking, cycling and messing about in boats. We walked a little way beside the lake and passed piles of very neatly-laid out equipment obviously waiting for some activity group to arrive (Explorer Scouts??) - there were planks, poles, ropes, life-jackets, towels, drinks, apples, biscuits ....Our trip was rounded off by catching the train from Eibsee back down to G-P. Another brilliant day.
We wanted to feel we had started on our journey towards home today, so drove the short way back into Austria to a campsite at Erhwald where we could watch the evening sun turn the rock face of the Zugspitze rose-red.
Sunday 12th September
It turned out to be an even hotter day than yesterday, so made the most of it as well as covering a few more miles westwards. Stopped for a walk and coffee beside Gruntensee and then again for lunch at a Gastof by the road - not quite sure where - but arriving at Lin
dau on Bodensee (Lake Constance) about 2.30. For several miles we were following the same car, which John thought, from a distance, was British (don't often see one). At traffic lights as we reached Lindau, we caught it up. In the back window was a sticker from his garage in Broadbridge Heath! We had no chance to make contact though as they went ahead and we turned right to the Stellplatze. Then spent more than 2 hours walking all the way around the island of Lindau which was very busy with sunny Sunday afternoon visitors. We watched big trip boats in and out 
of the harbour and the lake was alive with sailing and motor boats - and a few swimmers. Ther
e was also some sort of gathering of
classic cars to attract the crowds, so a very lively atmosphere. Only trouble was that we were trying to leave Lindau at the same time as many others, so we didn't get as far as the far north-west end of Bodensee for our night's rest, but left the traffic at Nussdorf to stay at this little site - Camping Nell - beside the lake.Monday 13th September
The very hot day ended with a thunderstorm, but it seemed to clear the air and today has been fine - just not quite so hot. The friendly site owner told that just around the corner was an Information Office with an Internet Cafe, so we thought that was worth a visit, having had a few days without publishing the blog. Er, closed Mondays! Never mind, we bought fresh warm rolls in the shop opposite and set off in the van. Just north of Bodensee, we needed to do a bit of motorway and there was a services aire, so stopped to see if we could use wifi there. Yes, no problem, comfy chairs and excellent coffee and hot choc., but when it came to connecting to blogspot the IP address was blocked - perhaps they thought it was a dodgy site!! So we continued on our way, stopping for our long lunch break today at Titisee (OK another lake, but they are all so lovely). We had to keep our heads down as this is where we stayed at the campsite many years ago and left without paying!! Well, that is not quite true as it was in the days of Euro cheques, which they accepted, but never presented to Barclays - you dare say anything, Lynda M.!!!
Too late to catch up with us now - we are back in France, staying the night at Des Trois Chateaux, Eguisheim on the edge of the Alsace. We've been here before, but not as busy as it is tonight - they only had 4 pitches for us to choose from. Vineyards all around us. Moving on through France over the next three days.
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Last day at Tennsee
Friday 10th September
A
cloudy day and spent a lot of the morning chatting to various friends we'd met yesterday - one chap passes with his emptied loo, another on the way back from washing up, a couple needing a bit of sat-nav advice, another wanting to know which campsite we'd stayed at near Fussen etc. etc., so that we missed the bus we had thought of catching to Garmisch-
Partenkirchen. Oh well, we'll go after lunch ... But after a couple of showers of rain, we went off the bus idea and took the van and parked at Wohnmobil stellplatz (special parking for motorhomes) at the foot of the 'Wank' mountain. It was still cloudy, but the lady in the ticket office showed us the CCTV screen of the summit and it wasn't in cloud, so we boarded one of the little gondolas and shot off upwards, passing a 'go ape' on the way. A beautiful 10 minute ride dangling in space with great views.
At the summit was a nice easy-to-find geocache - a shame we can't claim to climbing all the way up to it. Walking for a while and watching the changing cloud formations over the different peaks
was good, but the top of Zugspitze (the highest mountain in Bavaria) was covered all the time.
A
cloudy day and spent a lot of the morning chatting to various friends we'd met yesterday - one chap passes with his emptied loo, another on the way back from washing up, a couple needing a bit of sat-nav advice, another wanting to know which campsite we'd stayed at near Fussen etc. etc., so that we missed the bus we had thought of catching to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Oh well, we'll go after lunch ... But after a couple of showers of rain, we went off the bus idea and took the van and parked at Wohnmobil stellplatz (special parking for motorhomes) at the foot of the 'Wank' mountain. It was still cloudy, but the lady in the ticket office showed us the CCTV screen of the summit and it wasn't in cloud, so we boarded one of the little gondolas and shot off upwards, passing a 'go ape' on the way. A beautiful 10 minute ride dangling in space with great views.
At the summit was a nice easy-to-find geocache - a shame we can't claim to climbing all the way up to it. Walking for a while and watching the changing cloud formations over the different peaks
was good, but the top of Zugspitze (the highest mountain in Bavaria) was covered all the time.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Oberammergau
Thursday 9th September
Although the day started rather damp, by lunch-time it was lovely, so at 12.50 we happily strolled along to the campsite entrance for a 12.55 coach pick-up. This was part of the arrangement made through the Camping & Caravanning Club and although we had met one or two others on the site who were booked as well, we didn't know how many people were going from here. There were 16 of us, so we realised, along with all the others, just how fortunate we were to get these valuable tickets - we must have all rung up on the same day! The coach was already part-full of German people coming from Mittenwald and it stopped at another village later for a few more. We had
been told that we were to make a note of the number plate and description of the coach for when we needed to find it late at night. I was busy taking photos when we arrived, when our driver said it wouldn't be him and not his coach, but that the coach would be here, by the Eise Cafe! (We had some idea of the thousands of people who might be meeting their coach too, but we'll see....) The town of Oberammergau is beautiful, nestling in hills with mountains all around, and although most of the chalets are souvenir and twee shops, they are so attractive with window boxes and beautiful wall 
paintings and murals. We had a bit of time to spare before the theatre, so went for a walk-about to book ourselves in for a meal during the interval. That done and queued for the loo, we went to our seats in the theatre. It is vast, very wide and we were quite near to the back, but on a raked floor. No photos were allowed during the performance, so this is our only picture of the inside.
The first half (from 2.30 - 5.00) told the story from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to his arrest. The crowd scenes are amazing (with we think about 1500 people) involving children from about the age of 5 to quite elderly people. The main parts, the acting, the music, the singing are all just perfect. Between some of the scenes are "Living Images" of actors in motionless scenes and as the Textbook says: 'pointing to Old Testament events that are intended to aid theological analysis and serve as foci for meditation. At the same time, emotionally stirring music moves the performance into the realm of an oratorio that immerses the audience into events through the combined power of choir, orchestra and soloists.' ... Oh boy, does it just ....
From 5.00 to 8.00 is the interval and the town comes alive with mainly American voices! A lovely atmosphere with restaurants, cafes and shops buzzing. The s'Wirtshaus Restaurant was where we booked and it proved an excellent choice - a buffet meal of soup, salad, turkey, pork, sausages, fish and dessert - eat as much as you wish. We also took a look in the church and mooched around the shops, finishing with a cup of tea/coffee at a cafe where we could use the loo without the queue at the theatre!
Part 2 followed through Jesus' interrogations, mocking, humiliation, trials and all the events that led to the crucifixion. Too much to describe how real and moving this second part was. What made this so special was the passion that the actors expressed both in support and hatred of Jesus. If only we could have understood the spoken language - we had to rely on our Textbook to follow the script (with torch in second half) but it wasn't able to portray the strength of feelings expressed in the same way. Some of the time we just had to watch the action, even though we didn't know what was being said. The resurrection scene was quite short but with very powerful images of light with Christ coming slowly forward as the final chorus was sung.
Many scenes involved various wildlife - donkey, sheep, goats, doves, horses and 2 beautiful camels that were part of Herod's entourage. All were very well-behaved with just a couple of puddles. The production was amazing with simple props like a tent-like structure being put together by cast for the last supper and the incredible way that the bodies were taken down from the crosses ....
We were very surprised to find that almost 3 hours had passed - and our coach would be leaving at 11! Our small group tried to stay together getting out of the theatre and walked the few yards to the Eise Cafe. We could see 3 'park and ride' buses and behind them, just one coach - OURS! We could only assume that all the tour coaches have to stay in the edge of town car parks - ours being a local pick-up coach, was allowed virtually to the door. So despite the crowds, we rolled home in comfort just before midnight.
Such a wonderfully memorable day.
Although the day started rather damp, by lunch-time it was lovely, so at 12.50 we happily strolled along to the campsite entrance for a 12.55 coach pick-up. This was part of the arrangement made through the Camping & Caravanning Club and although we had met one or two others on the site who were booked as well, we didn't know how many people were going from here. There were 16 of us, so we realised, along with all the others, just how fortunate we were to get these valuable tickets - we must have all rung up on the same day! The coach was already part-full of German people coming from Mittenwald and it stopped at another village later for a few more. We had
been told that we were to make a note of the number plate and description of the coach for when we needed to find it late at night. I was busy taking photos when we arrived, when our driver said it wouldn't be him and not his coach, but that the coach would be here, by the Eise Cafe! (We had some idea of the thousands of people who might be meeting their coach too, but we'll see....) The town of Oberammergau is beautiful, nestling in hills with mountains all around, and although most of the chalets are souvenir and twee shops, they are so attractive with window boxes and beautiful wall 
paintings and murals. We had a bit of time to spare before the theatre, so went for a walk-about to book ourselves in for a meal during the interval. That done and queued for the loo, we went to our seats in the theatre. It is vast, very wide and we were quite near to the back, but on a raked floor. No photos were allowed during the performance, so this is our only picture of the inside.The first half (from 2.30 - 5.00) told the story from Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to his arrest. The crowd scenes are amazing (with we think about 1500 people) involving children from about the age of 5 to quite elderly people. The main parts, the acting, the music, the singing are all just perfect. Between some of the scenes are "Living Images" of actors in motionless scenes and as the Textbook says: 'pointing to Old Testament events that are intended to aid theological analysis and serve as foci for meditation. At the same time, emotionally stirring music moves the performance into the realm of an oratorio that immerses the audience into events through the combined power of choir, orchestra and soloists.' ... Oh boy, does it just ....
From 5.00 to 8.00 is the interval and the town comes alive with mainly American voices! A lovely atmosphere with restaurants, cafes and shops buzzing. The s'Wirtshaus Restaurant was where we booked and it proved an excellent choice - a buffet meal of soup, salad, turkey, pork, sausages, fish and dessert - eat as much as you wish. We also took a look in the church and mooched around the shops, finishing with a cup of tea/coffee at a cafe where we could use the loo without the queue at the theatre!Part 2 followed through Jesus' interrogations, mocking, humiliation, trials and all the events that led to the crucifixion. Too much to describe how real and moving this second part was. What made this so special was the passion that the actors expressed both in support and hatred of Jesus. If only we could have understood the spoken language - we had to rely on our Textbook to follow the script (with torch in second half) but it wasn't able to portray the strength of feelings expressed in the same way. Some of the time we just had to watch the action, even though we didn't know what was being said. The resurrection scene was quite short but with very powerful images of light with Christ coming slowly forward as the final chorus was sung.
Many scenes involved various wildlife - donkey, sheep, goats, doves, horses and 2 beautiful camels that were part of Herod's entourage. All were very well-behaved with just a couple of puddles. The production was amazing with simple props like a tent-like structure being put together by cast for the last supper and the incredible way that the bodies were taken down from the crosses ....
We were very surprised to find that almost 3 hours had passed - and our coach would be leaving at 11! Our small group tried to stay together getting out of the theatre and walked the few yards to the Eise Cafe. We could see 3 'park and ride' buses and behind them, just one coach - OURS! We could only assume that all the tour coaches have to stay in the edge of town car parks - ours being a local pick-up coach, was allowed virtually to the door. So despite the crowds, we rolled home in comfort just before midnight.
Such a wonderfully memorable day.
Tennsee Ablutions!!
We feel that the 5-star toilet block deserves it's own blog posting - so here 
are some 
photos!!!
are some 
photos!!!
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Alpen Caravanpark Tennsee
Tuesday 7th September
We left Schwangau and drove the very short distance to the Austrian border (it wiggles over and around the mountains). Getting across the border was painless, but a very sharp left turn immediately after a big river bridge took John by surprise but he skillfully manoevred the van around at a road junction. (Sat-Nav Susie was shouting 'turn around when possible', so he had no choice!) A few yards onto the right road and we came to a sign directing vehicles over 2.8 ton to divert to a weigh-bridge. A Belgian motorhome followed us. Well - we do weigh 3.8(!!) so thought we'd better, but it seemed that it was just commercial vehicles because we (and Belgians) were waved on. We thought we were in for a pricey surcharge for driving on an Austrian road for about half an hour! Peter had already warned us not to use the Austrian motorways.
We stopped in Lermoos as we saw a real supermarket - Spar. It might have been a bit more expensive than Germany, but the veg was good and we enjoyed looking round at the different stuff. Very soon we were back in Bavaria again and the plan was to find Grainau station for the rack railway up the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Bavaria. We drove through a very pretty valley but didn't find the station so drove on into Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There we did find the station and got a copy of the timetable, but decided not to go today, but if the weather is up to it, to do it on our way back next Saturday.
Instead we carried on to a mile or so away from this campsite. We couldn't go direct as the site office is closed between 12 and 3. But Barmsee was on our list of places to see, so parked up and followed the footpath all around the lake and ate our picnic in sight of the very rocky mountains - and a (rather elderly and portly) couple swimming in the lake. And so we arrived at Tennsee - no wonder we couldn't find 'our' lake on the map - it is just a little pond! But the campsite is amazing. Our four nights here are part of the package we booked through the Camping & Caravanning Club - ferry, camping, transport to + tickets for the Passion Play at Oberammergau. The chap in reception was very welcoming and gave us lots of information - together with our keys! We felt as though we were being upgraded as our info says we are booked on a standard pitch, but we have our own tap, drainage, 16amp electric + if we had the right connection with us, mains gas supply. But our key with tag 32 on it, is to our private bathroom!!! The upstairs of the loo block (separate entrance!) has piped music, heating and Travelodge-style corridors. We have a loo, basin, shower cubicle and bidet where we can leave our shower gel and towels etc. as it is just for us. (Did we hear 'camping never used to be like that in my day'?) We did have to pay a bit extra for wifi, but we do have 24 hours-worth of use over the 4 days so could even reply to emails if we received any!
Wednesday 8th September
We could have caught the bus at 10.21 to Mittenwald and used our
complimentary card which gives us free parking/bus journeys while here, but we had some washing to do and didn't feel like rushing to be ready in time. So we cycled there instead - about 3 miles, along good stony paths through green rolling meadows, but we soon realised how much 'down' we were doing. Brainwave time - we could come back 'up' on the train! Just chatting to an English couple in the town (they had been to Oberammergau a few days ago) and they had a train time-table in their pocket - one every hour, so no problem. W
ent off for a walk around the Kurpark (and a DNF), a cycle through the streets of immaculate chalets and gardens, a walk through the busy main street with its cafes and souvenir shops, a hot drink at a cafe when it rained for 10 minutes - and so to the station.
First hurdle, get tickets from machine - successful. Next, carry bikes down 2 flights of steps and up 2 others. Next, hoist 2 bikes over a huge 'mind the gap' and up 3 large steps into the train. Next, try to understand what the guard is meaning when he indicates we have put the bikes in the wrong place (at this point telling him we are only going 1 station!). He then disappears forwards, to return a few seconds later to punch our ticket and move on down the train. Next, we arrive at Klais station - er, where is the platform? I spotted a narrow strip of tarmac a very long way below us, so pressed the button, climbed down first and received the first bike from John. Next, the guard, further along the 'platform', blows his whistle! I wave quite meaningfully to him and John just gets the first few spokes of the second bike through the door before it closes on it. Fortunately, that opened it again, and thanks to a couple on the train who helped John down, we survived! It did get us back quicker though - just 10 mins on the train and 10 mins bike downhill to the campsite.
Quite enough excitement for today - need to get ready for dinner in the site Restaurant (using our complimentary card for a free drink, of course!)
We left Schwangau and drove the very short distance to the Austrian border (it wiggles over and around the mountains). Getting across the border was painless, but a very sharp left turn immediately after a big river bridge took John by surprise but he skillfully manoevred the van around at a road junction. (Sat-Nav Susie was shouting 'turn around when possible', so he had no choice!) A few yards onto the right road and we came to a sign directing vehicles over 2.8 ton to divert to a weigh-bridge. A Belgian motorhome followed us. Well - we do weigh 3.8(!!) so thought we'd better, but it seemed that it was just commercial vehicles because we (and Belgians) were waved on. We thought we were in for a pricey surcharge for driving on an Austrian road for about half an hour! Peter had already warned us not to use the Austrian motorways.
We stopped in Lermoos as we saw a real supermarket - Spar. It might have been a bit more expensive than Germany, but the veg was good and we enjoyed looking round at the different stuff. Very soon we were back in Bavaria again and the plan was to find Grainau station for the rack railway up the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Bavaria. We drove through a very pretty valley but didn't find the station so drove on into Garmisch-Partenkirchen. There we did find the station and got a copy of the timetable, but decided not to go today, but if the weather is up to it, to do it on our way back next Saturday.
Instead we carried on to a mile or so away from this campsite. We couldn't go direct as the site office is closed between 12 and 3. But Barmsee was on our list of places to see, so parked up and followed the footpath all around the lake and ate our picnic in sight of the very rocky mountains - and a (rather elderly and portly) couple swimming in the lake. And so we arrived at Tennsee - no wonder we couldn't find 'our' lake on the map - it is just a little pond! But the campsite is amazing. Our four nights here are part of the package we booked through the Camping & Caravanning Club - ferry, camping, transport to + tickets for the Passion Play at Oberammergau. The chap in reception was very welcoming and gave us lots of information - together with our keys! We felt as though we were being upgraded as our info says we are booked on a standard pitch, but we have our own tap, drainage, 16amp electric + if we had the right connection with us, mains gas supply. But our key with tag 32 on it, is to our private bathroom!!! The upstairs of the loo block (separate entrance!) has piped music, heating and Travelodge-style corridors. We have a loo, basin, shower cubicle and bidet where we can leave our shower gel and towels etc. as it is just for us. (Did we hear 'camping never used to be like that in my day'?) We did have to pay a bit extra for wifi, but we do have 24 hours-worth of use over the 4 days so could even reply to emails if we received any!
Wednesday 8th September
We could have caught the bus at 10.21 to Mittenwald and used our
complimentary card which gives us free parking/bus journeys while here, but we had some washing to do and didn't feel like rushing to be ready in time. So we cycled there instead - about 3 miles, along good stony paths through green rolling meadows, but we soon realised how much 'down' we were doing. Brainwave time - we could come back 'up' on the train! Just chatting to an English couple in the town (they had been to Oberammergau a few days ago) and they had a train time-table in their pocket - one every hour, so no problem. W
ent off for a walk around the Kurpark (and a DNF), a cycle through the streets of immaculate chalets and gardens, a walk through the busy main street with its cafes and souvenir shops, a hot drink at a cafe when it rained for 10 minutes - and so to the station.
First hurdle, get tickets from machine - successful. Next, carry bikes down 2 flights of steps and up 2 others. Next, hoist 2 bikes over a huge 'mind the gap' and up 3 large steps into the train. Next, try to understand what the guard is meaning when he indicates we have put the bikes in the wrong place (at this point telling him we are only going 1 station!). He then disappears forwards, to return a few seconds later to punch our ticket and move on down the train. Next, we arrive at Klais station - er, where is the platform? I spotted a narrow strip of tarmac a very long way below us, so pressed the button, climbed down first and received the first bike from John. Next, the guard, further along the 'platform', blows his whistle! I wave quite meaningfully to him and John just gets the first few spokes of the second bike through the door before it closes on it. Fortunately, that opened it again, and thanks to a couple on the train who helped John down, we survived! It did get us back quicker though - just 10 mins on the train and 10 mins bike downhill to the campsite.Quite enough excitement for today - need to get ready for dinner in the site Restaurant (using our complimentary card for a free drink, of course!)
Monday, 6 September 2010
Camping Brunnen am Forggensee
Saturday 4th September
Moved on from Diessen after a short walk along a boardwalk through the reeds to a beautifully-constructed wooden look-out tower to take in the views across the lake and towards the mountains. Shame the cloud was rather low, but still lovely. The plan was to rejoin the Romantic Road at Reottenbuch, but our height restricted us from
approaching it from the way we were travelling. We could have gone back to Rottenbuch but decided to continue to Wieskirche, on the tourist route because it is quite amazing. Full name is: Wallfahrtskirche zum Gegeisselten Heiland auf der Wies. Meaning: Pilgrimage Church to Our Tortured Saviour on the Meadow. It is a very large, plain white church in the midst of fields, not close to a village. The
story is a very long one, but involves 2 priests in 1730 who made a 'Tortured Saviour' from wood for the Good Friday procession, covered it with linen and painted it red, but it upset people, so was put away in an inn-keeper's loft for 4 years before a relative took it home and held it in the greatest reverence. There, the 'miracle of the meadows' happened - tears were seen on the face of the 'tortured saviour' so a field chapel was built. Pilgrims came from far and wide so in 1745 this large pilgrimage church was built. Inside is incredible - ceiling frescoes, ornate sculptured altars and pulpit, gold everywhere, plus the whole church flooded with light because of clear windows. To us, far too OTT as a place of worship, but a wonder to experience. Unfortunately, because 'pilgrims' of the tourist brigade flock here now, there are cafes and the tacky stalls as well - but OK, we did buy one of the doughnut specialities to sample! (Shame Germany doesn't
seem to go in for healthy specialities!!)
Spent the nig
ht at a campsite on the west side of Forggensee, but low cloud so views not spectacular.Sunday 5th September
Beautiful day, so perfect for visiting the fairy-tale castles. Thanks to geocaching, we knew about a free carpark on the outskirst of Schwangau in the woods, close enough to get to the castles without the hassle of the crowds. A German couple getting ready to go off hiking, showed us their map and we worked out that our best bet was to get on our bikes from there and after a mile or so, hitched them up near the ticket office. There, at the foot of the hills, you buy tickets for Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles with time-slots for your tours. We had an hour to stroll up the short hill and steps to Hohenschwangua for 'tournummer 147 Englisch' at 11.55. On the dot, your number is displayed (rather like at the airport) and the ticket machine will accept you and release the turnstile. Woe betide anyone who tries to put their ticket in the slot before their number is displayed! - We did see this being tried!!!
Our German guide's English was great and humourous and we were shown through lots of rooms left just as Maximilian II of Bavaria had lived in from 1832. His son, Ludwig II spent most of his childhood and youth here and he had a close bond to the Knights of Schwangau and their history through the murals of the Swan Knight Lohengrin throughout the castle. Later he entertained Richard Wagner as a guest and became obsessed by his music. Paintings and sculptures of swans are everywhere and the rooms extremely richly decorated. Ludwig wasn't very keen on his kingly duties, but lived for his fantasies, so he had a luxurious castle rebuilt from the ruins post-Napoleon, on the next rock. Only a third of it was built in his lifetime (he died at 40) but his legacy lives on ....
Our visit to Neuschwanstein was timed for 13.55, No. 471, so time for a drink at a cafe before catching the bus up most of the way up the hill. This time our guide was Japanese, so another unusual English accent. Again the swan theme is abundant, even to door handles and the paintings are amazing. We were taken through magestic rooms, sometimes through secret doors and in Ludwig's own suite, through a passage into a cave, complete with stalagtites and stalagmites with rooms and balcony overlooking the mountains and lakes (where he could listen to Wagner's music in private). We don't think he had an iPod - the piano was in the next room! The last room we went to covers the whole of the top floor and is the 'Singing room' with a stage for his beloved operas to be performed.What a magical day!
Came a very short way to this lovely campsite beside the south-eastern side of Forggensee where we have a lake-side pitch. If we want a change of scene we can turn round and look up at the mountains - perfect.
Monday 6th September
Took a while for the clouds to evaporate
off the mountains - another magical scene. After a heartier than usual breakfast, we set off on the bikes through the village and between meadows to a Kurpark between Schwangau and the lake. One of the best kind of geocaches - in a beautiful setting, several questions to answer around the park and a very clever final cache. The hint was 'look up and see if anyone is home' - there was a nesting box hanging in a tree (with the bird-hole covered in mesh) with the cache inside. We had brought 3 Travel Bugs with us and here we placed the last one - a pretty ring (Emilie will remember us finding it in Ashdown Forest) - in view of Schloss Neuschwanstein. Next stop on the bikes was to the Tegelburgbahn - the cable car. It whisked us straight up to 5,700ft. By this time, the sun was hot and the views stunning.
Yesterday we had watched, from the castles,lots of people jump off the mountain - today we stood beside them as they jumped!Some were paragliders and others hang-gliders. One chap was speaking English to his wife who was laying out his 'para' and I spoke to her after he had gone. He had seen others doing this in Switzerland several years ago and decided to learn back home in Scotland.It was his first time here, but often jumps off Scottish hills and mountains!
Darkness is now falling and we need to pop along to reception for our 15 mins. internet access. We just had long enough to post the blog and photos last
night, so here goes ...
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