Austria and Germany –cont.

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The cattle seemed to have this placid look in their faces whereas the humans were really going for it!

 

Desnée particularly liked the Lederhosen or was it who was wearing them!

 

How’s this for a Bad Hair Day ?

We arrived at Oberteuringen, just outside Ravensburg, in the early afternoon for the Carthago Owners UK Gathering that we had arranged.  Click on the link (right) to see the event.

The Zillertal valley is a beautiful place for walking.  Everywhere there are stupendous views

It was time to leave Austria and head back into Germany.  We noticed that autumn was setting in and the colours of the trees were as spectacular as anything we have seen in New England. 

It was Desnée’s birthday and we stopped overnight at Elbsee. This was a beautiful site and nearby was a lakeside restaurant which was just the location for a special birthday dinner. We ate our dinner as the sun went down and watched the waterfowl feeding amongst the water lilies.

After leaving Elbsee we visited a fascinating, local glass studio. A girl and her Mum created an amazing range of modern glass sculptures.  We were so impressed we had to buy a souvenir!

After the meeting we took three days to travel back to UK. The weather had turned cold and rainy. We stopped overnight at Staufen, near Munstertal, a popular tourist spot in the Black Forest. This area was recommended to us by the Germans we met in the Moselle. It was very scenic but also very busy as it was the weekend of the public holiday in Germany. George visited Staufen town centre in the early evening, without his camera and discovered lovely old buildings, typical of the Black Forest, in a variety of styles and colours and a small stream babbling in a channel in the middle of the main street. It would have been nice to wander around and discover this quaint old town which was just a short walk from the campsite but time was pressing us on and we will have to return another day.

 

 

When leaving the following morning our way was barred by a 3.5 tonne weight restriction and we had to make a long detour along very narrow roads to get back on to our route. We were not convinced that SatNav is the best answer in these circumstances and perhaps maps are a better option—hey ho!

 

 

The next night was spent near Bergues, in a small village called Warhem. This was mainly a residential camp site and all the other residents had a good old nose at Priscilla as the wandered past us. France feels very much like Belgium here. No photos as it was grey and rainy.

 

Bergues is just 45 minutes away from Calais and we arrived there in time to catch an earlier boat. Very few cars but many, many trucks (mainly eastern European) were loading on their way to UK.  On the autoroute into Calais we passed many dishevelled looking characters who were presumably hoping to smuggle their way across the Channel.

 

At Calais we met some fellow Carthago owners who had taken a different route back from Ravensburg via Belgium. They recommended Gent as a good overnight stop. We will put it in the plans for future trips.

 

Back into France and a stopover in Le Chesne.

 

This was another lakeside campsite and a beautiful location. The owner was a very cheerful Frenchman. The site is open all year but it was virtually empty when we arrived  - winter is on its way!

Alongside were a young English couple in a tent. They had been washed out the two days before and had to move into a hotel but they were still smiling and as cheerful as the owner!

 

This was the view from our lounge window.

Elbsee camp site