Late Spring Holiday, 15 May 2026

Weilheim an der Teck, Baden-Württemberg

We are only just not in Bavaria! But still, I understand, in Baden-Württemberg. 

After breakfast and tidying up, we drove the short distance to the Schwartzwald-Center and parked up. I expect the Swan Whisperer had coffee and did various things, while I thoroughly enjoyed myself in the shopping mall. There was a big shoe shop but, perhaps it is as well, the trainers I really loved didn't come in my size (and were expensive). There was a C&A (I do miss that!) but I did not yield to temptation. Just. Then there was a huge Müller, and I did buy some travel-sized shower gels which smelt absolutely lush! 

Then downstairs to the REWE, where I really only bought such groceries as we needed for today, and tomorrow. A banana, as I want a peanut butter and banana sandwich for my breakfast, and a rather large granola yoghurt for the SW to have after his parkrun. And various other bits and bobs. 

Then it was time to head on, and we drove down here to Weilheim an der Teck. I was pleased to find that it was easy to pay with the app, and of course it was less than half what we paid for last night. But no WiFi, alas. 

Then a much-needed lunch (I do wish I could manage a whole one of those delicious German rolls) which I included a delicious patisserie, which was a layer of raspberries in jelly, a layer of some kind of 

yoghurt concoction, and a layer of sponge, the whole surrounded by a protective coating of chocolate. I forgot to take a photo until it was too late! I should really have only had half of it, but it really was too good to resist! After which, I flopped on the bed and went to sleep for a bit, and when I woke up we had a cup of tea, and then set out to explore the town. 

At first, we thought it would be disappointing, as it seemed to be rather nondescript residential housing, and a ReWe/Aldi/Tedi complex, but we walked a little further and found ourselves in the old town, which really was rather nice.

I was not really enjoying the walk, as we had come down a rather steep hill, and I was not looking forward to the climb back up! Imagine my surprise, then, when I found we were back at the aire, and it hadn't at all felt uphill! I would have enjoyed the walk so much more had I realised that was going to happen! 

On or way back, we stopped at a random Netto and bought some pink fizz and a couple of cans of Hugo. When we got back, we decided the sun was over the yardarm, and I had one of the tins, while the SW had a beer. The Hugo was lovely, and didn't taste a bit alcoholic - but I noticed, too late, too late, that it was 6.9% ABV! I am well aware that I have drink taken..... 

Late Spring Holiday, 14 May 2026

Freudenstadt, Baden-Wurtenburg, Germany 

We left Strasbourg about 10:30, having used the services and made our farewells - I expect we will return to that campsite again, probably on our visit to the Christmas markets. Our first port of call was to have been the Esso garage in Kehl, but we missed the entrance, and ended up going all round the houses until we found diesel which, while horribly expensive, was about 25 cents a litre than it is in France. 

All went smoothly for awhile, but the Satnav suddenly told us to turn left instead of following the signs to Freudenstadt, and we decided we knew better than it. So we stayed on the main road which was probably a Big Mistake, as it went over the mountains (Black Forest) and round lots of hairpin bends. The Satnav probably knew an easier route! Oh well, we got there in the end and the bends, while horrible and sick-making, weren't too scary because at least there was armco and stuff to stop you going over the edge. The SW wanted to stop for coffee, but I begged him not to on the grounds that the sooner we got the drive over and done with, the better! 

So, anyway, we arrived at Freudenstadt only to discover that where we normally parked up is no longer the motorhome aire, but instead they have laid out a shiny new aire with marked pitches, services, electricity and even WiFi - for a fee!

Electricity and water are extra, but we can do without them, and the WiFi is included. It wouldn't be quite so bad if they didn't charge tourist tax, which made the price of the night half as much again. Plus it is further from both the swimming-pool and the big Schwarzwald shopping centre, which I am looking forward to exploring in the morning. No point today, as it is Ascension Day and the shops are shut! 

We thought about going swimming, but the reviews said it was always packed out on public holidays, so we decided against it. The SW went for a walk, and as there have been several showers, and even a crack or two of thunder, he got a bit wet! 

Supper was a bit of a disaster. I had bought delicious rösti from Lidl, and decided to cook one with a mushroom and cream cheese sauce (garlic and herb cream cheese), pureed broccoli and asparagus. The veg were all right, although the broccoli took a LOT of puréeing, but the rösti were very difficult to cook - I should have used the larger pan, as really we ended up with brown-ish shards of cooked potato that didn't hold together at all. Oh well, they tasted fairly good, and there is about 1/3 left, as it was far more than I thought. So, as we have no fresh bread for the morning, we might fry what's left up again and also a tomato to go with our fried eggs. 

After supper, I did some of the tai chi form as I'd had no exercise today, and feel a great deal better for it! 

Late Spring Holiday, 13 May

Strasbourg, Grand-Est

Today is our last full day in Strasbourg; we will have to move on tomorrow. I should have liked to have stayed another night, but the campsite is full for the long weekend, so we'll head on. I would then have liked to have gone to our next scheduled stop, and arrive in Oberstdorf on Friday rather than Saturday, but himself wants to do the Ulm parkrun, so we can't. We think we'll stop over in Freudenstadt, on our route, where we have stopped a couple of times before. Of course, the shopping complex there will be closed tomorrow, as it is Ascension Day, but they'll be open again on Friday morning, and I'm sure I'll have time to shop then. 

But to return to today. We had thought to take the bus to Etoile-Bourse and then change on to a D tram, but in the end we got off a couple of stops earlier and walked up along the river, to the Barrage Vauban, which was having Works done to it, so covered in scaffolding, and so into Petite France.

I hadn't known that, back in the day, it was the main port for Strasbourg, and the area where the more noisome trades were kept, and the poorest people lived. Nowadays, of course, it is seriously touristy! 

We were delighted to find the local Methodist Church, although it was locked so we couldn't go in; however we could, and did, go into St Thomas' church, which is also Protestant. The SW said it was too highly decorated to be Protestant, but I pointed out that it was restrained compared to some Anglo-Catholic churches we know! There was an exhibition of modern sculptures taking place, which were rather lovely. 

We walked on up to Homme de Fer, and then to Place Kléber and looked round the market there; then on to Les Halles, where there was a shopping centre but it wasn't very exciting. So we came away. I was beginning to have had enough by then, so
 we walked back down the road to a restaurant I'd seen yesterday and thought looked good. It was called Le Bouillon Pharamond, and is a homage to the traditional "bouillons", or workman's cafés, of Paris. 

It was very good. I had snails (and because I wanted a main course, I goody didn't sop up the delicious garlic butter with the bread provided) followed by steak and chips, which was not such a huge helping I couldn't eat it all - plus I was hungry after all that walking. I washed it down with Diabolo, that delicious mint cordial that I would never drink at home. The SW had egg mayonnaise followed by boeuf bourginon with coquillettes, washed down with apple juice. 

We then lazily took the tram one stop back to Homme de Fer, where we changed to an F, which took us to Comte Station, where there is a Lidl. I bought one or two things for tomorrow's food, and we walked back to the campsite down rather a lovely path which takes us past the old Jewish cemetery and through a public park. 

Whereupon I flopped on the bed and went to sleep for a bit, and the SW did a load of laundry. And in a bit, we will have croque-monsieurs for supper. At least, ham and cheese toasties because we probably can't be bothered to make béchamel sauce! 

Photospam, needless to say, on Facebook. 

Late Spring holiday, 12 May 2026

Strasbourg, Grand-Est, France

Today, we went to Germany. Yes, I know we will be going there on Thursday, but, among other things, we wanted to see whether diesel was any cheaper across the Rhine. It is, quite significantly, although it is still eye-wateringly expensive! 

Anyway, the SW went for a run first thing, while I got breakfast (scrambled eggs on a lovely fresh baguette), and then we set off. I thought we had decided to go up to Comte tram stop, which is where the local Lidl is, to locate it and to see a part of the town we hadn't yet seen, but the SW misunderstood and thought we were walking towards the central station - as if, it's much easier to go by public transport! So once that was sorted out, we found we were one tram stop nearer to town. We changed at Homme de Fer (no, I don't know why Iron Man, either!), and it was an uneventful run to Kehl Rathaus. 

We wandered up the main drag, with me telling myself firmly that I could go to both Müller and Woolworth's when we get to Oberstdorf, and then turned down towards the Edeka Center (sic), where I parked the SW with a cup of coffee, and went to DM (I do like their moisturiser and their shampoo bars, only they didn't have the moisturiser I like) and to Tedi, where I didn't buy anything, and so to Edeka, where I got fresh milk for the SW, and a few goodies you can get in Germany but not in France or the UK. 

The SW had kindly bought me a coffee, which was getting cold, but still drinkable, and although it was 13:00, I felt I could last out until we got back to the WoMo before eating anything. So we walked back to Kehl Bahnhof, getting the view of the mosque in the distance,

and got on the tram there. Which, unfortunately, broke down! In a place where there was no convenient alternative, and I knew I couldn't walk another 20 minutes at that stage. So we had to wait until a mechanic came, who seems to have waved a magic wand over the tram, as it promptly started off at full speed and then had to brake rather hard at a red signal. The driver apologised! 

We got to Etoile-Bourse without further incident, and there was a C1 bus almost straight away, and so back to the campsite. I had bought rolls for lunch, and they were as delicious as always, even though I couldn't manage a whole one. 

I had hoped to go out again this afternoon, but it just couldn't be done, alas. I did go for a leg-stretch up to the main block to refill my water bottles, but that's as far as it went. The SW did go out for a short explore, but mostly to see where a path went before we go out tomorrow. And I have done nearly 8K steps today, as I did yesterday, which is a lot for me! 

Late Spring Holiday, 11 May 2026

Strasbourg, Alsace, France

It has been a very wet day, although really just showers - more-or-less continuous showers, with a few breaks in between! And, of course, it is Monday, so all the museums and many restaurants are closed. 

However, we did not let this deter us too much, and set off about 10:30 to visit the European Parliament. We bought ourselves 72-hour tickets, which are excellent value for money, and will do us until we leave on Thursday (and if we end up in Kehl, which we might, we can always buy another 24-hour ticket, should we need to). I wished - as I did all day - that I had put a sweatshirt on under my jacket, as I was totally not warm enough! And I was wearing my mid-season jacket, too, not my light one! 

There is a bus stop just outside the campsite, and we caught the second bus that came along - a no 2, as it happens - because its route goes more through the city centre than the other bus, the C1, does. We eventually changed on to a tram, which took us out to the European Parliament. 

I don't think we'd really planned what we'd do when we got there, but we found out that one could visit the building, so of course we did. It is free to visit, but there is strict security. You start off by showing your passport at the entrance, and then you are directed downstairs where there is an airport-style conveyor belt and metal detector. Then you scan your passport and the machine issues you a badge, which you show at the entrance to the main area, and wear attached to your person for the rest of the visit. 

The visit takes you past all sorts of exhibitions about the main movers and shakers of the European Union (the historical ones, I mean), and at the heart of it all you enter the main debating chamber. Parliament was not in session, so we were able to take photographs. There may have been a tear or two on my part at the thought that my stupid country voluntarily took itself out of all this. Photospam on Facebook. 

Anyway, the visitor trail - clearly signed, and you couldn't wander off the beaten track - took us back down and past more exhibitions (one on Simone Veil) and so out of the site. You had to remove the plastic clip from your badge and return it to a container designed for the purpose, and then scan the badge itself before you could get out. 

There was a tram back to the city centre, and we decided to lunch at the restaurant we first went to in 2018, and at least once later on. But, alas, as is the way of restaurants, it is no longer there, and had been replaced by a Lebanese one, which we could go to at home. So we walked down to the Cathedral, and ended up in a random restaurant where the SW ordered a Flammekeuchen, which he had been longing for. I got put off them in Lübeck when we had one and the taste lingered all afternoon! So I had a "Salade de jarret de porc", which was pulled pork knuckle on a bed of lettuce and potato salad, with a hard-boiled egg and tomato. Very delicious, but I don't eat much these days and could barely manage half of it! 

We then walked down to L'Etoile and caught a C1 back to the campsite, where I threw on more clothes, and even the SW put on a sweater. We spent what was left of the afternoon reading - and it has to be said, dozing - on the bed, while the rain hammered on the roof (incidentally cleaning much of the owl poo off the skylight!) and now we are about to have soup and bread and cheese for supper! 

Late spring holiday, 10 May 2026

Strasbourg, Alsace

It is raining. The forecast was for this to happen, but as none of the apps I use seemed quite sure when it was going to start, so we decided to leave our lovely little aire in Argonne fairly early. We could not, of course, check in to the campsite until 14:00, but we wanted to stop and listen to our church service - sadly, it took forever for it to come up, and we were only able to join for the second half of Gordon 's sermon. But what we did hear was excellent.

We drove mostly on the excellent N4 and its tributaries, going through Bar-Le-Duc, among other places. We didn't think we'd been there before, despite having seen lots of signs for it over the years. It looks lovely. The Satnav got very confused, though, as they have changed the road layout and it didn't know about it, so it paid us back by taking us to the back gate of the campsite! Still, we got here in the end. Warm welcome, but the WiFi is a bit far away.

We are here until Thursday, but the weather forecast is a bit pants - and the museums are closed tomorrow! I think we will have to visit lots of churches instead. 

Late Spring holiday, 9 May 2026

Givry-en-Argonne, Grand Est, France

Still no services this morning, and Camping-Car Park haven't replied to my email, so I am not pleased with them. They are usually far more efficient than that. We put a notice on the services saying "En Panne", but you would have thought they would have done that, and provided an alternate source of water - if only a bowser, or directions to a nearby standpipe! 

Anyway, after breakfast I went round to Lidl to get another free baguette on my points, and also found some merguez reduced for quick sale, so I'll make a couscous tomorrow. Tonight is our traditional Saturday sausage and mash. I also bought some strawberries, but didn't buy asparagus as it was rather expensive. Later I wished I had, as it was even more expensive in Auchan. Anyway, once I had done that, there was little to keep us, so we headed on, 

First port of call was an Auchan for fresh milk, which Lidl doesn't sell, and I couldn't resist some fromage frais with raspberries. The SW had coffee while I was doing this, and then we joined the A26, on which we stayed until just before Reims. We stopped at a random picnic area for lunch, which was really rather pleasant.

At Reims, we came off the motorway, and went on progressively slower roads, ending up on the D70, which brought us to a very nice free aire in this little hamlet. 

We are behind a small Carrefour, in which you can buy a token for either 10 minutes of water or 2 hours' electricity, so we did that, and emptied the loo and put some more water in the tank, plus a containerful for the SW to wash the windscreen. We had driven through a swarm of flying insects, and it was covered! I popped in a few minutes later to get some scrubbers, as we'd left ours at home, and although we do have a washing-up brush, it is less effective on tea stains in mugs! I then did some of the tai chi form, and when the SW had finished cleaning the windscreen, he went off to see if there is anywhere he can go for a run in the morning (probably only a short one) and I did some crochetinig in front of YouTube. I hope the SW will get supper soon. 

The birdsong here is exceptional! Ranging from cockerels to cuckoos, and anything in between! The SW has a wonderful list from his walk, and says there are frogs, too. 

But I am sad this evening, as news came through that a contemporary of mine has died very suddenly of a massive stroke. I didn't know her well, as she was in the parallel class and a different House, but all the same.... It is sad.