Oberstdorf 2023, Tuesday 23 May

 I have never really liked the aire at Sangatte, as it is in the middle of nowhere and too far to get to a bakery before breakfast!  However, the one in Calais does not have this defect, so we had pains aux raisins for breakfast as well as a lovely fresh demi-baguette.  The pains aux raisins were definitely edible, but not, it has to be said, as nice as the ones you can get in Lidl!

Anyway, we left the aire at about 09:35 and made our way to the Shuttle, where we were given our booked crossing.  This gave us half an hour or so before we were called to the boarding area, so the Swan Whisperer had coffee and we finished the packing up in the bedroom and the clothes - the kitchen stuff had to wait until we arrived as it would have rattled and there isn't really room for the crates on the floor.  The crossing was on time, and then it was an easy run to No 6.  In fact, as my mother and sister were going to be out and it was lunchtime, we parked up by Patching Pond

to eat our lunch before going round to the house and packing up the rest of the stuff - groceries, etc.  My mother and sister came home briefly to let the dog out, and then went out again; we finished up everything except the fridge (that came last of all), and then made ourselves a cup of tea.  While we were drinking it, they returned, and we chatted for awhile before heading back to London.  

That was an easy run until we got to Mitcham, when we were held in a massive traffic jam at Figges Marsh, and we didn't get home until about 18:45.  Then we had to unload the car, unpack, and put on the first load of washing - but it is done, now, supper has been eaten, and we are home for the next two weeks!  

Oberstdorf 2023, Monday 22 May

I could have sworn, when I planned this trip, that our drive for today was to have been around 4 hours - quite long enough when you have to sit there, doing nothing except perhaps a bit of knitting! I can't really read in a moving car, and get both bored and tired.  And the Swan Whisperer swears that the route he took was a direct one - but it was nearly 7 hours travelling time!

First thing, he went for a run, and I walked up to the nearby bakery and got bread and croissants for breakfast (actually one croissant and one pain au chocolat). We set off about 09:30, and stopped at a Casino in Sedan for lunch and shopping, which I later regretted as it seemed far more expensive than Carrefour and didn't have such nice things.

Then it was a long, long, long drive to Cité Europe, as there were a couple of things I hadn't been able to get in Casino, including a ready meal for supper, and we needed diesel, which is cheaper here than in the UK. Supper was a frozen dish of potato, fish and scallops, and very good it was too.

However, when we got to Sangatte, where we had planned to spend the night, we found that the car park no longer accepts motor homes, so we came here to the one in Calais. Nothing wrong with it, except it isn't free, and services are extra. Not that we need them, having used them this morning in Dieue-sur-Meuse.

Oh, and apparently Oberstdorf was a super-spreader event, and an awful lot of people have now gone down with, or tested positive for Covid. Well, if I didn't get it again after spending a whole afternoon with my mother when she had it in March, I probably won't get it now. Hope not, anyway.

Haven't taken any photos today, so here is one from yesterday, some random poultry. 

Oberstdorf 2023, Sunday 21 May

Dieue-sur-Meuse, France

Today was a long, slow drive through Germany and into France. The Swan Whisperer went for a quick leg-stretch before breakfast, and said that Kircheim-unter-Teck was a very pretty little town, but unfortunately there was not enough time for me to confirm this. He also found a bakery!

As I said, it was a long, weary drive. The SW said that when we go past Pforzheim it either rains or there are road works. Today, it was the latter. 

We stopped in a random layby to watch our church service livestream, although it was not very easy to hear, and then have lunch, and then it was on and on, and we finally arrived in this little town, just south of Verdun, at about 4:00 pm. We had a quick cup of tea, and then I discovered there was a planned walking tour around the town with historical sites, so we went for a very pleasant, if rather hot, walk, basically down to the Meuse and back. We are parked up alongside a canal, which is rather lovely.

More photos on Facebook.

Then back to the WoMo to have supper and our monthly Zoom Bible study, and tomorrow we will be back in Calais, I hope, and ready to cross on Tuesday morning. 

Oberstdorf 2023, Saturday 20.May

Kirchheim unter Teck, Germany

Today was the final day of competition, and, as always on the last day, lots of great skating to watch.

After breakfast, we used the services and got the WoMo back into travelling condition, everything tidied up and put away. We returned our Kurkarte and filled drinking water containers and so on, and then headed to the rink for the final day. The weather, now that it is time to go home, was lovely, and even got positively hot later in the day! 

But we had to come away before the last few classes, as we need to get home fairly fast - no extended holiday for us this year - and we had two hours' driving ahead. Which we accomplished quickly and easily, calling in at ReWe en route to do a Last Shop in Germany, and are now parked up somewhere and eating supper. And I couldn't leave Bavaria without one of these, could I? 

Oberstdorf 2023, Friday 19 May

Started out today feeling much better, and was up at the rink in good time to cheer on friends in the two Bronze Women III classes. And chat to lots of other friends, too. Sadly, one told me she is hanging up her skates now, as her body is no longer coping well.

Then I went for a walk in town, basically out by one road and back by another,

and was back at the WoMo in time to get lunch. After which, it began clear to me that I was still rather running on empty, so I spent a quiet afternoon dozing and reading. Didn't want very much supper, although it was delicious - Bavarian liver dumplings in a vegetable stew/soup with rice. Not sure I got the seasoning quite right, though. 

Oberstdorf 2023, Thursday 18 May

I woke up at dawn to see this wonderful sunrise out of my bedroom window!

But it was a premature awakening - I fell asleep again and when I woke, realised that I was exhausted! So stayed in bed most of the morning while the Swan Whisperer went for a hike (up a mountain on Ascension Day!) - we had been going to go on what he promised me was a flat hike, but I couldn't do it, and spent most of the afternoon lying down too.

We had an early supper and then went to the rink in time to watch the pattern dances, which ranged from dire to excellent, and then back home for a cup of tea before bed! 

Oberstdorf 2023, Wednesday 17 May

There was nothing I really wanted to watch until late afternoon today, so after a lazy start (I was lazy; the SW went for a run!) , I set out for a walk. This time, I decided to walk down to the Oberstdorf Haus

and the various parks in that area, and very nice too, and then had a peep inside the Protestant church,

which I had not seen before. Unfortunately, I then turned the wrong way and ended up at the ReWe supermarket just at the edge of town! Naturally, I did a bit of shopping, and was delighted to find that the Tony Chocolonely chocolate that my family gave me for Easter was about half the price it is in Sainsbury's!

However, I was getting tired by then and was delighted to find a bus was due which took me as far as the station. Of course I passed the Swan Whisperer on his way down to ReWe (I'd texted him what had happened)! So I rang him up and said I'd just gone roaring past in the bus!  I had a bit of time to wait for the Ortsbus up to the Wohnmobilstellplatz, but it was worth it, although I was getting cold again - my ice dance sweatshirt, lovely though it is, must be 20 years old now and is not as warm as it once was, and my coat is only mid-season weight. The weather forecast had been unduly pessimistic and, although it was far from sunny, it didn't rain today. But it was very cold, and is scheduled to drop to freezing as the skies clear overnight. 

Anyway, I was very idle and took the bus right over past the rink to the shop just past Norma, which is actually no nearer than the lower stop unless you want to get rolls in the bakery, which I did, cheaper than the ReWe. So then lunch, and  then I fell asleep for a couple of hours and had to have a quick cup of tea when I woke up, before going to the rink just in time to see the one skater I really wanted to see.

L had to have her foot completely rebuilt last year, artificial tendons, heel resited, and goodness knows what else. It's been a long, hard and painful struggle for her, and there are moments when I know she despaired. Her doctors had said she might not even walk again, never mind skate. But she was determined and entered the artistic category for her level and age group - and rocked it! I am sure I was not the only one in tears when she finished. Clever choreography focused on what she can do, not what is no longer possible, and she looked fantastic - and is taking home a well-deserved Bronze medal!

After that, there were plenty of other skaters to watch and cheer for, and when the last of the Masters men had made us laugh with his interpretation of Hernando's Hideaway, we treated ourselves to dinner in Zoran's, the restaurant above the rink. I had an Apérol spritz, and Zanderfilet with vegetables, and the SW had beer and tagliatelle with salmon. And so back to the WoMo, and straight to bed! 

Oberstdorf 2023, Tuesday 16 May

Why do ice rinks always have such dreadfully uncomfortable seats? It simply isn't possible to sit and watch a competition all day without developing a servere backache!

Today started with the distressing discovery that I had somehow miscalculated the number of pairs of pants (underpants, if you are American) that I would need, so I had to fish the worn pairs out of the dirty laundry bag and wash them. It is far too wet for anything to dry, so they are hanging up in the shower, still damp!

Once that was done, I popped over to Norma for some necessities while the Swan Whisperer used the services, and then we set off for the rink as the forecast rain started.

We basically stayed there, grabbing a sandwich from the café at lunch time. I did a tai chi practice outside during one resurface, and enjoyed a glimpse of the local cows (difficult to see in this photo)

but by about 4:30 my back was killing me, so I came back to the WoMo and treated myself to a cake from the new bakery with a cup of tea,

and then, because I was cold, snuggled down in a rug. There may have been a nap...

The Swan Whisperer came  in at that moment, and we had the ready-meal I had bought earlier which was not very nice as it was too dry. Now we are  closing up to keep the heat in. And I, for one, am going to bed early! 

Oberstdorf 2023, Monday 15 May

The skating started this afternoon, although there was nothing we wanted to see until about 5 pm. So this morning I went for another walk around Oberstdorf, and this time did a bit of shopping. I had given myself  permission to take the bus back, with a fairly heavy bag, but I just missed one by the skin of my teeth, and the next one wasn't for another 15 minutes and it was raining, so I walked back.

Had I known the weather was going to be glorious, i'd have saved my walk until this afternoon because, contrary to all the forecasts, the sun came out and it was positively hot! The forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday is still dire, though. Anyway, the Swan Whisperer did go for a walk, and when he came back there was time for a cup of tea before we head to to the rink. The mountains were looking lovely in the sunshine,

although there were clouds descending on one of them.

We enjoyed catching up with various friends and acquaintances in the rink, and watching some of our friends skate. We are all getting old now, though, and more and more of our friends have given up - there are  younger ones coming along all the time, of course, but few that we know. Still, always enjoyable to watch those we do know! Even if we didn't always agree with the judges in the artistic category.

Once we had seen all the skaters we wanted to see, we came back to the WoMo and ate cold chicken and salad, followed my melon, followed by cheese and biscuits! 

Oberstdorf 2023, Sunday 14 May

I am not sure whether it was the church bells or the cowbells that woke me this morning! Could have been either, as I'm so deaf I could only hear them faintly! But very much the typical Oberstdorf alarm clock.

After breakfast it was lovely not to have to hurry to get ready to leave or to go and do something before leaving! We do have to keep very tidy, though, as the living space is so small. But I enjoyed my coffee slowly, feeling no pressure to finish it!

When I had finished it, we went over to the new bakery to get rolls for lunch and a Sunday cake each.

Then we went our separate ways - he used the services and, I think, went for a walk, while I went down into the town to remind myself where things were - almost all the shops were shut, of course, this being Sunday, but it was good to see where they were. But in all the years we've been coming here, I don't remember Oberstdorf liqueur and/or chocolates.

Nor a shop selling soap made from the milk of Oberstdorf cows!

Anyway, I walked in up to the rink, delighted to find I didn't even want to take the bus, never mind need to, and went in to say hello to loads of friends - I'd met one lot as I set out and we had stopped to exchange news. Then back to the WoMo in time to listen to our church service. We tried to listen together, but it worked better in the end to use our respective bluetooths on our phones.

Then lunch, and then I went to sleep while the SW had another walk, in the rain this time, and then a quiet afternoon reading until it was time to get supper. I found I wasn't very hungry, and rather wished I'd only had half my cake at lunch. Ah well. 

The competition starts tomorrow; I expect I shall go and watch quite a lot of it, but not all! I have bought my ticket, though. 

Oberstdorf 2023, Saturday 13 May

Oberstdorf Allgäu

I don't know whether I was overtired, or what, but I slept very badly, and today started horribly early as the Swan Whisperer wanted to do a parkrun some 35 km from where we had spent the night. We parked up there, rather on a slope, which made having a shower rather difficult as the water pooled on the back of the cabinet.

I decided that toast was too ambitious for me with that slope, so had a fried egg sandwich for my breakfast. When the SW got back after what he said was a very hilly run (25'44", and a new course record for his age band), he did make toast to go with his fried egg.

We decided that, as we were less than 3 hours' drive from Oberstdorf, and had nothing planned to do at wherever we had planned to spend the night, it was silly not to go straight there. So, after stopping to do a small shop at a convenient ReWe, that is what we did. We stopped for lunch at a random rest area, and again 20.minutes later to do the washing up, as the used plates are rattling so loudly. Then we stopped at Memmingen to get diesel and then straight here, even if the Satnav did take us the pretty way! We assume it thought it was quicker.

Anyway, just as we got here the rain stopped, so we parked up and had a cup of tea before the SW went into town to get cash and I popped into Norma to see what they had, which turned out to be a pair of blue canvas shoes, which I wanted anyway, and some potato salad. Also, there is a new bakery between here and Norma, which will be open tomorrow (bakeries are about the only shops in Germany that  open on Sundays and public holidays, although the tourist shops might). So looking forward to getting tomorrow's lunch rolls from there.

It hadn't rained since we arrived, but it's not exactly sunny, and the forecast isn't good. Oh well, that's what you get in the Alps in May. 

Oberstdorf 2023, Friday 12 May

Weil der Stadt, near Stuttgart

(That appears to translate as "Because the town", which  makes me wonder Because the town what!)

So today was All About Speyer. Our first stop was the Technik Museum, which has been on the Swan Whisperer's bucket list since we visited the sister museum at Sinsheim some twelve years ago now. He and I have learnt, over the years, that we enjoy museums more if we split up and arrange to meet at a given place and time. There was a coffee bar just at the entrance, so we agreed to meet there at 11:30, it now being 09:45.

I did rather love the museum - I knew I would - but, sadly, many of the exhibits such as the inside of the 747 or any of the other planes, for that matter, we're up terrifically long flights of steep and/or spiral metal stairs, which I knew I couldn't manage. You couldn't expect them to put lifts in everywhere, but one or two would have been nice!

However, I had a very happy time pottering around mostly on the level, although I did go up to one gallery to see a model railway. The main hall was arguably the most interesting, although one couldn't not visit the space exhibitions with a Russian space shuttle

and so on. But what I really loved was outside, with trains

and boats

and planes.... And inside, a "proper " Paris bus of the kind I used to use regularly  when I lived there, 50 years ago! 

When I was done, I went to the coffee shop and waited for the SW, and when he had had his coffee we walked on into the town, across a park, and visited the Cathedral. Then we looked up local places to have lunch, and found a very nice café that did us a do good light meal,

and then a rhubarb cake for the SW, and an ice for me.

After which we walked back to the WoMo, used the services and headed on south to this aire in Weil der Stadt, which is in an Edeka car park, and we were lucky enough to get the last place! I did some shopping, and now have enough food for the weekend (I didn't use that sauce last night as the veg had made so much gravy it didn't need it), so, except perhaps for la for lunch and maybe a bottle of wine, I won't need to shop until Monday in Oberstdorf!

Oberstdorf 2023, Thursday 11 May

Speyer, Germany

We had a really lovely morning at the Thermapolis spa in Amnéville. We went there last year, and will definitely go again! Well worth the detour. My smartwatch said I had swum 600 metres, which of course is ridiculous - it was mostly being carried round the lazy river. And getting a wonderful water massage on thighs, legs, bum, back and shoulders! Brilliant.

After which, it was quite a comedown to have to shop, but I hadn't shopped since we left home and we were running low on staples. We ate in the supermarket car park, including delicious Gariguette strawberries and cream,

and then drove here to Speyer. Roads not at all bad, although there was one horribly bendy bit - I had  been asleep, and it woke me up!

We are parked up in a motorhome site next door to the museum,

which we have long wanted to visit, and will do in the morning. We loved the one at Sinsheim, years ago now, and this has been on the SW's bucket list for a very long time. The aire is quite expensive, but all-inclusive, which is nice.

Sadly, the aubergine pasta I had planned for supper can't happen, as the aubergine had gone mouldy, so we are having a clean-the-fridge vegetable stew with a sauce I happened to buy in the supermarket to see if it was nice! 

Oberstdorf 2023, Wednesday 10 May.

Amnéville, France

Oh dear, what a day! Last night I discovered that the bag with things like my dry mouth spray and favourite essential oils had been left at home (fortunately not my medication, and I did have spares of the most important things). Then this morning the Swan Whisperer said we must have left the eggs at home as there they weren't! I said I knew I'd packed them (I remembered doing so), but I couldn't see them, either! So the SW said he would look in the boot. But where were his keys? Again, they weren't anywhere he expected to find them. Last time he'd used them had been when he turned on the gas, but they weren't in the lock and they weren't in the locker with the cylinders, either - he borrowed my keys to check. Finally he found them in the container beside his bed, and then remembered that he had accidentally emptied his pockets when undressing last night!  Whereupon he did look in the boot for the eggs, and there they were!

It was far too wet to go for our planned walk along the canal, which was disappointing, so we set off on the next leg of our journey instead.

The first part of our drive was incredibly stressful as it was pouring with rain and the Belgian motorways were as rammed as usual, so incredible amounts of spray! But eventually the rain stopped and we decided to call in at the Euro Space Centre, which we had some trouble finding! We had been before, some 11 or 12 years ago now, and it was not as nice as we remembered. There had been a small visitor centre and you didn't have to go into the (eye-wateringly expensive) museum to see anything of interest. We did look round the gift shop, and while there was some stuff we could have bought for the grandsons, we were not sure whether they are "into" space and astronomy and that sort of thing, so we didn't.

Then we drove on through gradually improving weather through the rest of Belgium, and then through Luxembourg, where we stopped for (relatively) cheap diesel, and into France. We are parked up in a Camping-Car park in Amnéville, where we have stayed before, too go to the Thermapolis spa baths. We thought of going this evening, but the OAP discount ends at 16:00, which it then was, so we decided to wait for the morning. 

Technology hates me today! They're is a tai chi Zoom class on Wednesday evenings, which I wanted to join, so the SW kindly said he would get supper. But as he didn't know how to make the planned asparagus risotto, I wrote out the details for him and posted them to my recipe blog. But Facebook, when I linked it, decided asparagus risotto must be some kind of weapon or something rude, and gave me a warning! And my Bluetooth keyboard isn't working properly! 

Then I couldn't get my tablet to get the sound right for my class, so had to join on my phone, which was not ideal, and then my smartwatch didn't record the class although I could have sworn I'd set it to! Truly, technology hates me! But the risotto was delicious! 

Oberstdorf 2023; Tuesday 9 May

We are not yet, of course, actually in Oberstdorf; in fact, today we have only gone as far as Maurage in Belgium, where we are parked up beside the canal. 

We got up at sparrowfart this morning, had a quick breakfast and then loaded the car and were away before 7:00, arriving in Sussex at about 08:45. We unloaded the car into the WoMo, and put away the things that really had to be put away, leaving clothes and bedding for later. We then drove it round to No 6, only to find that my sister was doing her Pilates class so the family weren't ready to take us round the woods. We should have walked... 

Anyway, I helped my mother make salad - we had leftover cold chicken and Coronation dressing, which we shared with them. When my sister was ready, we went for a drive round the woods to see the bluebells and other wild flowers. There is a lot of comfrey - boneset - but I didn't take a picture of it.

 

Lunch was early, as my mother and sister were going out, and we needed to get on, so after the meal we said our goodbyes and headed off to Folkestone. I slept through most of the motorway bit. 

Quite unlike last time, we were offered a crossing half an hour earlier than scheduled, and got through Passport Control with no delays at all. After that it was a very easy, if dull, run to our overnight place, although at the last minute we had to divert due to a road closure. It was pouring with rain, although this has now stopped, and we were hungry, so supper was the end of the chicken hotted up in some stock, baby new potatoes and tenderstem broccoli, and very good it was, too. Followed by yoghurt, and now a cup of tea with biscuits and cheese!