With hindsight, we should have filled up with diesel before leaving Belgium, but we assumed diesel would be cheaper in Germany. Spoiler: it wasn't! In fact, it was about 20 cents a litre dearer, and we were lucky to fill up at "only" €2.04. I don't know what has made the prices so very much higher than they were in May - they have been beginning to come down in the UK lately!
We thought we had set the Satnav to take us up through Maastricht and into Germany from there, but it seems to have changed its mind when I added a supermarket stop en route, and we were taken the "usual way" via Aachen. However, we did not turn off towards Köln, but rather went north towards Dusseldorf. Mind you, we've done that route before, only in the opposite direction.
Our first stop was at a REWE to shop; my breakfast had expired by then, and I was very wobbly and bad-tempered, so made the Swan Whisperer go and get rolls from the in-store bakery and we had lunch, but even still I was very wobbly in the shop. Got all I wanted, though, and some lovely ripe gooseberries to boot, which I have stewed with some sugar and had with yoghurt for supper pudding. The rest of the journey took ages due to very slow traffic on the motorway, but we got here at last.
I am very disappointed with this aire; it was expensive and looked as though it would be lovely, but it is small, cramped and crowded! And did I say expensive? I paid for the second tier of pitches, allegedly in front of the lake, which I suppose they are, but there is an awful lot of greenery between us and it!
I should have liked to have swum, but it has been overcast and cloudy all day, and the temperature is only about 21. After the recent hot weather, it really feels rather chilly! Nobody else was swimming, so I couldn't, as it really isn't safe to swim on one's own.
So instead I profited from the free WiFi to catch up on YouTube, and then made a large ragu, which we had with fresh tagliatelle and shaved parmesan. Followed by the end of the stewed rhubarb for the Swan Whisperer and the aforementioned gooseberries for me, both with yoghurt.
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