Christmas Markets, 20 December 2024

Blériot-Plage, Calais

It was a very cold night, and we were nursing our batteries to make sure we could have heating and hot water in the morning, so early bed, hot-water bottles and reading under the duvet was the order of the day. Very cosy, and I slept fairly well - my cold seems to be pretty much over, thank goodness, although I have had a couple of bad coughing fits.

So, anyway, we woke up to a bitterly cold morning - only 6°C in the WoMo, according to my clock. But the batteries were fine, and we put the heating on for a good blast before we got up. It was a seriously lovely morning, so after breakfast we wrapped up warmly and set off for the walk I've been longing to do ever since we first parked up here a couple of years ago. Across the bridge, down the hill to the Strépy-Thieux Canal Lift, round the lift (stopping to watch a boat coming out of the caisson), and down to the towpath on the other side; along to the next bridge, which leads to the old lift, and back along the towpath as we went last night. Only just over 3 km, according to my watch, but very pleasant - and a few hundred metres more than I found comfortable, which is very good for me! A few more photos on Facebook.

After the SW had had his coffee, it was time to head on, and we drove as far as the French border before stopping for lunch, and then straight to Cité Europe where we had a cup of tea, and did a Last Shop in France, and then went to Lidl and I did a Last Last Shop there. It was dark by then, so we drove round Calais admiring their Christmas lights, which were as excellent as ever, before coming here, to the motorhome aire, where we are parked up before our crossing tomorrow morning. 

Christmas Markets, 19 December 2024

Roeulx, Belgium

At least my cold is somewhat better today, although it is leaving a nasty cough behind! I did sleep a bit better, though, but it was a mistake to listen to "The carol of the bells" just before snuggling down, as I was earwormed by it on and off all night, and had nightmares about the forthcoming carol service! Not that we are singing it, unless the worship group do it as their solo, which I doubt they will, but still! 

We did not hurry this morning, but enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and then used the services before paying for the campsite and heading off. Our first port of call was the local REWE, where I did a Last Shop in Germany, and then we decided to go to what we call the Duck Path (goose path, really!), just near the Strépy-Thieux canal lift. It poured with rain during the first part of our journey, really nasty, although the traffic wasn't too ghastly for a Belgian motorway, and there were no serious hold-ups. We stopped for lunch at a random service area, and then headed on again. By then, we had mostly driven out of the rain, although we did run through a few more showers.

When we arrived, we parked up on a rather muddy pitch, and had a cup of tea. It was still light, and the rain was away, so we went for the first part of the walk, down to the old canal lift, under it, and back the other side, which gives a most unfortunate tracing on Strava!

But it was a good leg-stretch, and I hope we will be able to do the other half of the walk in the morning, assuming it isn't raining. 

The geese appeared on schedule - I don't know if somebody feeds them, or what; they certainly appear to be bedded down for the night here! As, indeed, we will soon be, since we have no electricity and the batteries aren't all they should be. We are being very mere with lights and, although we should like the heating on (it is at least 10° colder than this morning), we think we'll go to bed with hot-water bottles instead. Of course, my boots are not very mud-proof, so my socks have got wet on the one night I'd really like to be wearing them, but I do have a spare pair.... 

Christmas Markets, 18 December 2024

Rodenkircher, Cologne, Germany

So today was the Big Day, when we were to visit the Christmas markets. I slept badly again (this wretched cold!), and in fact drowsed off to sleep again after the alarm went off. However, we had agreed not to leave until late morning, so that wasn't really a problem. 

We had decided to do as we had done last time we were here, and drive up to the Park&Ride at Heinrich-Lübke-Ufer, the next stop up the line towards Cologne. But when we got there, it was full, and no space to be had. We pulled up to consider our options - the SW thought we should go to the big P&R the other side of Cologne, where we have been before, only it would have taken a good hour to drive to. I thought that perhaps, before we did that, we should investigate one in Rodenkirchen itself, but there was probably a good reason why the campsite didn't mention it. However, while we were pondering what to do, a tram came in, several people got off, and several spaces became free, including one that was absolutely perfect for the motor home, as it was far enough back, and beside a tree, the so it did not block any other vehicles.

Since we were last here, 10 years ago, when we had terrible trouble finding enough coins to buy tickets for public transport, they have now produced an app, which makes things quicker and easier, and we were each able to buy a 24-hour ticket with no problems. 

I took a couple of cold relief tablets (I only have 8, so am rationing them), which were absolutely magic, and I was able to forget all about my cold until we got back! We caught the next tram into the city, which dropped us off at the Hauptbahnhof, just near the first of the markets. 

We had a wonderful wander around, buying Bratwurst for lunch - this was a slight failure, as the stall we went to sold them in rolls, and later we saw another stall which sold them with potatoes! Ah well. Plus I put the wrong sauce on mine - it was based on barbecue sauce and really wasn't to my taste. So I wiped most of it off with my napkin, and then had nothing to wipe my hands with! For pudding, we bought a sort of fruit sundae - hot fruit puree underneath, topped with crumble topping and a scoop of ice cream. The Swan Whisperer's was apple, which I should have liked, but the ice cream that came with it was cinnamon, which I am not fond of. I like the smell, but not the taste. My fruit was plums, I think, and the ice-cream was mango sorbet, and it was delicious!

We took a wrong turn leaving the first market, and walked halfway down the high street before realising we needed to retrace our steps to get to the Alter Market, but we got there in the end, and enjoyed wandering though it, and then down to the Heumarkt, where we treated ourselves to the quasi-obligatory mulled wine (which was delicious) and the SW decided to keep the mugs as he thought they made good souvenirs. Then we walked down through the market, and caught first a bus and then a tram back to the P&R. Unfortunately, the tram left before we could get off, so we had to travel another stop, into Rodenkircher, and then wait 10 minutes for a tram back again! Ah well, no real harm done. Back at the campsite, a cup of tea was swiftly followed by a nap to recharge both me and my phone!

I think that on balance, we prefer Strasbourg, but maybe that's because it is easier to visit after dark - we don't know what the illuminations here are like. But Christmas Markets are pretty much the same all over the place. I think I want to come back to Cologne when it isn't Christmas - I know we do visit it fairly often, but I don't think we've visited the Heumarkt when the Christmas market isn't on, as they seem to have some lovely houses there. Photos on Facebook, as per usual. 

But sadly, somewhere along the line I lost my knitted beret that I bought in Graf last trip. I did so love it. Oh well, I do have others, but not so nice.