After our time in Samoëns we meandered through the Vosges region, at last completing the Route des Cretes which we had tried and failed to do twice before over the years due to snow blockages.
Then we crossed the border into Germany where we headed for Füssen and the start of the Romantic Road.
We stopped on the way for a visit to a monkey sanctuary which was a pleasant way to spend a different few hours!
We spent a couple of weeks going north along the Romanitische Strasse https://www.romanticroadgermany.com/ stopping at many of the picturesque towns along the way.
To say it was busy would be an understatement but we always managed to find overnight spots without too much hassle.
Lots of pretty little towns after this to call at, just chosen one photo of each place as they all became somewhat similar.
Once we had completed the official route we went west to visit Heidleburg.
We stopped above the town and caught a funicular down to the Schloss but went no further……..it was just too crowded for words so we high tailed it back to France (via a couple of lesser known German towns and then Luxembourg for cheap fuel and a bottle of Hendricks Gin!). There we paid a visit to Verdun and spent a couple of days driving around various war memorials. It was a sobering couple of days and included a visit to the pristine American Cemetery https://www.abmc.gov/Meuse-Argonne
Our next deadline was to reach Paris where our New Zealand friends, Mandy and Bill Brotherstone were having a long weekend at the end of June and we had arranged to meet them at our campsite in the suburbs. We had three nights there and a lovely day catching up with dear friends that we originally met in an Alpine campsite in 2009 and whom we had last seen in Santiago de Compostella in 2022. Out came the Hendricks to which M and B had introduced us several years ago! We chatted so long that by the time we wandered over to the Campsite restaurant which we thought was open all day, it was closed! So Nigel got on his bike and went in search of baguettes and I put together a salad buffet with what we had in the fridge! It was fine and there was plenty! Mandy and Bill are now back in NZ and have become grandparents for the first time to a little girl. Can’t raise a Hendricks to you, Biddy, that’s long gone….Lidl strawberry gin will have to do! Our next day in Paris saw me catching a train into the city centre on my own. I decided that an open top bus ride would be the best way to see the sights as I can’t walk as far as I once could.
I think we sat in traffic for longer than we were actually moving! Paris was gearing up for the Olympics so there were diversions and road and bridge closures all along the route. I enjoyed it though and it was good to have a second visit to this vibrant city of light.
After the bus trip I walked to a nearby (ish) park for some R and R before catching the train back to the campsite where Nigel had stayed to look after the dogs and watch the barges motoring up and down the Seine. Great idea I thought, maybe get an ice cream, sit on a bench in the shade, yada yada……. No sooner had I found such a bench to sit on (sadly no ice cream) than what appeared to be a whole primary school of children came careering excitedly onto the grass all around. Talk about a busman’s holiday!
It was nice to see them having such fun though the peace was somewhat shattered and small groups of people who had been lying sunbathing on the grass hurriedly and huffily packed up their belongings and moved away. I stayed put for a bit, watching them enjoying themselves and safe in the knowledge that I didn’t have to do any head counting or soothe any grazed knees!
Our plan for after Paris was to make our way south again toward the Pyrenees to watch a mountain stage of the Tour de France. We decided to go back via Samoëns for another few days with the family which included Nigel’s 75th birthday.
On the way we overnighted at Dole, another of our favourite spots from holidays with the boys and later with our barge, Liberté. Dash and Belle spent many happy hours swimming in the river and broken weir here. Alas Ditto and Poco don’t even like getting their feet wet! If you’ve ever wondered how long a border terrier can hold his breath, see below! And look how pleased he is with himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM-idSeRzfk
Meandering yet further south through the Tarn gorges, another as yet unvisited place, we arrived at our spot for watching Le Tour on the col de Tourmalet.
We wanted to watch an uphill mountain stage, otherwise, blink and you miss it! We decided to arrive on the Thursday before the stage which was on Saturday. We were not among the first arrivals by any means; many, many motorhomes already lined the route. We needed an off road pull in type of spot which would be safer for getting the dogs in and out and we found space at a restaurant/bar which also had bread and croissants for sale each morning.
It wasn’t long before we were completely hemmed in and the atmosphere was building by the hour. On the Friday we were in the clouds and could hardly see a thing! We and the dogs were out of our comfort zone in terms of the crowds but eventually it all became worth it when Saturday dawned clear and bright and we set up our chairs along the roadside to get a good view.
riding with his team Astana
We stayed one more night to let the crowds disperse and then we moved back over the col to a remote car park near the ski village of La Mongie where we had bought tickets to go in a cable car up to the Pic du Midi on Monday morning. However it was not to be as when we set off to get to the station, it became obvious that we had a very flat tyre, the second of the trip!
After many, many frustrating phone calls to our insurers, mostly no doubt due to my poor language skills, we gave up on day 3 and organised recovery ourselves (€€€) as although we still had a reasonable amount of food it had been a week since we had done the services (fill water, empty the loo and waste water) and shopping. Back down in the valley we treated ourselves to a night in a campsite where we could stock up, have showers and get laundry done, such a relief. Little did we know then worse was to come!!!
So slowly we made our way back into Spain, no more plans or deadlines except we wanted to visit Canfranc just over the border and then meander slowly along the northern coast towards Asturias and Galicia where it would be cooler to linger for the rest of August and hopefully into September until the temperatures at home began to fall a little.
Here’s just a couple of pics taken on our last few days in La Belle France
Here endeth Part Two……..