The plan was to move west from Zurich to Enzesfeld (not far from Vienna) to enjoy a day or two with longstanding friends Clare and Gerhard before then heading south to either Greece or Italy before the winter snows arrive. The journey to Austria went as planned. It was largely uneventful but I took time to check out a couple of very pretty villages on the way (you know the ones I mean – they look like something out of “Little House on the Prairie” except the cows and the sheep all have big bells hanging round their necks) and I stopped in Liechtenstein (for lunch) and Munich (for a couple of beers, dinner and an overnight stay) before eventually reaching Enzesfeld.
The less said about the campsite in Munich, the better. Although not expensive, it was the worst I’ve encountered so far. I’ll likely do an update on this blog tomorrow and name and shame it. No I won’t. If you cannot say something nice it is better to say nothing at all.
Left the Van parked up for two days and nights at a site by Lake Zurich and stayed in Tuffenwies with Audrey and Joao (thanks very much guys; it really was great). The first night we went for a traditional Swiss meal at the popular Zeughauskeller Restaurant in the centre of town and the local beer, the food (veal in my case) and the service was really good. Equally important, the price was reasonable especially by Zurich standards. In due course I will do a Trip Advisor report but for the moment – the place is highly recommended. I would definitely go back.
The view from where the Van was parked up.
The Zeughauskellar Restaurant (photos were taken the following morning – when we arrived to eat at about 7.15 pm people were already queuing in the street and it’s a sizeable place)
Zurich is an expensive city (hardly surprising when it has two Patek Philippe and two Hublot outlets on the one street) but it is the taxi prices that really shocked me. A taxi driver quoted 140 Euros (I didn’t have any Swiss Francs) for the round trip from where I parked the Van in Seestrasse to where Audrey and Joao live in Tuffenwies. That is about 9 or 10 kilometres each way. The public bus and tram services cost the equivalent of just 8 Euros and you can make as many trips as you like to anywhere in the city limits (including Seestrasse and Tuffenwies) for a whole 24 hour period. You really don’t need a car in this city and it is a fool that uses the taxis. My mate Mick would get embarrassed charging those prices.
I didn’t take too many photos. Zurich doesn’t inspire me in that way but I could easily live here and I’ll definitely be back.
Looking down the Limmat River to Lake Zurich
Zurich by night. Not sure who the lady is but she clearly enjoys getting her picture taken.
Today was mostly about getting the winter tyres fitted (would you believe it cost 860 Euros !) and, thereafter, travelling to Zurich for a reunion with a dear friend and her partner for dinner. The journey from Colmar took little more than two or three hours and I was soon parked up by the lake in Zurich and then trekking and using the local tram service across the city for our reunion but, more about that and Zurich later.
Colmar (and Eguisheim) was great and it wouldn’t be right to move on from such a charasmatic town without leaving a couple more photos (and a copy of a striking painting by the Baron Francois Pascal Gerard) that reflect some of the more cultural aspects of the place. As you well know, this trip of mine isn’t just about drink, food and pretty sights and/or sites…
Frederic August Bartholdi, a French sculptor born in Colmar renowned for designing “Liberty Enlightening the World” aka “The Statue of Liberty”.
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Another famous son of Colmar was the Napoleonic General Count Jean Rapp who is shown in a painting by Francois Gerard presenting the captured Prince Repnin-Volkonsky to Napoleon during the Battle of Austerlitz.
Colmar Railway Station – I only show this because I passed it on the way to Eguisheim and it reminded me of the railway station in Gdansk, Poland.
More about Eguisheim in a moment (and the town is well worth a visit) but first some advice on getting there. Don’t cycle it or, if you must cycle it, do not rely on the sat-nav in your vehicle for directions. Before setting off I committed the route on my “top of the range Pioneer system” in the Van to memory and left feeling quite confident that I knew where I was heading. All went well to start with (the cycle paths in this part of France track most major roads and are fantastic) but then, after a really nice fast bit coasting downhill round a bend and bombing along a wholly empty right hand lane I realised I was travelling along the hard shoulder of the motorway to Strasbourg. It was a very sheepish me that dismounted and walked back along the motorway to find an alternative route. I’ll probably figure prominently in the French equivalent of one of those “Cops” TV programmes where they show video from motorway camera. Oh well…
Eguisheim is a lovely place, renowned (at least locally) for it’s fine wines and flowers. Flowers were not much in evidence (it is winter) but I tried a couple of “verre(s) vin blanc de la maison” and they were most enjoyable. It’s not a big town but it is crammed with character as I think the photos will show:-
Needless to say, it is pretty much all pedestrianised.
I won’t talk about the cycle journey back. There was a railway line and lots of ploughed fields and, honestly, it’s just a bad memory but, it doesn’t detract from the fact that the town of Eguisheim is magical (and it is so close to Colmar).
Staying in Colmar for a couple more days. I need some decent winter tyres for the Van and they cannot be delivered until Wednesday morning. There are worse places to be while waiting for winter tyres but I should have had this done while back in the UK waiting for the house to be sold. My schoolboy French really doesn’t lend itself to a protracted conversation as to the merits of different winter tyres. At least the people at Best Drive Tyres didn’t laugh but I’ll not rest easy until I have seen exactly what it is I have ordered.
Tomorrow I am thinking of cycling (yes, cycling – they say you never forget how) to a place called Eguisheim, a few clicks from here. Eguisheim was recommended to me by a local guy I met today in the Irish Pub (of course there’s an Irish pub here!) as being every bit as nice a place to visit as Colmar. Well, I think that is what he said – He couldn’t speak English (and he was French, not Irish. Lol). Time will tell. I have to get to Eguisheim first without my sat-nav.
Meantime, a few more photos of Colmar:-
Inside the Irish Bar. That’s my Murphy’sIt was dark when I left the pub
Rain woke me at 05.00 and prompted an early departure to Colmar (rain sounds much louder in the Van and will take getting used to). It ceased raining as I arrived at Colmar and found Camping de L’Ill (just a mile from the town centre).
Camping de L’Ill has all mod cons (although the swimming pool has been emptied for winter); is situated in very pleasant surroundings (close to a bar/restaurant) and; best of all, at least for the moment, I have it pretty much to myself.
Parked up at Colmar…… and my view from the VanA local, fly fishing on L’Ill
From what I could research and have been told about Colmar I expected something special and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m just back from a 6 hour walk around the town (except for a couple of hours in a very good bar/restaurant that will receive a mention in my trip advisor review when or if Will tells me how trip advisor works) and it is one of the most charming towns I have ever visited.
It was surprisingly quiet even though there was a 10 km fun run taking place which finished in the town centre. This is the advantage of arriving out of season.
No more words; just a handful of the 50 or 60 photos I took although they don’t do the place justice…
I think that is the River Lauch which is a tributary to the L’Ill
I was going to climb a hill somewhere to the south east of here today but the weather was warm and sunny again (that’s four or five days in a row now) and, instead, after stocking up on some supplies in the city centre (the market was open again) I decided to chill out over a couple of beers in the local Gasthaus and then take in a football game.
Gasthaus zum Stahl
Freiburg were hosting Schalke 04 this afternoon in a Bundesliga match and since the stadium is only 20 minutes walk from where the Van is parked I went to the game. As is so often the case when I go to watch a new team, they lose (witness Partick Thistle, Darlington, Macclesfield, etc to say nothing of West Ham) and Freiburg duly obliged by going down 1-0. Typical. However, the match wasn’t bad and the two sets of supporters were outstanding throughout the game. Very, very noisy.
I arrived early to get a ticketThe Freiburg End
Managed to blag my way into the VIP Lounge at halftime and partook of a beer and bowl of pumpkin soup:-
Yesterday morning was a bit of a disaster. I’m not sure if it was me, my sat-nav system or the French roads (or a combination of all three) but I spent far too much time going backwards and forwards down narrow dirt track roads instead of visiting the places I wanted to see in Verdun and Metz. The only positive during the morning was being able to replenish my wine stock from a small Carrefour with a supply of local Pinot Noirs and some Italian Amerone – can you believe the Amerone was less than 7 Euros a bottle?!?
Anyway, it will suffice to say that I got fed up with France and decided to head for Freiburg in Germany (that’ll teach the French!) but what a great result.
I’m parked up in a Campsite (with all the amenities you could wish for) close to Freiburg city centre. Had a meal and few local beers last night in the Gasthaus next door and was up early this morning (Friday) to explore.
I’ve taken countless photos (far too many to include in a blog like this) and none of them do the place justice. Population-wise Freiburg is about the same size as Lille but there the similarities end. The centre is entirely pedestrianised except for the local trams and the ubiquitous cyclists and perhaps because of this it seems slower and quieter (although Friday is market day in the Munsterplatz and the square was packed this morning with stalls selling everything you could imagine from roses to schnapps). There’s also a small indoor market which I believe is open every day and on Saturdays there is a flea market. There are many narrow streets, old and new, packed with little curiosity shops, antique shops, cafes and bars but they sit well beside all the modern designer stores you would expect to find in a modern German city. There was one coffee shop, the smells from which, dragged me back to enjoy a fine coffee and the best apple pie I have ever tasted. That was today’s breakfast.
Freiburg MinsterThe City is criss-crossed by picturesque brooks
That object in the distance at the top of Schlossberg Hill is worth a visit
Another reason for Freiburg feeling so very much slower and quieter is Schlossberg Hill, just to the east of the old town and on the edge of the Black Forest. I broke from the hustle and bustle of the market to visit Schlossberg Hill and I had the place very much to myself (probably because the funicular railway was not working). There are countless paths up the hill from the town and at just 456 metres above sea level it is easily walked. The castle after which the hill is named is long gone but there is a 30 metre observation tower at the top of the hill which is worth ascending. The steps up the tower are wholly enclosed but there is still a feeling of some exposure partly, I suspect, because the tower wobbles like a jelly as you get closer to the top. At the very top there is a platform that cannot be seen in the picture below but which will accommodate one person, two at a squeeze but you will have to be on intimate terms, and the views from there are worth the extra couple of metres.
Observation Tower on Schlossberg Hill… and the view over the townThe view East from Schlossberg Hill
I’m going back to France (I want to see Colmar while in this part of Europe) but I’m inclined to stay here for another day or two and explore some of the Black Forest first.
Needed to cover some ground today and made seriously good time down the motorway from Lille to the little village of Dieue-sur-Meuse, stopping at Epernay on the way for a glass of Champagne. I was in Epernay just last year and it is well worth repeat visits especially when the weather is as nice as today – warm and sunny.
The French motorways are impressive and well worth the toll price.
The stop in Dieue-sur-Meuse was what might be termed a wild camp inasmuch as the village didn’t have a pub. Well, it did but it never opened. Went for a short evening stroll and had a quiet night in with a bottle of the local wine – a Pinot Noir that set me back 3 Euros (I went for the mid price range).
There are worse places to park up for the night… and, yes, it was a fine evening
None of my sources could identify a suitable campsite within Lille city limits and I therefore elected to stay a few kilometres outside of Lille at a place called Peronne-en-Melantois. Peronne-e-M is a little more than a hamlet and the campsite I found is not much more than a field in a farm on the edge of the hamlet. The proof follows:-
My immediate neighbours on the campsite
Oh…and this one knocked about with a cockerel that sounded off non stop for a good hour from about 5.15am. Perhaps not surprisingly, the cockerel didn’t hang around to get his picture taken!
The only real positive about Peronne-e-M is that it is just a couple of kilometres walk to another hamlet (Fretin) which at least has a station (well, a sort of station because trains do stop there) and it is on the Gare de Lille Flandres line. I had to wait a while for a train but in less than a quarter of an hour of the train arriving at Fretin, I was at the Gare de Lille Flandres and right in the centre of the city.
You would be hard pushed to know you had arrived at the village without this sign
Fretin (simply identified as Gare)Gare de Lille Flandres
Lille is France’s tenth largest city and it has some striking buildings, many of which are on or near the Grand Place just a couple of hundred yards from the station. Grand Place is also known as the Place General de Gaulle (after the visionary French Brexit campaigner General Charles de Gaulle) who was born in Lille.
I took a few photos but they were all rather rushed. After my last few days in Belgium, Lille was simply too busy for me. I had dinner there (it was nothing to write home about) but otherwise didn’t stay long because I wasn’t sure when the last train left the City for Fretin. It was dark by the time I got back to Peronne-e-M.
Grande Place, Lille
One of the more attractive buildings, especially inside, is the Catholic Church which is en route to the Grand Place.
The Catholic Church…… and one of it’s many stained glass windows
I’ve covered little more than 45 miles in the Van over the last few days. At this rate I’ll not get across the Alps before winter. The Grossglockner is already shut. I’m going to have to find another route through Austria. Time to check out the French Auto-routes…
