Shadows and Light

12-14 June

“Time to go home”, well, almost. From Clervaux we headed in the direction of Brussels but stopped off at Bastogne to visit the Mardasson American War Memorial, which commemorates the many thousands of American soldiers who lost their lives during the Ardennes Offensive, otherwise known as the Battle of the Bulge. The memorial is shaped as a circle within a five-pointed star and the names of the American states and a narrative of the battle are inscribed on its sombre grey pillars.

On the same site is the brand new interactive Bastogne War Museum www.bastognewarmuseum.be which is comprehensive, absorbing and moving. In addition to the exhibition of material relating specifically to the battle and more broadly to World War II, the entrance fee includes an audio guide, which gives commentaries from four real people, an American soldier, a German soldier, a young boy and a teacher. These commentaries give a good insight into what it was like being a soldier and for ordinary Belgians under German occupation.

We are surrounded by trees, two small lakes and geese tonight at Camping au Val Tourinnes, chosen mainly because it is pretty much halfway to Calais. Although the setting is lovely, the facilities do not live up to the price, in our humble opinion.

Friday: arrived at Camping Les Erables at Escalles (no website) where we also spent our final night last year and passed a relaxing late afternoon and evening on this very peaceful site in glorious sunshine, overlooking the English Channel and munching through the remaining items in our stores.

From there it is just a 15 minute trip to the Channel Tunnel. We arrived a bit early and were able to transfer to a slightly earlier shuttle, but as all the trains were running behind schedule due to an earlier incident, we actually left around the time originally intended.

Grey skies and drizzle greeted us in Kent - good to be home!

Architecture and Morality

9 – 12 June

The journey from Duelmen was much better than the journey there. The motorways were quieter and we arrived at Camping Officiel de Clervaux www.camping-clervaux.lu in Luxembourg mid afternoon, where the weather was scorching hot. The Dutch owners are very helpful and friendly (perhaps a little over-enthusiastic – Meneer immediately wanted to get us settled on our pitch, we wanted to do stuff at the service point!). It is a “full on” site, with more amenities than we would generally choose to have (including a fair size swimming pool, but guess who didn't think to bring swimming gear!) However, the location is lovely, nestling in the valley of the River Cleuve, with the abbey looming above. The small river runs through the site, at the edge of our pitch actually, and its babbling is very restful. 

However, there is some railway noise from the trains, which pass three times an hour, and from the abbey bells morning and evening; the monks may want to be summoned to Matins at 7.00am, but we don't!

It is about a twenty minute walk to the railway station and we decided to travel to Luxembourg City for the day. The journey time is given as 52 minutes and the ticket price is only 4 Euros each return, which also includes any bus journeys you might like to make in the city. Bargain! The plan started to go a little awry when we discovered at the station that there is engineering work on the line this week, resulting in about a third of the journey having to be made on the bus. However, this only added about 20 minutes to the outward journey.

We had not been there long before we had an encounter with potential pickpockets; a man asked us for some directions and I suddenly became aware of a female lurking behind us. Fortunately all our valuables were safely secured so no harm done.

We walked past the cathedral of Notre Dame

and along the Chemin de la Corniche, hailed as “Europe's most beautiful balcony”, winding along the course of the 17^th century city ramparts, 

then through the Cite Judiciaire and down the steep zigzag path from the Old Town to Grund, where there are numerous cafes to tempt you. We poked our noses into the Neumuenster Abbey and admired the Bock Casemates on the other side of the river, a honeycomb of rock galleries and passages, which were originally carved by the Spaniards in the 18^th century, since which time they have been used, for example, to house bakeries and to shelter local people in the two world wars.

From there we took the elevator back to the Old City where we could hear some beautiful music and assumed it was a recording being relayed from somewhere. It turned out that there was a street piano being played by a young lady, who, when she had finished and we complimented her, said she was still practising the piece!

After that we passed through Place Guillaume and photographed the Royal Palace, a beautiful building, whose location does not to it justice; then it was time to head back to the station.

The journey back was a nightmare! The next two trains were cancelled and then an announcement directed us to a bus outside the station. This all taxed our rusty French somewhat! So it was one bus to Mersch and a second to Ettelbruck followed by a half hour wait for the train back to Clervaux. Were we glad to get back to the campsite!

After some relaxation on site the next morning we set off to explore Clervaux.  There is a viewpoint which gives a good view of the town including its castle, parish church and abbey.

 The castle's main attraction is Edward Steichen's world-famous photography exhibition, “Family of Man” www.steichencollections.lu. The collection comprises 503 black and white, mid-20^th century photos from 273 photographers from 68 countries.  They are exhibited in themes and follow man from birth to death with images from all corners of the globe, illustrating how various experiences bind people together, wherever they are in the world.

The Heat is On

6 - 9 June

After having booked into the previous site, we realised that there is actually a Stellplatz with 45 pitches just one mile down the road, which offers showers, toilets and electricity. So we opted to move to it today. In fact, as it is Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend here, the site is fully booked so we would not have been able to stay there longer anyway. We were lucky enough to grab one of the last pitches available at the Stellplatz, next to two other British motorhomes. This Stellplatz is, in fact, also operated by the camp site, but pretty much runs itself. You enter via a barrier and a ticket is dispensed, stating your date and time of arrival. On departure you pay the appropriate amount (Euros 10 per 24 hours) at a machine which validates your ticket, enabling you to exit. The motorhome service point provides all the usual facilities (with free water), there is no extra charge for the electricity and the two toilets and showers, which are accessed by a code printed on your ticket, were very clean.

It's a very pleasant 15 to 20 minute walk beside the river into Traben-Trabach. The volume of heavily laden barges moving up and down the Mosel makes you realise what an important freight artery the river is.

We didn't spend much time on the Traben side but there is a large Edeka-Neukauf supermarket near the station, which stays open late and has a separate bakery. Adjacent there is also an Aldi. We explored the Trabach side more thoroughly, a cluster of narrow streets, which lie behind the impressive gate at the end of the bridge, and where various museums are located. Once again we succumbed to the temptation of Kaffee and Kuchen!

We left Traben-Trabach early the next morning to make our way along the Mosel as far as Cochem. Snoopy SatNav had directed us to the north side of the river, but we missed the turn (busy waving at another British motorhome!) and stayed on the south side. This was probably a slower route, as most of the settlements seemed to be on that side, but it was very scenic, twisting and turning in harmony with the river beneath the endless vineyards. At Cochem we crossed the river (as instructed!) and headed off on the spider's web of motorways to visit friends, Julie and Norbert, in Duelmen. It is all very well having no upper speed limit for cars on the German motorways, but it does make pulling out to overtake that much more of a challenge.

We spent a lovely weekend in Duelmen, catching up with our friends and meeting their children and grandchild for the first time. The weather was great for most of the time, enabling us to spend a lot of the time on the patio, eating and drinking under the protection of the sunshade. We were caught out by a thunderstorm while out cycling on Sunday morning, but it soon passed and we quickly dried out in a strategically placed Gasthof. A second storm rumbled around for a long time during Sunday night.

Sunny skies reappeared on Monday morning, with air freshened by the storm and after a final breakfast on the patio, we left Duelmen to resume our travels.

One for the Vine

2-3 June

Just a short trip, 48 miles, to Mehring on the River Moselle today, taking advantage of the lower priced fuel before we left Luxembourg. Only £1.00 per litre of diesel! Our destination was Stellplatz Mehring, which has around 72 pitches and is situated right on the river bank behind a cafe/bar/restaurant, where toilets and showers (extra cost) are also available. Water is available (1 Euro per 100 litres). We arrived at Mehring in time for lunch in the sunshine, with a backdrop of vineyards extending to the horizon and watching barges and river cruise vessels make their way down the river.

It suddenly occurred to us that we haven't really planned exactly what we are going to do here so we hopped on the bikes and rode along the north bank of the river, passing through various villages to see what we could find.

In Mehring we located the tourist office, which was rather unhelpfully only open in the morning. After about 8 km we came to a bridge at Thoernich and crossed to the other side of the river, where there was conveniently a Gasthof to sit and enjoy a beer / wine. The ride back to Mehring on the south side of the river was more direct, as the cycle path hugged the river with no deviations through or around villages. We arrived back at the Stellplatz feeling shattered and decided to go across to the restaurant for our evening meal; the Jaegerschnitzel with chips and salad was both delicious and reasonably priced. It was just a shame that it started to rain and drove us inside from the terrace. Hoping for a particularly good night's sleep tonight after all the exercise.

Next day was “low key” to catch our breath, do a few necessary chores and update the blog, while sampling the Kaffee and Kuchen at the cafe. The Stellplatz remained only one third full, mainly Belgians, Dutch and Germans. We haven't seen a British motorcaravan since Bruges!

4 June

Only 17 miles along the Moselle to the next stop at Piesport. We had originally intended to stay at a Stellplatz for 6 'vans behind a small vineyard but when we arrived there was no one else there and the six pitches were pretty much in the vineyard which we found a bit claustrophobic. So we moved on to Stellplatz Piesporter Goldtroepfchen (translates as little drops of gold – how pretty!). This is a delightful Stellplatz with basic facilities for 30 'vans right by the river and we were even more pleased when we were greeted by English neighbours.

The weather was a bit unpredictable all day, but we ventured out for a walk in the early afternoon, visiting the vineyard, previously rejected as a stopover, for a sampling of a few wines, inevitably culminating in the purchase of a few bottles! Didn't confess to the owner that we didn't like his Stellplatz – hope he didn't recognise us! We also managed a short bike ride along the river, in the opposite direction to what I had intended; my sense of direction does not get any better.

The day ended by passing a very pleasant couple of hours with the neighbours, Trevor and Sue, and two bottles of wine in their palatial Hymer van.

5 June

Another massive journey of 25 miles to Camping Rissbach, www.moselcampings.de where we opted to stay on a site for a night for the extra facilities. Another cracking location close to the river, very like a Caravan Club Site, with a detailed registration process, quite a culture shock after the laid-back experience of the Stellplaetze. Given that the site is Dutch-owned, it's no surprise to find that it is largely occupied by Dutch "tuggers" (as caravanners are referred to in the motorhoming fraternity). En route we stopped at Kues-Bernkastel; Bernkastel is a charming old town on one side of the river, with half timbered buildings and narrow, cobbled streets, with Kues over the bridge on the other side.

We walked up to a viewpoint for some fine vistas of the twin towns.

There is parking for motorcaravans, with a motorhome service point, by the river on the Kues (west) side between 10:00 and 18:00, (but not overnight) free for the first hour, then Euro 1.20 per hour thereafter. Theodora is fourth from the right in the posse of motorcaravans in the photo below.

A River Runs Through It

31 May - 1 June 2014

After an early morning raid on the local Carrefour supermarket (within walking distance of the site, if you choose) we departed Bruges heading for Luxembourg. Most of the journey was on motorways and uneventful, except for one blip when, while I was driving, unfortunately, Snoopy Satnav told us to exit unexpectedly and we got in a bit of a muddle in a maze of motorway intersections. But Snoopy got us back on track and the last 27 miles were on very rural roads, passing through numerous small hamlets.

We now find ourselves at Camping op dem Deich in Vianden,

www.camping.lu/en/campsites/op-dem-deich-vianden

which we highly recommend. We are pitched some 100 metres from the River Our, with trees lining the valley amongst which the castle nestles. Idyllic, and how different from the site in Bruges. In the afternoon we enjoyed the sunshine with a view to exploring the next day.

The next day was overcast but warm and we walked into Vianden (5 minutes). The old town is mostly built along one cobbled road, Grande Rue, that ascends to the castle gates.

Lonely Planet advises that “on weekend afternoons in summer, Vianden can get overloaded with noisy fleets of motorcycle tourists” and yes, some of them were there too. Along with a cavalcade of red Ferraris bearing registration plates from Belgium, Luxembourg and the UK. We took the chair lift over the river and up through oak woods and then walked back to the castle. There was a fort on this site in Roman times, and the castle evolved and grew over the next 1500 years before falling into disrepair, but has now been largely rebuilt and houses displays of armour and furnishings.

In Bruges

29-30 May 2014

Why does it always take us so long to prepare for a trip? No matter how soon we start the process, we always seem to be up late the night before scrabbling around to get things ready! But no matter, once we are on our way, we forget all that. We had an uneventful journey to the Channel Tunnel (thank you M25!) but there was a delay in our 12:50 departure, due to earlier cancellations. The wonder of the Channel Tunnel continues to amaze me; first, the slick boarding process and then the journey itself. There's barely time to eat your sandwiches and have a cup of coffee while hurtling under the English Channel before emerging in France 35 minutes later.

The journey to Bruges on the E40 motorway was straightforward; a new roundabout near the station confused us a little (note: follow the signs to Zentrum, which leads to the N9) but otherwise Camping Memling was easy to find, situated at the end of a quiet, residential area. NB you have to park on the road until you have checked in. We had booked a hardstanding motorcaravan pitch, but it would have been wiser to have chosen a grass pitch, which are twice as large (80m2 compared to 35m2) for only an additional 2 Euros. There is barely enough room for an awning between one motorcaravan and the next.

We are definitely spoiled by our excellent Caravan Club and Camping and Caravanning Club Sites, with their minimum of 20 feet between units. The hardstanding pitches are also located under trees, so if you don't like to be in the shade, they are not for you. However, we are only here for two nights so it's not a disaster and the toilet and shower facilities, which appear quite new, are excellent.  Overall opinion, convenient for Bruges, but a bit claustrophobic.

www.campingmemling.be

Friday was a lovely day, warm with sunny intervals. We decided to take the bus into Bruges, the bus stop is just a five minute walk from the site. We hadn't realised that it is a bank holiday weekend, so the city was rather busy and the market square was in a state of chaos as grandstands, presumably used for yesterday's Procession of the Holy Blood, were dismantled. The plan was to go into the Belfort belfry (83m) and climb the 366 steps for the wonderful views across the city and beyond. However, 10:00 am was not sufficiently early to beat the queue and, as visitor numbers are limited to 70 at once, we reluctantly gave it a miss. We admired the medieval style step-gabled buildings in the Markt area, then the ornate buildings of Brugse Vrije, Stadhuis and Heilig-Bloedbasiliek.

It is here where a phial, supposedly containing a few drops of Christ's blood is kept and on Ascension Day the phial is mounted on a jewel-studded reliquary for Bruge's biggest annual parade, the Heilig-Bloedprocessie. The cafe 't Klein Venetie offers a fine view of one of the canals

and we enjoyed a tasty fixed-price three course lunch at Restaurant 't Minnewater, to the sound of the many horse drawn carriages passing by. A walk through the Begijnhof, whose residents include a convent of Bendictine nuns, is tranquil, in complete contrast to the bustle of the rest of the city. 

By mid afternoon we were beginning to flag so found the appropriate bus stop to get us back to the campsite for a bit of relaxation.