VIANEN

Wednesday 5^th

After a kerfuffle getting Frau Jobsworth to unhook our cable and then settle our bill, we left about 10.15 in bright sunshine for the 90 miles to Vianen. We arrived at Camperplaats Ons Splekske by 12.30, and a very lovely place it is too. Bowling green grass, toilet, shower, wifi, hot water and a Dutch couple that speak English. It was very hot again so we just chilled out in the afternoon and decided that we might stay more than a couple of nights. So at 8.20 pm I am sitting outside on a picnic table in the sun doing some catching up with blog and emails.

Thursday 6^th

Warm and sunny again, so I did just a few bits of washing and then we lazed around and chatted to folk. We have decided to stay put here until Sunday and then drive to Hook of Holland to meet up with Lorna and Mike as planned. The Dutch schools have now broken up and everywhere is getting busy, so as we have a lovely spot we think we will hang on to it!

We have got 2 nights booked on the campsite at Hook of Holland with Lorna and Mike before travelling back on the ferry on Tuesday ready to go to Debenham on Wednesday so our trip is drawing to a close. We have loved all of it, but it will be quite nice to get back to being able to understand the language and know where we are going rather than constantly map-reading or having a fight with Emily and her re-calculating moments.

STROMBERG and ERFTSTADT

Sunday 2^nd

Although it had rained most of the night, at least it had stopped when we left, leaving a load of mud and puddles behind for us to drive through. We got back on to the motorway and travelled 64 miles to Stromberg, where we found a stellplatz right next to the fire station, Lidl, Aldi, Rewe and a petrol station. Needless to say as it was Sunday everything was closed, so we are now parked up alongside a Dutchman and 2 Germans waiting to go shopping and re-fuelling tomorrow morning.

Monday 3^rd

Popped in to Lidl for croissants for breakfast, then later drove to Rewe for shopping and then Ed for diesel, finally got under way about 10.00am. It was 92 miles to Erfstadt where we found Camping Liblarer See. We planned on stopping a couple of nights in order to catch up on washing and showers. It has a sort of beach on a lake where folk were swimming and canoeing, quite a few youngsters as the schools have now broken up for their holidays. We went to the bistro for a meal in the evening, quite nice and very reasonable.

Tuesday 4^th

Warm, sunny and cloudy, so I invested in a washing machine for 3 euros and chucked everything in. Then festooned Juliette with hangers etc. with it all to dry. Brian had a good sweep out and refilled water containers, now we are all clean and tidy we can relax for the afternoon before showering and dinner. No wifi here so don’t know when I will get this posted online.

ASCHAFFENBURG

Friday 30^th

We spent about half an hour dumping waste and toilet and filling up with fresh water as all the points were in a different place along the stellplatz.  We knew that the next town we were headed for had no facilities at all so like good boy scouts we needed ‘to be prepared’. It was about 65 miles to Aschaffenburg where we planned to spend a couple of nights and meet up with our eldest son Andrew who lives in Darmstadt. Although dry it was very windy and there were loads of road works, so a few hairy moments with large lorries. We arrived by 12.00, relaxed for a while, had some lunch then set off back over the bridge in to the town to find a supermarket….an hour later we came to a large shopping mall with REWE at one end so got some milk and a few other bits, then sat for a while with a drink before heading back down to the stellplatz, which only took about 15 mins when you know the way. Later it started to rain again so tucked ourselves in for the night.

Saturday 1^st July

As it was a grey and gloomy day we got up later, had a tidy-up and sat around until Andrew arrived about 11.30. He brought Darmstadt beers with him so we had a drink and a chat until about 2.00 then went up in to the town to find somewhere to eat. A good choice was the Faust brewery as the restaurant was full with locals eating, usually a good sign. We had a very nice meal with drinks all for 40 euros for the 3 of us and carried on chatting for a couple of hours. Then went for a wander around the Schloss Johannisburg gardens and through the newer part of town as he went back to the train station to go home. We strolled back down a different route directly to the river and back along the Main promenade to the stellplatz, rushing the last part as it had started to rain again. Got back around 6.00pm and chilled out for the rest of the evening.