WEEK 4: St – Hirtzbach, France – Lahr, Germany. 106 miles
Saturday 30th June 2018 Hirtzbach to Hunigue. 27 miles
Saturday morning and a race is on to get to the local bakery just in time to grab the last two pastries! It’s a very short drive today, all 21 miles of it. Today we are going to Basel. Basel has three borders, France, Germany and Switzerland. Could be interesting. We are also staying there for 4 nights and Hayley booked it many weeks ago. It’s an ideal jump point, Del has to fly back to the UK for a meeting, the flight is tomorrow, so Hayley will be holding the fort until Monday night.
We arrive at the campsite but our first impressions are not great. It’s a little bit scruffy, expensive, no wifi and it has a bit of a “hippy commune” feel about it, nothing wrong with hippies except the tie dye trousers.
Anyway, we get settled in our spot and we set off for a walk and to walk on the “Three Countries Bridge“.
We walk over to Germany and then over the border to Switzerland (it’s H’s first time there) which is a little bit on the industrial side, so we don’t stay too long.
Back to Germany for a beer on the banks of the Rhine then back to Jess, in France.
It’s hot. Very hot, too hot. We don’t have much shade where we are. Not today.
Sunday 1st July 2018 Hunigue. Day 2
Del is picked up by the owner of the campsite, who, on the side, runs a cab service to the airport which is only 5km away but charges 20 euros for the privilege. It’s an early departure, the meeting is in the afternoon and he will be back tomorrow, ready for our departure on Tuesday.
Hayley is left alone and decides to walk before it gets too hot. She has downloaded an app for the local transport, has worked out how the trams work, and makes her way into Basel town centre, which is deserted, well it is a Sunday. The Rathaus (town hall) is quite unusual. Basel Munster is a spectacular red stone church and the town itself is very pretty.
She needs money, but can’t find an ATM. Unusually they won’t dispense less than £70! It’s so expensive here that you’ll need that and more to get by. She has no currency, getting hungry ad thirsty so heads back to France and to Jess. It’s starting to heat up. Back in Germany, there is an ‘all you can eat‘ Chinese restaurant, very disappointing. It’s hot… 35 degrees.
Back at Jess, a large motorhome has parked next door which offers a little bit of shade. An ice cream van has turned up, the roof has to hinge open so the guy selling can stand up to serve you. Very cute.
In the evening it’s still hot, still 35 degrees!
In the evening it’s still hot, still 35 degrees!
Monday 2nd July 2018 Hunigue. Day 3
In the middle of the night Hayley is woken up by Del back in the UK. He’s supposed to be coming back today but has to visit the doctor. She re-books the flight to Tuesday morning and confirms another hotel room for him tonight.
At 11 am it’s already unbearably hot. She goes to Germany to do some shopping and on return picks up the laundry from the lady at the campsite. Handy, quick little service.
It’s far too hot to do anything, so Hayley gets the awning and chairs out and tries to grab some shade and stays with Jess, feeding the friendly birds who are also probably feeling the heat too.
The only good thing is that now the weekend is over the camp is peaceful and quiet. The site was packed over the weekend including a motorbike club. She is missing the countryside. It is a bit noisy, busy and expensive.
Hopefully Del will be back tomorrow.
Tuesday 3rd July 2018 Hunigue. Day 4
No more phone calls overnight and none this morning. Del will be back today. Hayley wakes up to a rather miserable day with grey skies, rain and thunder. A respite from the heat which is welcome.
It’s confirmed, Del will be back but not until 6 pm tonight. No matter, that’s good, so she has a nice big breakfast of eggs, bacon and hash browns.
By midday the weather has cleared up a little so she takes a walk to the German town of Weil am Rhine. Not much to it so she jumps on a tram to Basel which is very different, there is life here today, it’s busy, a quick look at the ‘Middle Bridge’ and off to the Marketplatz where she buys a pair of new boots! It’s starting to heat up again and she is in jeans.
On the river, on the Swiss side, there is the famous ‘Four Ferries‘, which is well worth a look. It’s a motorless boat so to get across the river the boat is tethered to a wire that stretches across the river which pulls the boat across. It’s very tranquil, all you can hear is the sound of the river rushing by. Nice.
She gets the tram back to Germany the takes the short walk back to France and Jess. Del is due back at 6 pm. The manager picks him up and delivers him back safely, at last, a day late…! We have a beer and dinner and chat for ages until late. It’s a nice evening.
Wednesday 4th July 2018 Hunigue, France to Todtnau, Germany 33 miles
We are leaving today. Thank god, as far as Hayley is concerned. She has been there for 4 nights, it was friendly and interesting enough but it was too long. Time to move on, before she goes mad! Today we are going to Germany. Goodbye France, but not for long, we will be back.
We service the van with fresh water and set off for a supermarket so we stock up with food and drink. Germany are out of the World Cup, shame, so the Lidl is selling off World Cup branded beer cheap.
An hour later, having driven through the very picturesque German schwarzwald, we arrive at the charming town of Todtnau and find the ‘stellplatz’ which is already occupied by a couple of Spanish vans. It’s very nice, surrounded by trees. It does have the main road behind us but it’s not too bad. Once settled in we set off for a walk. Hayley is very happy to be in a new place after her unscheduled extra day in Basel, and she is back in the countryside.
This is a skiing town. It’s very pretty with a large two-spire church dominating the charming town square.
We are going to take a walk to a nearby waterfall that is popular with visitors. On the way we get distracted by a shiny metal track weaving down a hill, it looks very odd and we can’t figure out quite what it is. As we get closer we soon discover that it’s an alpine toboggan track! A massive 3km toboggan, and to get to it there is a chairlift. This we have to try.
For a very reasonable 10 euros you can take the chairlift up with the amazing views of the surrounding hills and the town of Todtnau getting smaller behind you, very small though, the lift goes high and a long way.
The return back down the hill is on the toboggan. Bargain. It’s fast, very fast. Hayley is off and away and has to stop on occasion as she is catching up with people ahead of her. She’s quick.
We really enjoyed the Hasenhorn Toboggan Run. Brilliant and such great value.
We carry on with our walk to the waterfall, 2km.
It’s very impressive but the walk has worn us out so when we finally get back to Jess we crack open a cold beer and paddle in the cold water pool which has been installed by the council where we are parked for walkers looking to cool off their feet.
Thursday 5th July 2018 Todtnau. Day 2
The rain is hammering down hard on the van this morning. Finally it eases off so we make our way in to the town for breakfast which was delicious. A good German breakfast of bread, cheese and cold cuts of meat with coffee. Excellent. The rain is about to start again so we head back to the van. It’s supposed to ease off later so we just stay in doors until then.
At 2 pm the rain finally stopped so we set off for the toboggan run again. It didn’t fail to impress again. It was strange going up in the chair lift today, it’s still cloudy so it feels odd to be going up and entering the clouds when it is suddenly misty and quiet.
No time wasted and soon we are bombing down the hill on the toboggan run, out of the clouds and into a partly sunny day.
We find a supermarket, a Penny. Similar to an Aldi, so we pop in and buy a few essentials. Back to the van to get the boots on and go off for a hike. Hayley is still a bit achy from yesterday but we manage a small walk which is good. It’s still cloudy but back home we manage a small beer outside just in time for dinner. We like it here in Todtnau. Shame we are moving on tomorrow.
Friday 6th July 2018 Todtnau to Lahr 55 miles
We wake up to heavy rain again this morning. Seems to be the thing here, rain. We need some good weather, the rain on the roof can send you a bit mad after a while. We have a good hearty breakfast, service jess with fresh water, change the toilet and drop the grey water. It’s been a great stay here, very enjoyable. Toboggans, waterfalls, quaint little towns and good walks. What more could you ask for. We were going to a campsite, but the weather is not great so it might be better to just find an aire. They do have them in Germany but unlike France, they charge a small fee for them.
After 2 hours we arrive at the town of Lahr. It costs 6 euros for a spot which is well maintained, hard standing and very clean. It’s already busy so we are lucky to get a space.
It’s a bit like a car park for vans but it is very nice. Finally better weather, it’s hot so we get the bikes down and set off for a bike ride.
We do the 7km ride to the nearest town called Seelbach, a very pretty town. We find a local bakery or konditorei for coffee and cake (cafe und kuchen), well when in Rome. Black forest gateau is the local cake. Not Hayley’s favourite.
The skies are filling again with clouds, dark clouds. We pre-empt the coming rain and get back in the van just in time for it to pour down with rain with the odd rumble of thunder.
The couple opposite us have popped their swimwear on and are having a free shower in the rain! Well, why not?
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