Two Go Back in Time
- Thread starter DBK
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We are now parked beside the Meuse river at Givet.
Very close as you can see.
The narrow strip isn't a path, it is I think the base for flood defences. It has lots of holes in it filled with plastic bungs. Hopefully it won't be required while we are here.
Givet is at the north end of the Meuse valley, which is part of France jutting into Belgium, which surrounds it on three sides.
Why this French salient exists I haven't discovered but Givet is dominated by the Fortress of Charlemont which is still occupied by the French Army. It was occupied by US forces for a while in WW2.
We arrived here before midday after a short drive from Rocroi so we splashed out and went for lunch. The restaurant I had picked from Tripadvisor hadn't been told of our approach and had taken a week off starting today! But this being a French town there were other options and we chose "On dirait le sud" or "It looks like the south" and the menu had a southern influence but not Provence, more Morocco. We both chose slightly different lamb dishes with couscous.
The lamb was slightly pink and very tasty but the vegetables, which came in a sort of soup added loads of flavour. Tonight's supper will be something light!
As I haven't really planned far enough ahead for this trip we are in the wrong place here for where I want to go next. So we will have to head north west into Belgium tomorrow and then, after a visit somewhere, turn around and backtrack most of the day's driving! But it will be an adventure and for tomorrow only Charlie is going to re-named Snowy.
Very close as you can see.
The narrow strip isn't a path, it is I think the base for flood defences. It has lots of holes in it filled with plastic bungs. Hopefully it won't be required while we are here. Givet is at the north end of the Meuse valley, which is part of France jutting into Belgium, which surrounds it on three sides.
Why this French salient exists I haven't discovered but Givet is dominated by the Fortress of Charlemont which is still occupied by the French Army. It was occupied by US forces for a while in WW2.
We arrived here before midday after a short drive from Rocroi so we splashed out and went for lunch. The restaurant I had picked from Tripadvisor hadn't been told of our approach and had taken a week off starting today! But this being a French town there were other options and we chose "On dirait le sud" or "It looks like the south" and the menu had a southern influence but not Provence, more Morocco. We both chose slightly different lamb dishes with couscous.
The lamb was slightly pink and very tasty but the vegetables, which came in a sort of soup added loads of flavour. Tonight's supper will be something light!
As I haven't really planned far enough ahead for this trip we are in the wrong place here for where I want to go next. So we will have to head north west into Belgium tomorrow and then, after a visit somewhere, turn around and backtrack most of the day's driving! But it will be an adventure and for tomorrow only Charlie is going to re-named Snowy.
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DBK
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The castle and parts of the town are lit up at night. I took this when it was dark.
The only problem is the castle seems to floating in the air. I think this shot, taken when there was a bit light, is slightly better.
The only problem is the castle seems to floating in the air.
I think this shot, taken when there was a bit light, is slightly better. 
I don't know which way your heading tomorrow but whatever you do don't get on the N97 that runs E-W just south of Dinant,roughest road we've ever been on,and there are quite a few in Belgium,apart from the road from Eupen into Germany N67 called 'the road to hell' for good reason,although I think they have started to rebuild it 
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DBK
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Thanks for that - I'll double check on the map!I don't know which way your heading tomorrow but whatever you do don't get on the N97 that runs E-W just south of Dinant,roughest road we've ever been on,and there are quite a few in Belgium,apart from the road from Eupen into Germany N67 called 'the road to hell' for good reason,although I think they have started to rebuild it
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DBK
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Entering into the spirit of today a glance at our tracks might suggest we were trying to throw off pursuers!
But no, the swerve up to near Brussels wasn't to outwit enemy agents but to visit this place.
This is the Musée Hergé, dedicated to the work of Georges Remi the Belgian creator of the Tintin stories. The stories were published under the name Hergé, which is derived from Remi's initials spelt backwards, R G, which when pronounced in "Belgian" sounds like Hergé.
Sadly, the image above isn't mine* as we approached from the other side, it was raining at the time and I forgot to take a photograph of the building from the front.
Inside (my photos from now on) it is all wierd angles.
The standard entry charge is €9.50 but the lady on the till very gently suggested there was a discount for "seniors".
You get an audio guide which takes you through the various rooms and exhibits but my only criticism of the museum is it was very easy to get lost as there were virtually no guides such as arrows to point you where to go next. This may of course be deliberate as there are more exhibits than the audio guide covers and you tend to stumble into these while trying to work out where to go next.
The first room you enter is predictably centered around the author's life.
Most of the rest of the museum is about how the stories were produced. Here a first draft.
Then some of the early artwork.
Hergé was a stickler for accuracy and the cars, aircraft and ships in the stories are always based on examples from real life. Where this wasn't possible, such as a rocket to the moon (1954) he had models made so the internal drawings were consistent.
In The Secret of the Unicorn Tintin discovers a riddle based around models of a ship sailed by one of Captain Haddock's ancestors.
And here is the ship.
It was a bit of a flog to get there on Belgian roads and if we had planned this trip better we could have done it in less miles but it is still a place worth visiting even for those who aren't Tintinologists. Parking is limited at the museum but can be found in the surroundings.
*Tintin and the Stolen Photograph will be published in 2019.
But no, the swerve up to near Brussels wasn't to outwit enemy agents but to visit this place.
This is the Musée Hergé, dedicated to the work of Georges Remi the Belgian creator of the Tintin stories. The stories were published under the name Hergé, which is derived from Remi's initials spelt backwards, R G, which when pronounced in "Belgian" sounds like Hergé.
Sadly, the image above isn't mine* as we approached from the other side, it was raining at the time and I forgot to take a photograph of the building from the front.
Inside (my photos from now on) it is all wierd angles.
The standard entry charge is €9.50 but the lady on the till very gently suggested there was a discount for "seniors".
You get an audio guide which takes you through the various rooms and exhibits but my only criticism of the museum is it was very easy to get lost as there were virtually no guides such as arrows to point you where to go next. This may of course be deliberate as there are more exhibits than the audio guide covers and you tend to stumble into these while trying to work out where to go next.
The first room you enter is predictably centered around the author's life.
Most of the rest of the museum is about how the stories were produced. Here a first draft.
Then some of the early artwork.
Hergé was a stickler for accuracy and the cars, aircraft and ships in the stories are always based on examples from real life. Where this wasn't possible, such as a rocket to the moon (1954) he had models made so the internal drawings were consistent.
In The Secret of the Unicorn Tintin discovers a riddle based around models of a ship sailed by one of Captain Haddock's ancestors.
And here is the ship.
It was a bit of a flog to get there on Belgian roads and if we had planned this trip better we could have done it in less miles but it is still a place worth visiting even for those who aren't Tintinologists.
Parking is limited at the museum but can be found in the surroundings.*Tintin and the Stolen Photograph will be published in 2019.
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DBK
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We are staying two nights at the aire in Han sur Lesse (CC252) as today we wanted to visit the caves here.
The entrance to the caves is about two kilometres from the village and to reach them you board an old tram, which is one of the few surviving sections of a metre gauge tram system which once covered the whole of Belgium.
At the entrance to the cave we were divided into two lines, French and Flemish speakers and for devilment we joined the Flemish one.
It took us well over an hour to walk through the caves, stopping every now and again to listen to what, from the reaction of the others, were interesting and amusing stories from our guide. Our Dutch being less than non-existent whatever was said went way over our heads.
The guide wore a peaked cap like a genderme and you may be able to see him in the distance in the photo above, he is third from the left.
I took lots of pictures (and was told off for resting my camera on a staligmite) but here is just one. If you've been in a limestone cave you will know what to expect.
The cave ends on the edge of the village.
A visit here isn't cheap, €18 each even with a wrinklies discount and we thought the caves could be better lit and the sound and light show they put on in one of the larger caverns is a bit disappointing. But on a day when it has rained more or less continuously it was a pleasant diversion. At least in the caves we only got wet occasionally from drop of water falling from the roof.
The aire here is very good with electric points for everyone. The only thing missing are large dustbins. Someone may having been try to drop a hint about this ommission with this sculpture made out of rubbish.
Tomorrow we enter Luxembourg!
The entrance to the caves is about two kilometres from the village and to reach them you board an old tram, which is one of the few surviving sections of a metre gauge tram system which once covered the whole of Belgium.
At the entrance to the cave we were divided into two lines, French and Flemish speakers and for devilment we joined the Flemish one.
It took us well over an hour to walk through the caves, stopping every now and again to listen to what, from the reaction of the others, were interesting and amusing stories from our guide. Our Dutch being less than non-existent whatever was said went way over our heads.
The guide wore a peaked cap like a genderme and you may be able to see him in the distance in the photo above, he is third from the left.
I took lots of pictures (and was told off for resting my camera on a staligmite
) but here is just one. If you've been in a limestone cave you will know what to expect.The cave ends on the edge of the village.
A visit here isn't cheap, €18 each even with a wrinklies discount and we thought the caves could be better lit and the sound and light show they put on in one of the larger caverns is a bit disappointing. But on a day when it has rained more or less continuously it was a pleasant diversion. At least in the caves we only got wet occasionally from drop of water falling from the roof.
The aire here is very good with electric points for everyone. The only thing missing are large dustbins. Someone may having been try to drop a hint about this ommission with this sculpture made out of rubbish.
Tomorrow we enter Luxembourg!
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DBK
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We had just the same in Germany,violent storm,half an hour later the fire brigade turned up to check everyone was ok. You can imagine that happening over here....not.
We had a short duration storm this afternoon with some very strong gusts of wind which had the van rocking from side to side.
The local fire brigade are out now clearing broken branches and in this case a fallen tree.
View attachment 257464
And I met another Funster today, @Wagoneer who has left now for Luxembourg.
Thanks for the mention @DBK . Good to meet up with you and your good lady. We had a white-knuckle ride to Luxembourg with really servere driving conditions. We just about managed to swerve around a fallen tree which had blocked the slow lane of the dual carriageway. Good job there wasn't too much traffic about
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Thanks for the mention @DBK . Good to meet up with you and your good lady. We had a white-knuckle ride to Luxembourg with really servere driving conditions. We just about managed to swerve around a fallen tree which had blocked the slow lane of the dual carriageway. Good job there wasn't too much traffic about
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DBK
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We are staying two nights in Luxembourg at Camping de la Sûre in Reisdorf at an ACSI site as it was time for the weekly laundry session.
On the way here we passed lots of references and memorials to WW2 and I'm kicking myself (again) for not doing enough research as nothing rang any bells. It was only after we arrived here did I realise we had driven through the region which had seen the German counter-attack against the Allies known as the Ardennes Offensive or in a more Hollywood style, the Battle of the Bulge.
In the map below we passed through Dinant (on the left of the map) and Bastogne (in the middle, where we got lost when I decided not to believe what the satnav was telling me - but that's another story.
You will see a red line drawn around Bastogne because this is where the US forces were encircled and called upon to surrender. The US commander responded with one of the most famous of brief replies - "Nuts!". Gen Patton led the forces which rescued them. I don't think there is a lot to see on the ground now other than several memorials and museums but we probably should have diverted to see some of them.
But we set up instead on a pitch next to the river Sûre.
Mrs DBK is reading her book - not nursing a sore head.
There is a cycling/walking path right outside the camp which we walked along today.
We started the walk with a smile after seeing this sign.
Old railway tracks can be boring walking but this one gave us some nice views of the Sûre valley.
There are several geocaches along the line, most were fairly easy but one defeated us. One of the easy ones was inside a stump.
My score is now up to 98 caches, which is nothing compared to those with thousands but hopefully we will notch up the one hundredth this week.
We are off to Germany starting with Trier tomorrow, a bit of a touristy cliché perhaps but Trier is probably (whisper it) where I fell in love with Mrs DBK some 40 years ago.
We will genuinely be going back in time to re-visit Trier.
On the way here we passed lots of references and memorials to WW2 and I'm kicking myself (again) for not doing enough research as nothing rang any bells. It was only after we arrived here did I realise we had driven through the region which had seen the German counter-attack against the Allies known as the Ardennes Offensive or in a more Hollywood style, the Battle of the Bulge.
In the map below we passed through Dinant (on the left of the map) and Bastogne (in the middle, where we got lost when I decided not to believe what the satnav was telling me - but that's another story.
You will see a red line drawn around Bastogne because this is where the US forces were encircled and called upon to surrender. The US commander responded with one of the most famous of brief replies - "Nuts!".
Gen Patton led the forces which rescued them. I don't think there is a lot to see on the ground now other than several memorials and museums but we probably should have diverted to see some of them.But we set up instead on a pitch next to the river Sûre.
Mrs DBK is reading her book - not nursing a sore head.
There is a cycling/walking path right outside the camp which we walked along today.
We started the walk with a smile after seeing this sign.
Old railway tracks can be boring walking but this one gave us some nice views of the Sûre valley.
There are several geocaches along the line, most were fairly easy but one defeated us. One of the easy ones was inside a stump.
My score is now up to 98 caches, which is nothing compared to those with thousands but hopefully we will notch up the one hundredth this week.
We are off to Germany starting with Trier tomorrow, a bit of a touristy cliché perhaps but Trier is probably (whisper it) where I fell in love with Mrs DBK some 40 years ago.
We will genuinely be going back in time to re-visit Trier.
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Thats how we ended up at Eupen after crossing the Ardennes from Herbeaumont.A stop in La Roche en Ardenne is a must when you eventually go!
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DBK
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We drove to Trier today, filling up with fuel in Luxembourg before crossing the border into Germany.
I think Trier is a good place to start exploring the Mosel if travelling south to north but it isn't particularly special - unless you have a recently met Mrs DBK with you (see earlier post).
There are parks.
A traditional German town centre.
A few Roman bits, this the Porta Negra.
And the river of course, this bit an off-shoot where the boats moor up.
We walked nearly six miles this afternoon, here shown in light blue. Starting at the RV park at the bottom where there is a blue blob.
And anyone familiar with Google timelines will know we spent 26 minutes at the Treviris Grill over a beer.
And the astronomical highlight of the day was watching the ISS pass overhead this evening. It's the blurred white speck on the far right.
If I can get my act in gear some day I'll start a thread on how to observe it - and it is worth the waiting and effort. It is only 150 miles or so up and it moves fast!
I think Trier is a good place to start exploring the Mosel if travelling south to north but it isn't particularly special - unless you have a recently met Mrs DBK with you (see earlier post
).There are parks.
A traditional German town centre.
A few Roman bits, this the Porta Negra.
And the river of course, this bit an off-shoot where the boats moor up.
We walked nearly six miles this afternoon, here shown in light blue. Starting at the RV park at the bottom where there is a blue blob.
And anyone familiar with Google timelines will know we spent 26 minutes at the Treviris Grill over a beer.
And the astronomical highlight of the day was watching the ISS pass overhead this evening. It's the blurred white speck on the far right.
If I can get my act in gear some day I'll start a thread on how to observe it - and it is worth the waiting and effort. It is only 150 miles or so up and it moves fast!
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DBK
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We drove all of 15km down the Mosel today to CC3025, an aire on a vineyard hard against the river. It is a good spot but fairly remote.
I did a bit of geocaching today, picking up my...
...99th at a reconstructed Roman Villa.
In the late afternoon we walked on the path beside the river and found this:
The thing looking like a dark test tube hanging from the bracket was my 100th geocache.
Not very impressive I suppose, the next one we found, an artificial nest box I had to shin up a tree to reach would have been more fitting.
But the Mosel is a nice area to visit.
With lots of grapes which are now being harvested.
I did a bit of geocaching today, picking up my...
...99th at a reconstructed Roman Villa.
In the late afternoon we walked on the path beside the river and found this:
The thing looking like a dark test tube hanging from the bracket was my 100th geocache.
Not very impressive I suppose, the next one we found, an artificial nest box I had to shin up a tree to reach would have been more fitting.
But the Mosel is a nice area to visit.
With lots of grapes which are now being harvested.
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We stayed at CC3025 a few days ago. Recommend the wine sold in the office.
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DBK
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Thank you and yes it is good. I bought a couple of bottles last night. I like them too because they are fairly low in alcohol, typically 11%.
,
Perhaps a little late for this trip but this is a very good site for searching for War Graves.......
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.cwgc.org/
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DBK
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Thank you.
I did use that site when searching for my own surname. I think it came up with about 35 in total from both wars. I intend to do some reasearch into the family when I get back.
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DBK
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We moved on a couple of bends of the river today to the stellplatz at Trittenheim (CC956) which is a cracker but busy and no chance of EHU. This isn't a problem for us especially with the current wall to wall sunshine although even at midday the sun is quite low in the sky and it is cold in the shade.
We are parked on grass with river frontage.
The grape harvest is in full swing at the moment and it is being picked by hand on the steep slopes but where the ground is flat, such as around the stellplatz machines are sometimes used.
It collects the grapes in a tank on the side then tips them into a trailer.
If I understood the man with the correctly (and he understood me) The harvest is a good one this year as I believe it is in England too.
The other harvest being collected at the moment, though I think we have missed the best time is for walnuts. But the collectors are not the farmers but folk with Numbers, Pilotes etc! We have seen lockers stuffed with trays and sacks if walnuts. I think some of them are going from stellplatz to stellplatz foraging and gleaning for nuts!
We are parked on grass with river frontage.
The grape harvest is in full swing at the moment and it is being picked by hand on the steep slopes but where the ground is flat, such as around the stellplatz machines are sometimes used.
It collects the grapes in a tank on the side then tips them into a trailer.
If I understood the man with the correctly (and he understood me
) The harvest is a good one this year as I believe it is in England too.The other harvest being collected at the moment, though I think we have missed the best time is for walnuts. But the collectors are not the farmers but folk with Numbers, Pilotes etc!
We have seen lockers stuffed with trays and sacks if walnuts. I think some of them are going from stellplatz to stellplatz foraging and gleaning for nuts!Subscribers do not see these advertisements
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DBK
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We had lunch today at an Italian restaurant where we chose typically Germanic food and wine.
I should have ordered something like pasta but we are on a "going back in time" trip and this is the sort of food we remember from our time in Germany.
I should have ordered something like pasta but we are on a "going back in time" trip and this is the sort of food we remember from our time in Germany.
I read an article today that grape growing this year has been the best and they predict a vintage champagne year...
I love grapes and they are plentiful in the shops and very cheep now..
I love grapes and they are plentiful in the shops and very cheep now..
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DBK
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Just returned to the van after standing outside in the cold waiting for the ISS to pass overhead, which it did and I even managed to photograph it, which I've posted on the ISS thread. It was high in the sky which makes it difficult to take a shot with any sort of foreground, ideally a MH - but I'll try again tomorrow night.
It was high in the sky which makes it difficult to take a shot with any sort of foreground, ideally a MH - but I'll try again tomorrow night.
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DBK
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I've just noticed in a post above I mentioned "folk with Numbers.." Predictive text struck again! It was meant to read "folk with Hymers.." I've nothing against Hymers, I used them as an example although I can't help remembering in the canine world a "numbers" dog is one of the pack or part of the "chorus" to use a human analogy .
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DBK
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Being a Sunday we took things easy with a gentle walk through the vineyards. There were a lot of grapes, backing up the idea this is a bumper vintage.
Which in the area we were walking seemed to be divided up into relatively small individual plots, some of which were being picked by hand, in contrast to what I had seen yesterday.
We will find a campsite for tomorrow, Monday being laundry day. But this isn't a bad place.
I managed to get a shot off the ISS going overhead tonight. After a few more years practice I'll get it right.
Which in the area we were walking seemed to be divided up into relatively small individual plots, some of which were being picked by hand, in contrast to what I had seen yesterday.
We will find a campsite for tomorrow, Monday being laundry day.
But this isn't a bad place.I managed to get a shot off the ISS going overhead tonight. After a few more years practice I'll get it right.
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DBK
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We have stayed a couple of chilly and damp days at Bernkastel at the expensive Knauss Campingpark (CC 65159). We came here to do the weekly laundry which wasn't as straightforward as it should have been. After booking in at reception, which took ages, we asked if we needed a token for the washing machine. No, was the answer, the machine took coins but only 50 cent ones and you needed seven to make €3.50. OK we said have you got any 50 cent coins? Not enough was the answer, so after parking on the pitch muggins sets off to walk to the nearest bank and buy some coins which although this took me an hour there and back I did learn a new word; the German for a paper-wrapped roll of €20 worth of 50 cent coins is a "rollen". So it wasn't a wasted trip.
After our Monday Washday we ambled into Bernkastel today, elbowing our way through the crowds who come to look at the quaint houses.
Sadly, despite doing my research yesterday I forgot today to seek out the Spitzhäuschen which is a 15C building of weird proportions and probably the most famous building in the town. So I can only show you a record of previous floods.
The cigarettes must get regularly soggy in the machine. The highest mark from 28th February, 1784, includes the words "mit eisgang" or "with ice flow" which must have been unpleasant.
We are going to do some driving tomorrow, going down the Mosel almost to Koblenz then cross over to the Rhine and drive upstream for a while. We don't have a final destination set but we will just see how things go. The aim is to drive the "Deutsche Weinstrasse" in a day or so.
After our Monday Washday we ambled into Bernkastel today, elbowing our way through the crowds who come to look at the quaint houses.
Sadly, despite doing my research yesterday I forgot today to seek out the Spitzhäuschen which is a 15C building of weird proportions and probably the most famous building in the town. So I can only show you a record of previous floods.
The cigarettes must get regularly soggy in the machine. The highest mark from 28th February, 1784, includes the words "mit eisgang" or "with ice flow" which must have been unpleasant.
We are going to do some driving tomorrow, going down the Mosel almost to Koblenz then cross over to the Rhine and drive upstream for a while. We don't have a final destination set but we will just see how things go. The aim is to drive the "Deutsche Weinstrasse" in a day or so.
hilldweller
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DBK
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I think that's about where we might finish tomorrow. Thank you!
We were at the site at Bernkastel last month
They have spruced up the place but the price is a lot more than it used to be
The new showers were good but whoever designed the cubicles needs shot
The grumpy guy that used to be on reception has also been replaced
Bacharach on the Rhine is worth a stop some nice walks up behind the village and great views from one of the towers
More noise from the railways on the Rhine though
They have spruced up the place but the price is a lot more than it used to be
The new showers were good but whoever designed the cubicles needs shot
The grumpy guy that used to be on reception has also been replaced
Bacharach on the Rhine is worth a stop some nice walks up behind the village and great views from one of the towers
More noise from the railways on the Rhine though
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DBK
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Bacharach is on the radar and we want to see the nearby castle on the island in the river - at a place I can't spell without looking it up.We were at the site at Bernkastel last month
They have spruced up the place but the price is a lot more than it used to be
The new showers were good but whoever designed the cubicles needs shot
The grumpy guy that used to be on reception has also been replaced
Bacharach on the Rhine is worth a stop some nice walks up behind the village and great views from one of the towers
More noise from the railways on the Rhine though
Pfalzgopoppins or something like that. 
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