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Looking forward to news from you and Charlie.
Two Go For Cheese
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DBK
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For some reason neither of us slept well in the cabin last night. I'm not sure why, it was clean, smelt fresh and wasn't too hot but sleep was intermittent and the sea very calm.
But we were the seventh vehicle off the ferry courtesy of being parked very close to the ramp and after a short drive to the MH parking area in the port we were soon drinking tea and enjoying a light breakfast.
We then drove to the Super U at Cléder to stock up on a few essentials before driving on to the nearby CCP aire on the coast. We have quite a way to drive to get to the eastern side of France but today was always planned to be spent relaxing to get us into the "no need to rush" mindframe.
Being fairly useless at sitting still we relaxed by doing a couple of walks. The walking here is pleasant but there are really only two choices: left out of the aire heading west or east along the coastal path in the opposite direction. We did them both.
I've just posted this photo on Twitter as there is a user there who posts images of favourite benches. @MyFaveBench. I must confess I've Photoshopped it a bit to remove the worst of the gull poo.
Not expecting anything in the flower department at this time of year I haven't brought any flower books with me but I don't need a book to identify this fern growing in amongst the rocks - Sea Spleenwort. It was growing some distance above the sea but is more usually found growing much closer, in what is known as the splash zone where it can be exposed to salt spray. But I guess in a winter storm the splash zone extends quite far inland on this coast.
There was a mixed flock of wading birds on the coast. I'm useless on waders but most were Sanderling I think as they were dashing about on legs moving too fast to see, which is one of their characteristics. They are sometimes described as looking as if they are powered by clockwork.
On our afternoon walk we headed east along a bit of coast where rocks predominate. There are Spring tides at the moment and a little after midday the sea was a very long way out.
Brittany is a place of mystery, a bit like Cornwall. Is this path built for hobbits?
We saw signs of the drought. This field should be full of globe artichokes but many have died.
These might be cabbages or cauliflowers but haven't set any sort of heart. The amount of weeds suggest the farmer has given up on them.
But we haven't forgotten the cheeses. Here's a taster. We bought some Morbier but there was also Cantal, Beaufort and Abondance. We will get round to those soon.
There are cheeses made here in Brittany but mostly, apart from the industrial stuff, it is made by Trappist monks and might take some finding.
We are off east tomorrow and the adventure proper will begin.
But we were the seventh vehicle off the ferry courtesy of being parked very close to the ramp and after a short drive to the MH parking area in the port we were soon drinking tea and enjoying a light breakfast.
We then drove to the Super U at Cléder to stock up on a few essentials before driving on to the nearby CCP aire on the coast. We have quite a way to drive to get to the eastern side of France but today was always planned to be spent relaxing to get us into the "no need to rush" mindframe.
Being fairly useless at sitting still we relaxed by doing a couple of walks. The walking here is pleasant but there are really only two choices: left out of the aire heading west or east along the coastal path in the opposite direction. We did them both.
I've just posted this photo on Twitter as there is a user there who posts images of favourite benches. @MyFaveBench. I must confess I've Photoshopped it a bit to remove the worst of the gull poo.
Not expecting anything in the flower department at this time of year I haven't brought any flower books with me but I don't need a book to identify this fern growing in amongst the rocks - Sea Spleenwort. It was growing some distance above the sea but is more usually found growing much closer, in what is known as the splash zone where it can be exposed to salt spray. But I guess in a winter storm the splash zone extends quite far inland on this coast.
There was a mixed flock of wading birds on the coast. I'm useless on waders but most were Sanderling I think as they were dashing about on legs moving too fast to see, which is one of their characteristics. They are sometimes described as looking as if they are powered by clockwork.
On our afternoon walk we headed east along a bit of coast where rocks predominate. There are Spring tides at the moment and a little after midday the sea was a very long way out.
Brittany is a place of mystery, a bit like Cornwall. Is this path built for hobbits?
We saw signs of the drought. This field should be full of globe artichokes but many have died.
These might be cabbages or cauliflowers but haven't set any sort of heart. The amount of weeds suggest the farmer has given up on them.
But we haven't forgotten the cheeses. Here's a taster. We bought some Morbier but there was also Cantal, Beaufort and Abondance. We will get round to those soon.
There are cheeses made here in Brittany but mostly, apart from the industrial stuff, it is made by Trappist monks and might take some finding.
We are off east tomorrow and the adventure proper will begin.
C
Chockswahay
Deleted User
Hope there wasn’t too much of one of those on the shelf……….. otherwise…..
Abondance in Abundance!
(sorry, couldn’t help myself
Abondance in Abundance!
(sorry, couldn’t help myself
C
Chockswahay
Deleted User
Actually……. is the Beaufort cheese light to moderate or fresh to strong? coz personally I Cantal the difference 
Mousy
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Mmmmmm. This thread has got my name all over it!
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MichaelT
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Travelled through France it looked like all the sweetcorn had been abandoned as they were all dead and brown, even the sunflowers looked poorly.
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DBK
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I returned to the beach this morning with my binoculars to have another look at the waders. I managed to identify the most numerous as Dunlin, pictured below with a couple of black-headed gulls. There were also I think a few Knot, a lone Turnstone and what might have been a Kentish plover. More experienced birders would have recognised them all immediately!
A longish drive this morning has brought us to Le Pertre, a small town between Rennes and Le Mans, shown as a blue blob in the middle of the map below.
For lunch we warmed up some ciabatta rolls and ate them with ham, tomato and cheese. I tried the Morbier we bought yesterday. It was reasonable but a bit "sweaty" - it came shrunk wrapped in plastic and tasted like it had.
We are staying at what I'm sure is a former municipal campsite close to the town centre. Now run by CCP (of course!) it is a pleasant place to stop for a night. Just outside the entrance is a small lake.
What might look like a whale is a fountain!
The spire of the church is impressive and built like those you find in Brittany - slender and light but with the extra touch of a cockerel on the very top.
An old 'phone booth had become a library.
We had thunder and steady rain for a couple of hours late this afternoon which scuppered our planned trip into the town centre. We may visit tomorrow before we leave. But the temperature is still in the low 20s and very pleasant it is too.
A longish drive this morning has brought us to Le Pertre, a small town between Rennes and Le Mans, shown as a blue blob in the middle of the map below.
For lunch we warmed up some ciabatta rolls and ate them with ham, tomato and cheese. I tried the Morbier we bought yesterday. It was reasonable but a bit "sweaty" - it came shrunk wrapped in plastic and tasted like it had.
We are staying at what I'm sure is a former municipal campsite close to the town centre. Now run by CCP (of course!) it is a pleasant place to stop for a night. Just outside the entrance is a small lake.
What might look like a whale is a fountain!
The spire of the church is impressive and built like those you find in Brittany - slender and light but with the extra touch of a cockerel on the very top.
An old 'phone booth had become a library.
We had thunder and steady rain for a couple of hours late this afternoon which scuppered our planned trip into the town centre. We may visit tomorrow before we leave. But the temperature is still in the low 20s and very pleasant it is too.
OP
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DBK
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A shorter drive today, letting the tag take most of the strain on the A11 brought us to the smallish town of Chateaudun, near the bottom of this map, in the middle and marked by the blue blob.
You will have heard of houses called Dunroaming so I wonder if Chateaudun means Dun-chateau-ing in French?
There are two options to stay here, a free aire under the château which has water for €2 or the CCP ex-Municipal about a kilometre away. We chose the latter as the shade and grass on our pitch...
... was preferable in the 29°C heat this afternoon to the free aire. The advantage of the free aire of course is it is a lot easier to visit the town and château, which I did from the CCP site but not until it had cooled off.
The town has an historic quarter, which is easy to find as there are signs pointing towards it. But first you have to cross the Loir river over which the château looms.
Town laundry on the right and Loir is not a spelling mistake, this is the Loir not the Loire though both I think are pronounced virtually the same.
It is then a steep climb up to the town centre and your first encounter with the old houses.
Following the signs for the historic part brings you to here.
There are two plaques on the wall of the corner house.
And this the main street.
And the 16th century front door of number 12 with the faces to scare away evil spirits.
The château is hard to view from the level of the town as it is surrounded by a high wall but you can view it through its gates, which were closed when I visited.
There is an exhibition on with the title "Winning the Hundred Years' War" and if things work out we will visit it tomorrow morning.
This is the man who started building the château. He was a major military leader during the Hundred Years' War and had a major role in defeating the English.
Disappointingly, I suspect my Dunroaming explanation for the name of the château may be wrong. It was probably originally named Château Dunois and over the centuries the "ois" has fallen away. Another snake on life's game of snakes and ladders.
You will have heard of houses called Dunroaming so I wonder if Chateaudun means Dun-chateau-ing in French?
There are two options to stay here, a free aire under the château which has water for €2 or the CCP ex-Municipal about a kilometre away. We chose the latter as the shade and grass on our pitch...
... was preferable in the 29°C heat this afternoon to the free aire. The advantage of the free aire of course is it is a lot easier to visit the town and château, which I did from the CCP site but not until it had cooled off.
The town has an historic quarter, which is easy to find as there are signs pointing towards it. But first you have to cross the Loir river over which the château looms.
Town laundry on the right and Loir is not a spelling mistake, this is the Loir not the Loire though both I think are pronounced virtually the same.
It is then a steep climb up to the town centre and your first encounter with the old houses.
Following the signs for the historic part brings you to here.
There are two plaques on the wall of the corner house.
And this the main street.
And the 16th century front door of number 12 with the faces to scare away evil spirits.
The château is hard to view from the level of the town as it is surrounded by a high wall but you can view it through its gates, which were closed when I visited.
There is an exhibition on with the title "Winning the Hundred Years' War" and if things work out we will visit it tomorrow morning.
This is the man who started building the château. He was a major military leader during the Hundred Years' War and had a major role in defeating the English.
Disappointingly, I suspect my Dunroaming explanation for the name of the château may be wrong. It was probably originally named Château Dunois and over the centuries the "ois" has fallen away. Another snake on life's game of snakes and ladders.
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DBK
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Just another hop today so not much to report. We had heavy rain and thunder last night and it wasn't much better when we woke up this morning. In a brief spell when it wasn't raining I took Charlie to visit the mill next to the site.
Nearby was this sign which showed I was on a route towards Compestella de Santiago - if we had the time.
I can't work out the French in the last sentence but I think it means here in Chateaudun is one of the seven chapels dedicated to Joan of Arc in France. Or is it one of seven chapels dedicated to female saints?
The rain was heavy so the proposed visit to the exhibition in the château was scrubbed.
After a shopping visit we set off east again eventually stopping at the CCP aire in Souppes sur Loing.
The weather changed dramatically in the afternoon and we could get out for a walk.
The town/village of Souppes sur Loing is attractive.
Nearby, hops growing in a hedge.
There's a geocache on this bridge. There are photos showing folk dangling off ropes looking for it.
Not for me. Extreme geocaching!
But there was another French bench!
And not one but two of these were trundling across the track. Roman snails, Helix pomatia, which I thought were protected but a quick search suggests that at least for private consumption they are not. They are big - two would almost have made a meal.
Talking of round things, here's a puzzle. What's the connection between Babybel and Vache qui rit ? Other than both containing cheese of course.. Answer tomorrow.
Nearby was this sign which showed I was on a route towards Compestella de Santiago - if we had the time.
I can't work out the French in the last sentence but I think it means here in Chateaudun is one of the seven chapels dedicated to Joan of Arc in France. Or is it one of seven chapels dedicated to female saints?
The rain was heavy so the proposed visit to the exhibition in the château was scrubbed.
After a shopping visit we set off east again eventually stopping at the CCP aire in Souppes sur Loing.
The weather changed dramatically in the afternoon and we could get out for a walk.
The town/village of Souppes sur Loing is attractive.
Nearby, hops growing in a hedge.
There's a geocache on this bridge. There are photos showing folk dangling off ropes looking for it.
Not for me.
Extreme geocaching!But there was another French bench!
And not one but two of these were trundling across the track. Roman snails, Helix pomatia, which I thought were protected but a quick search suggests that at least for private consumption they are not. They are big - two would almost have made a meal.
Talking of round things, here's a puzzle. What's the connection between Babybel and Vache qui rit ? Other than both containing cheese of course.
. Answer tomorrow.
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The final paragraph of the sign ' The Château of Châteaudun has a Holy Chapel, founded in 1451 by Jean de Dunoon, bastard of Orleans, brother in arms of Joan of Arc. It is one of seven Holy Chapels existing in France.' 
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It's still the last sentence which puzzles my limited French. Are there only seven Holy chapels in France? I think there must be a link to Joan of Arc?The final paragraph of the sign ' The Château of Châteaudun has a Holy Chapel, founded in 1451 by Jean de Dunoon, bastard of Orleans, brother in arms of Joan of Arc. It is one of seven Holy Chapels existing in France.'
!
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Sorry, there was a typo (autocorrect) in my above post. It should read 'Jean de Dunois' and not Dunoon. It Is he, as her brother in arms, who provides the link to Joan of Arc. I'm not particularly religious and don't know what 'Sainte Chappelle' (Holy Chapel) actually is
. The Sainte-Chappelle in Paris appears to be the famous one and Google tells me it was built to house holy relics, including the crown of thorns
Maybe someone with a knowledge of the Catholic Church would be able to help.
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DBK
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Thank you, your reply prompted me to have another look. Apparently there were originally 10 sainte chapelles but only 7 remain including the one at Chateaudun. They were all built by kings or princes as a sort of personal chapel for where they were living at the time.Sorry, there was a typo (autocorrect) in my above post. It should read 'Jean de Dunois' and not Dunoon. It Is he, as her brother in arms, who provides the link to Joan of Arc. I'm not particularly religious and don't know what 'Sainte Chappelle' (Holy Chapel) actually is
The Sainte-Chappelle in Paris appears to be the famous one and Google tells me it was built to house holy relics, including the crown of thorns
Maybe someone with a knowledge of the Catholic Church would be able to help.
This gives more background. Its in French but my tablet conveniently translates it. I'm annoyed now the weather put us off visiting.
Saintes chapelles — Wikipédia
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We are almost there, just another hop east on Monday and we will reach a point not far from the French border with Germany, which will be as far as we are going before turning south.
We are now in the Vosges department a little south west of Vittel in an aire at Contrexéville, which is a spa town. Nestlé have a large factory here where the water is bottled and sold under the name Contrex which I can't remember ever seeing. But it isn't water you would add to your whiskey, it has a very high mineral content.
This afternoon I walked into the park set around the source of the waters. There is a sort of fountain in a building with water gushing out of taps fashioned as griffons.
From this angle what the two nymphs are up two may look slightly weird. But from the other side you can see they are pouring an amphora.
The sign warns you not to drink directly from the griffons or use your hands - but you can fill 3 bottles if you want. I didn't!
I stayed in the pavilion while a very heavy shower past through. This is the casino through the rain.
When it stopped I went searching for a geocache which was to be found near this pair of benches getting frisky!
I found the geocache after a short search and dropped off a travel bug I had found in the UK. The cache was only created a few weeks ago and I was the 7th person to find it. I don't do a lot of geocaching compared to some. My total tally of cachés found is just 356. One of the people who had previously found this cache is currently on 47,836!
We haven't really got going on the cheese front yet. For lunch I finished off the Morbier which seems to have improved since I opened it. The second cheese was anything but local and a bit bland but tasty enough.
There are one or two cheese shops where we are heading next so things should improve.
And the answer to yesterday's quiz about the connection between Vache qui rit and Babybel is both are products of what is now called Groupe Bel. The company was founded in 1865 by Jules Bel and in 1921 Vache qui rit was trademarked by Léon Bel. Babybel is the newcomer arriving as a full sized cheese in 1952 but the very popular miniture version was launched in 1977.
We are now in the Vosges department a little south west of Vittel in an aire at Contrexéville, which is a spa town. Nestlé have a large factory here where the water is bottled and sold under the name Contrex which I can't remember ever seeing. But it isn't water you would add to your whiskey, it has a very high mineral content.
This afternoon I walked into the park set around the source of the waters. There is a sort of fountain in a building with water gushing out of taps fashioned as griffons.
From this angle what the two nymphs are up two may look slightly weird. But from the other side you can see they are pouring an amphora.
The sign warns you not to drink directly from the griffons or use your hands - but you can fill 3 bottles if you want. I didn't!
I stayed in the pavilion while a very heavy shower past through. This is the casino through the rain.
When it stopped I went searching for a geocache which was to be found near this pair of benches getting frisky!
I found the geocache after a short search and dropped off a travel bug I had found in the UK. The cache was only created a few weeks ago and I was the 7th person to find it. I don't do a lot of geocaching compared to some. My total tally of cachés found is just 356. One of the people who had previously found this cache is currently on 47,836!
We haven't really got going on the cheese front yet. For lunch I finished off the Morbier which seems to have improved since I opened it. The second cheese was anything but local and a bit bland but tasty enough.
There are one or two cheese shops where we are heading next so things should improve.
And the answer to yesterday's quiz about the connection between Vache qui rit and Babybel is both are products of what is now called Groupe Bel. The company was founded in 1865 by Jules Bel and in 1921 Vache qui rit was trademarked by Léon Bel. Babybel is the newcomer arriving as a full sized cheese in 1952 but the very popular miniture version was launched in 1977.
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Close to Le Man's is Loué - home of the famous chickens. They are rather good, though can be a bit pricey. Well worth researching and hunting down if you're in the area... https://www.france-voyage.com/gastr...ué poultry,guarantees of high-quality produce.
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DBK
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That's a new one for me. Poulet de Bresse I knew about but the free range chickens of Loué I haven't heard about. Too late to turn around now but perhaps on another trip.
I am always interested in your travels and your ability to write in such a articulate way and in such detail.
I look forward to your next installment
Bill
I look forward to your next installment
Bill
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A cheese and bench tour. I’m enjoying this. 🛋
🛋
James-Alex
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Looks like some lovely places to search out.The cheese book I have lists lots of tommes.
Unlike the well known pair made from plasticine we have deliberately not brought any crackers with us. We will be eating our cheese French style.
What is the name of the cheese book you have? Would be interested to buy one
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DBK
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It's the Dorling Kingsley (DK Eyewitness) one shown below. It's isn't massively comprehensive but is at least an introduction to the subject.Looks like some lovely places to search out.
What is the name of the cheese book you have? Would be interested to buy one
Fantastic picture! If/when you get to Jura, you must try the Comte of which the area is renown. To me it always tasted far better there than back in the UK.
I could never decide if it was the surroundings there that influenced my taste buds or they kept the best for themselves?
I could never decide if it was the surroundings there that influenced my taste buds or they kept the best for themselves?
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I agree I was being a bit harsh, you would have seriously clogged arteries if you tried them all listed in the book! But I did look up cheeses of the Vosges where I am now and it doesn't have many. There is a cheese called Grés de Vosges which seems fairly well known but isn't listed. Of course the book is a few years old, first published 1996 so it may be this cheese wasn't around then.
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In that case it appears to be an ideal opportunity to start a supplementary thread - “Undiscovered Cheeses of France” subtitled “chaussettes de france non lavées” maybe?
Have a great trip and keep up the commentary.
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We spent a second night at the aire on Contrexéville and went for a walk through the woods on the track which starts just outside the entrance to the aire.
What struck us almost immediately was the total silence. Not a twitter from the local bird life. You can expect this in the afternoon when it gets hot and they take a siesta but at ten o'clock in the morning? I had watched a blue tit over breakfast working it's way around the chain link fence next to our pitch looking for spiders but that was it so far for the day.
Eventually I spotted a small group of birds ahead and put them down as more blue tits but getting closer I saw more than one with a very dark cap. By the time I had got my binoculars out they were drifting away but I saw one long enough to identify it as marsh tit. They are very difficult to tell from the almost identical willow tit but the deciduous wood we were in and the very dark cap would suggest they were marsh tits.
And for bench enthusiasts this curved one can be found near the aire if you search.
The aire at Contrexéville is part of an existing campsite from which it has recently been fenced off. You can just see the campsite on the right in this photo.
Looking back towards the road. They have literally cut a hole in the hedge for the entrance. The campsite is the other side of the new fence on the left.
I guess the campsite will close in a few weeks but the aire will remain open and generate a bit of money until the site, which is very busy, reopens next year.
Today we pushed on east, ending up at Dambach la Ville.
The usual blue blob between Strasbourg and Colmar towards the right of the map.
But before we arrived we stopped in the small town of Sainte Marie aux Mines to meet up with two old friends. Paul and Isla are on a pretty epic non-flying cycle tour. Starting in Scotland where they live they took the train to Newcastle to catch the ferry to Amsterdam. Another train journey or two brought them to Karlsruhe in Germany. From there they have cycled through the Black Forest crossing into France where we met them in the car park of the Super U in Sainte Marie aux (silver) Mines ! After a chat we wished them a safe trip as they set off on some serious climbing at the start of the Route des Crêtes which is a road built by the French Army in the First World War along the spine of the Vosges mountains. I won't say much more about this road as we plan to do it ourselves in the MH. But the cyclists will feel every hill as they make their way to Besançon and a train to Marseille and another ferry to Corsica then on to Sardinia and finally mainland Italy for more cycling and trains and a final ferry back home. I'm exhausted just describing it!
Our suffering this afternoon was the heat, which reached at least 30°C. We had to break out the Endless Breeze!
But first I had to get the electrics to work. This CCP aire has EHU bollards where you have to use a card to get power. Except nothing happened until I went back to the barrier and at the main terminal asked it to show my balance on the card - at which point power was turned on for us. Very wierd.
But its filling up. Tomorrow morning we will go on a search for a laundrette.
What struck us almost immediately was the total silence. Not a twitter from the local bird life. You can expect this in the afternoon when it gets hot and they take a siesta but at ten o'clock in the morning? I had watched a blue tit over breakfast working it's way around the chain link fence next to our pitch looking for spiders but that was it so far for the day.
Eventually I spotted a small group of birds ahead and put them down as more blue tits but getting closer I saw more than one with a very dark cap. By the time I had got my binoculars out they were drifting away but I saw one long enough to identify it as marsh tit. They are very difficult to tell from the almost identical willow tit but the deciduous wood we were in and the very dark cap would suggest they were marsh tits.
And for bench enthusiasts this curved one can be found near the aire if you search.
The aire at Contrexéville is part of an existing campsite from which it has recently been fenced off. You can just see the campsite on the right in this photo.
Looking back towards the road. They have literally cut a hole in the hedge for the entrance. The campsite is the other side of the new fence on the left.
I guess the campsite will close in a few weeks but the aire will remain open and generate a bit of money until the site, which is very busy, reopens next year.
Today we pushed on east, ending up at Dambach la Ville.
The usual blue blob between Strasbourg and Colmar towards the right of the map.
But before we arrived we stopped in the small town of Sainte Marie aux Mines to meet up with two old friends. Paul and Isla are on a pretty epic non-flying cycle tour. Starting in Scotland where they live they took the train to Newcastle to catch the ferry to Amsterdam. Another train journey or two brought them to Karlsruhe in Germany. From there they have cycled through the Black Forest crossing into France where we met them in the car park of the Super U in Sainte Marie aux (silver) Mines ! After a chat we wished them a safe trip as they set off on some serious climbing at the start of the Route des Crêtes which is a road built by the French Army in the First World War along the spine of the Vosges mountains. I won't say much more about this road as we plan to do it ourselves in the MH. But the cyclists will feel every hill as they make their way to Besançon and a train to Marseille and another ferry to Corsica then on to Sardinia and finally mainland Italy for more cycling and trains and a final ferry back home. I'm exhausted just describing it!
Our suffering this afternoon was the heat, which reached at least 30°C. We had to break out the Endless Breeze!
But first I had to get the electrics to work. This CCP aire has EHU bollards where you have to use a card to get power. Except nothing happened until I went back to the barrier and at the main terminal asked it to show my balance on the card - at which point power was turned on for us. Very wierd.
But its filling up. Tomorrow morning we will go on a search for a laundrette.
Following your trip with interest!
We're heading south and are spending the night amongst the Burgundy vines near Nuits-Saint-Georges, trying to get to Verdon where the weather looks nice, in time for the weekend. It looks like we may be negotiating thunderstorms over the next few days!!
We will be running on wine - not cheese however.
Enjoy your trip!
We're heading south and are spending the night amongst the Burgundy vines near Nuits-Saint-Georges, trying to get to Verdon where the weather looks nice, in time for the weekend. It looks like we may be negotiating thunderstorms over the next few days!!
We will be running on wine - not cheese however.
Enjoy your trip!
OP
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DBK
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And guess what we did this morning?
Some of these launderettes take cards but this one was coins only. There was a change machine but it only seemed to dispense €2 coins and the dryers only took €1 coins. Our precious hoard of €1 coins took a serious battering!
The main event today was to drive the Route des Crêtes. "Crêtes" means ledges although this website has decided to call it the Peak Route but you will find it in the Michelin atlas and on signposts here marked as the Route des Crêtes.
www.visit.alsace
It was built by the French Army during the First World War and runs along the spine of the Vosges mountains.
We have stopped at the free parking (no services) under Le Grand Ballon, the highest hill or "ballon" in the Vosges. The altitude where we are is about 1200m and it might get chilly tonight.
At the top of the map is Sainte Marie aux Mines Where we were yesterday to meet out cycling friends. Starting from here we drove south west on the D148 then the D430 which swings south east and you then follow the D431 which will take you to the blue blob where we are now.
There are some good views from the road which is well graded and suitable for any MH.
This topographic map (below) shows how this road follows the ridge line. It's a bit of an eyesight test but if you follow the green line starting in the top left corner which runs towards the lower right you can see from the contour lines the land falls away on both sides of the road.
The blue blob by the Grand Ballon is where we are now of course.
And specifically here!
The satellite dish is turned to avoid it shading the solar panels, which it does when stowed and the sun is low and coming from the right. The charge was at best 0.5 amps until I did this when it shot up to a thumping 2 amps! Not a lot but given how low the sun was at the time every Joule helps!
We went for a circular walk this afternoon on a reasonably well marked path although I used the Locus mapping app to navigate.
The paths were dry and we mostly walked through beech forest.
But we were puzzled by these which we found in several places.
The only identification was a number above each. They must date from WW1 but there were no obvious fortifications here. Fuel dumps, ammunition stores? I've no idea and there were no signs to help.
We eventually emerged from the forest and climbed back up to the aire.
Looking back.
It's been a rewarding day in an interesting area.
Some of these launderettes take cards but this one was coins only. There was a change machine but it only seemed to dispense €2 coins and the dryers only took €1 coins. Our precious hoard of €1 coins took a serious battering!
The main event today was to drive the Route des Crêtes. "Crêtes" means ledges although this website has decided to call it the Peak Route but you will find it in the Michelin atlas and on signposts here marked as the Route des Crêtes.
Reach great heights on the Peak Route - Visit Alsace
Linking Cernay to Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, the Peak Route is 73 kilometres of pure beauty, featuring typical Vosges landscapes and unforgettable panoramas.
www.visit.alsace
It was built by the French Army during the First World War and runs along the spine of the Vosges mountains.
We have stopped at the free parking (no services) under Le Grand Ballon, the highest hill or "ballon" in the Vosges. The altitude where we are is about 1200m and it might get chilly tonight.
At the top of the map is Sainte Marie aux Mines Where we were yesterday to meet out cycling friends. Starting from here we drove south west on the D148 then the D430 which swings south east and you then follow the D431 which will take you to the blue blob where we are now.
There are some good views from the road which is well graded and suitable for any MH.
This topographic map (below) shows how this road follows the ridge line. It's a bit of an eyesight test but if you follow the green line starting in the top left corner which runs towards the lower right you can see from the contour lines the land falls away on both sides of the road.
The blue blob by the Grand Ballon is where we are now of course.
And specifically here!
The satellite dish is turned to avoid it shading the solar panels, which it does when stowed and the sun is low and coming from the right. The charge was at best 0.5 amps until I did this when it shot up to a thumping 2 amps! Not a lot but given how low the sun was at the time every Joule helps!
We went for a circular walk this afternoon on a reasonably well marked path although I used the Locus mapping app to navigate.
The paths were dry and we mostly walked through beech forest.
But we were puzzled by these which we found in several places.
The only identification was a number above each. They must date from WW1 but there were no obvious fortifications here. Fuel dumps, ammunition stores? I've no idea and there were no signs to help.
We eventually emerged from the forest and climbed back up to the aire.
Looking back.
It's been a rewarding day in an interesting area.
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