Wandering in Germany

[tacr2man]

Thanks Ava the Adria, I keep reading negative comments about the food so good to read your comments.

HIRSCHKARREE MIT PILZSAUCE is a good one to try ​

 

[Garfields]

we've heard dire warnings about German food.

There sausages are the wurst

There are lots of good food out there.

 

[tacr2man]

Some say its more direhere !

 

[Wanders from Glos]

HIRSCHKARREE MIT PILZSAUCE is a good one to try ​

That looks very tasty.

 

[Rapido925M]

I attended a conference in Düsseldorf and the mayor gave us a civic reception, celebrating the main produce of the region. Potato soup is two different versions was fine. Four different ways of serving potatoes with the main course was interesting. Potato ice cream was something else!

Apart from that I’ve been happy with German cuisine.

Gordon

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[Wanders from Glos]

I do like potatoes in all their many forms, although I am not sure about potato ice cream.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Managed to get everything loaded and the motorhome prepared in good time. It always seems to take less time than I imagine. Just the bikes to load tomorrow morning, hopefully on the road by 08:30.

It's a bit of a long and dull journey to Folkestone, usually improved by listening to the radio or an audio book. Annoyingly we will be arriving in Coquelles just as the England game kicks off, hopefully we will still get it on the radio. My plan, not fully discussed with Mrs Wanderer is to use the satellite to watch the South Africa v Ireland game in Gravelines. I'm sure she won't mind .

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Bit of a chaotic start. Took the cat to her ‘holiday home’ only to find she wasn’t booked in until tomorrow, fortunately they found space after an appropriate amount of grovelling. Then our usual motorway exit on the M5 was closed, no problem a minor detour put us back enroute. Bigger problem, the road to the M4 was closed due to an RTC, so a much longer detour via the M40 was called for. The sat nav and Google Maps were both worried we wouldn’t make it in time as we sat in multiple traffic jams, so we decided we had better not stop for lunch and eat on the move.

Suddenly things cleared and the dire predictions changed to suggesting we will be early. Great we said, we can catch an earlier train and get to the supermarket in good time. We arrived at Le Shuttle with our legs crossed to be told building work for biometric processing meant parking is limited and come back in 20 minutes! So we went for a wee at a nearby service station and then returned to find the train was delayed by 25 minutes. Then our luck changed, we eventually proceeded to boarding through both passport controls. The lane queueing to get on our train was very busy so the kind lady sent us down a different one and straight onto an earlier train. It meant we were on time in the end.

Lovely sunny day in Northern France and half an hour later we were at the Super U in Gavelines where after filling the fridge we spotted a friterie. Both had steak haché and frites. Parked at the aire in the port for €7.50 to eat the spoils from the friterie.

We had a stroll around the town inside the citadel walls as the sun went down and the temperature dropped quite significantly. Lovely well kept town with some super formal gardens around the museum. The walls have statues on them in places looking quite dramatic as the sun went down. Can you guess which one is me?

Managed to get a satellite signal, so settling down now to watch a superb game of rugby between South Africa and Ireland.

 

[Ava the Adria]

we were at the Super U in Gavelines where after filling the fridge we spotted a friterie. Both had steak haché and frites. Parked at the aire in the port for €7.50 to eat the spoils from the friterie.

You're not going to have any problem with German food

Enjoy your trip

 

[Wanders from Glos]

You're not going to have any problem with German food

Enjoy your trip

It’s not our usual fare to be fair, but very tasty all the same. We had enough chips left over for a couple more meals

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[madkoka]

Why are you preparing to break the law for a few quid to buy beam benders? Are you totally confident that you are not going to have an accident and need to visit a hospital at night? Are you certain that there will be no reason for you to return home in an emergency? Do you support people from other countries breaking UK laws?

Gordon

I was at the ferry port in Portsmouth last Monday waiting for the ferry to Caen, looking at a whole line of French and other European cars next to me and not one car had beam benders on their headlights so the EU must deem them as not being required for the UK

 

[Ducatian]

There are several tunnels in Germany where dipped lights are required. We bought a pair of those plastic headlight protectors which fit over the headlight assembly and have the beam limiters on. Worked ok, but needed some clear waterproof tape on both of them as the fit is terrible.

 

[Just smiffy]

I’ve been touring and done 10’s of thousands of miles in Europe by campervan/motorhome and car… I’ve never had any stickers or light benders at all, I’ve been stopped many times on checkpoints and 3 months ago I even asked the French policeman about a crit-air but all I got a was a French shrug of his shoulders…

I’ve even broke the speed limit quite a few times in my life, looked at my phone too once or twice but then again i am a bit of a rebel..

Ohh… and I’ve never been flashed by on coming traffic.

Have a great time…

 

[Wanders from Glos]

We do have daytime running lights so don’t normally worry too much about daytime lights.

 

[altomos]

Just spent a month in Germany Travelling from top of Netherlands into northern Germany. Visited Belsan and then down to Koblitz followed the Mosel dowel to Trier than the Alsace to Besecon. Now on return to Calais. Super time on Mosel going from Winefest to Winefest. Lucky to catch four on three weekends. As long as you like

• Schnitzel. You can find these everywhere in Germany from classy restaurants to street food vendors. ...
• Spätzle. ...
• Bratwurst. ...
• Stollen. ...
• Kartoffelpuffer.

or pork you will enjoy the food! Have a good time

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[Didda]

A month ago I posted a question about Germany and a few said they would find a travelogue useful so we thought we'd give it a go.

We have been motor homing for six years now, and are definitely still learning by our mistakes. Apart from the Covid years we try to get to Europe for a month in May/June and September. This year, our September trip to Europe has been rudely delayed and shortened by the Rugby World Cup, however I have returned in one piece from Wales' glorious defeat of Portugal and England's equally glorious sort of thrashing of Japan. We tend to only plan loosely and often end up doing something different, dictated by the weather. We tend to travel light on the food and wine front, so we can sample the local supermarkets and markets. This time we set off Saturday morning from Gloucestershire for Le Shuttle with the aim of getting to Gravelines before the supermarkets close. We haven't stayed there before but it seems a convenient stopover.

We don't normally bother with deflectors on the headlights because we don't drive in the dark, but as we are a bit later this year it may happen. What do others do? Our lights are quite small and round with no indication of where to place them so I expect I will wing it!

The plan, such as it is, will be to try to get to Trier in a day via Belgium and Luxembourg, then park up for a couple of days. But we may get bored of driving and stop somewhere, that's the beauty of motor homing. After, we hope to mosey up the Mosel, where the forecast currently looks good. If the weather stays reasonable we may head for Bavaria, perhaps a couple of towns on the Romantic Road and a castle or two. We only have 23 days but if the weather deteriorates the plan might change. We aren't particularly precious about where we stay, but I may have palpitations of the wallet at some of the non ACSI campsite prices. We like visiting interesting places, chilling out, cycling and drinking wine. We usually eat out every few days, but only if there is a decent restaurant available and we've heard dire warnings about German food.

Love Germany. So many Brits miss out. There is SO much of interest and so many totally unspoilt villages. We went for 16 days last year and, admittedly spent 11 nights on friends' driveways but felt that we needed some time to ourselves.
We were amazed at how easy it was to find parking, they just love Mohos! Coming from the Highlands of Scotland, our first foray into the EU in our van was eye-openingly wonderful!
Look for Donauwörth, in Bavaria, a really lovely little town with a fantastic parking area for Mohos very close to the centre. We parked up but had to join friends for two days in a hotel - aargh! The Germans do Stellplatzes well but cheap hotels are awful! We wished that we had stayed in our van. Other than the shower facilities, the van was far better equipped. Other lovely, yet unknown towns are Bad Wimpfen and Weil Der Stadt. Both have parking facilities with services. Search for Sites had not let us down yet.
On the way home, we had a super night in Belgium to make it easy for our Chunnel trip, at Tense. It has a HUGE parking space in the town and a fantastic chip shop nearby.

 

[Howard B]

There sausages are the wurst

There are lots of good food out there.

The currywurst we had tonight in Fussen has to rank as one of the wurst meals ever.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Slept fairly well, apart from when the bin lorry came at about 6am …. On a Sunday! Beautiful blue sky this morning but quite fresh. We wandered into Gravelines to visit the boulangerie where we bought bread and a pain au raison with icing on.

We tend to avoid long journeys but as we only have three weeks we set off aiming for Trier thinking we may well end up breaking the journey up and stopping short. In fact the roads were very clear and we cruised along happily at just over 60 making good progress. We covered the 280 miles to Trier in time for afternoon tea and the iced pain au raison. We are at Reisemobile Treviris, €13.70 plus electric, but we haven’t bothered with it. We were surprised, the stellplatz was nearly full and we took one of the last places.

We decided to cycle along the path beside the Mosel into Trier for a quick look around. We got no further than the Roman gate where we found a wine festival. We both had a generous glass of a very good crisp Riesling, it was really excellent. We didn’t eat but in the interests of the food quality debate we looked at the offerings from the various food stalls. We were pleasantly surprised to find it was a high standard, not the heavy meat and potatoes we had been warned about.

We cycled back a little bit tiddly for dinner in the van. Looking forward to exploring properly tomorrow.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

The currywurst we had tonight in Fussen has to rank as one of the wurst meals ever.

I coul

Love Germany. So many Brits miss out. There is SO much of interest and so many totally unspoilt villages. We went for 16 days last year and, admittedly spent 11 nights on friends' driveways but felt that we needed some time to ourselves.
We were amazed at how easy it was to find parking, they just love Mohos! Coming from the Highlands of Scotland, our first foray into the EU in our van was eye-openingly wonderful!
Look for Donauwörth, in Bavaria, a really lovely little town with a fantastic parking area for Mohos very close to the centre. We parked up but had to join friends for two days in a hotel - aargh! The Germans do Stellplatzes well but cheap hotels are awful! We wished that we had stayed in our van. Other than the shower facilities, the van was far better equipped. Other lovely, yet unknown towns are Bad Wimpfen and Weil Der Stadt. Both have parking facilities with services. Search for Sites had not let us down yet.
On the way home, we had a super night in Belgium to make it easy for our Chunnel trip, at Tense. It has a HUGE parking space in the town and a fantastic chip shop nearby.

Thanks, useful info. I could find the stop in Belgium though?

 

[Howard B]

Slept fairly well, apart from when the bin lorry came at about 6am …. On a Sunday! Beautiful blue sky this morning but quite fresh. We wandered into Gravelines to visit the boulangerie where we bought bread and a pain au raison with icing on.

View attachment 813877

We tend to avoid long journeys but as we only have three weeks we set off aiming for Trier thinking we may well end up breaking the journey up and stopping short. In fact the roads were very clear and we cruised along happily at just over 60 making good progress. We covered the 280 miles to Trier in time for afternoon tea and the iced pain au raison. We are at Reisemobile Treviris, €13.70 plus electric, but we haven’t bothered with it. We were surprised, the stellplatz was nearly full and we took one of the last places.

We decided to cycle along the path beside the Mosel into Trier for a quick look around. We got no further than the Roman gate where we found a wine festival. We both had a generous glass of a very good crisp Riesling, it was really excellent. We didn’t eat but in the interests of the food quality debate we looked at the offerings from the various food stalls. We were pleasantly surprised to find it was a high standard, not the heavy meat and potatoes we had been warned about.

View attachment 813878

We cycled back a little bit tiddly for dinner in the van. Looking forward to exploring properly tomorrow.

Hoping to be in Trier next Thursday or Friday, is the aire ok for a few nights?

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[Lenny HB]

Slept fairly well, apart from when the bin lorry came at about 6am …. On a Sunday! Beautiful blue sky this morning but quite fresh. We wandered into Gravelines to visit the boulangerie where we bought bread and a pain au raison with icing on.

View attachment 813877

We tend to avoid long journeys but as we only have three weeks we set off aiming for Trier thinking we may well end up breaking the journey up and stopping short. In fact the roads were very clear and we cruised along happily at just over 60 making good progress. We covered the 280 miles to Trier in time for afternoon tea and the iced pain au raison. We are at Reisemobile Treviris, €13.70 plus electric, but we haven’t bothered with it. We were surprised, the stellplatz was nearly full and we took one of the last places.

We decided to cycle along the path beside the Mosel into Trier for a quick look around. We got no further than the Roman gate where we found a wine festival. We both had a generous glass of a very good crisp Riesling, it was really excellent. We didn’t eat but in the interests of the food quality debate we looked at the offerings from the various food stalls. We were pleasantly surprised to find it was a high standard, not the heavy meat and potatoes we had been warned about.

View attachment 813878

We cycled back a little bit tiddly for dinner in the van. Looking forward to exploring properly tomorrow.

There is an underground cycle parking garage right by the gate if you want to cycle in and then walk around.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

Hoping to be in Trier next Thursday or Friday, is the aire ok for a few nights?

Yes its fine, it does the job. It’s a large air, probably over 100 vans so toilets and showers are limited, there’s only three of each. If you want electric and a choice of pitch its probably best to get here by early afternoon. There’s enough space to put table and chairs out. Some road noise at one end but it didn’t bother us. Easy cycle in to Trier, there’s also a bus or 2.5k walk.

 

[Wanders from Glos]

There is an underground cycle parking garage right by the gate if you want to cycle in and then walk around.

Too tip thanks.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Yes its fine, it does the job. It’s a large air, probably over 100 vans so toilets and showers are limited, there’s only three of each. If you want electric and a choice of pitch its probably best to get here by early afternoon. There’s enough space to put table and chairs out. Some road noise at one end but it didn’t bother us. Easy cycle in to Trier, there’s also a bus or 2.5k walk.

Is that the one next to the river with the travellers site outside ?
We pulled up there spotted the travellers site then drove off unfortunately it’s about the only place to stay so I drove back went into the Stelplatz and parked up.
We were there 2 days and never heard a peep from them obviously more evolved than their English cousins

 

[Rapido925M]

I was at the ferry port in Portsmouth last Monday waiting for the ferry to Caen, looking at a whole line of French and other European cars next to me and not one car had beam benders on their headlights so the EU must deem them as not being required for the UK

That's because EU beams just DIP DOWN whereas UK beams DIP TO THE LEFT! Great in the UK but shining into drivers eyes when we are abroad.
So you are correct: they aren't required by EU vehicles driving in UK BUT something needs to be done by UK drivers going over the water.
I keep my beam-benders on permanently and have passed umpteen MOT tests. Doubtlessly my light production is slightly worse when I'm driving on dipped beam but that is usually when I'm under street lights. I know that I'm legal both here and in Europe: anyone who wishes to knowingly break the law is free to do so but I hope they don't moan if they get punished.

Gordon

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[Lenny HB]

That's because EU beams just DIP DOWN whereas UK beams DIP TO THE LEFT! Great in the UK but shining into drivers eyes when we are abroad.

Incorrect, RHD vehicles the dip beam kicks up to the left to illuminate pedestrians and LHD vehicles the dip beam kicks to the right for the same reason.

Some of the latest LED headlamps are flat dipping but not all.

 

[Rapido925M]

Incorrect, RHD vehicles the dip beam kicks up to the left to illuminate pedestrians and LHD vehicles the dip beam kicks to the right for the same reason.

Some of the latest LED headlamps are flat dipping but not all.

Well my story is what I have always been told. So how do you explain the lack of beam benders on European vehicles?
I accept that they all might have rotating lamps but I find that unlikely.

Gordon

 

[Lenny HB]

Well my story is what I have always been told. So how do you explain the lack of beam benders on European vehicles?

But you need to move forward from the 60's & 70's they were flat dipping. The
lack of beam benders on Euro vehicles probably because the UK is the only country in Europe that drives on the left and very few of them visit the UK. But they drive across boarders all the time. A lot upmarket cars the beams can be changed at the flick of a switch

 

[Wanders from Glos]

After a good nights sleep we moved the motorhome to a pitch with electric so that I can charge my bike battery tonight (yes, I forgot to do it before we left). We don't have an inverter and only have one leisure battery, but I could do it with the cigar lighter plug when we are travelling. Electrics is not my strong point, others would know what we need to do.

Straight into Trier today for cafe unt kuchen.

For those who haven't been I would say Trier is a must do for Germany. History is more my specialist subject (I'm just completing a PhD in it) and Trier has a lot to offer, from 160 CE in the reign of Marcus Auralias onwards. It seems a very clean and relaxed place. We climbed the Porta Negra aka Roman gate, which survived as it has because it was turned into a church in the C11th and it was not until Napoleon arrived that the medieval part was removed. There are lots of the traditional coloured buildings and there are good cycle paths. The squares are lovely places to people watch too. A few photos...

Tomorrow we are going to move on, awe think to Minheim recommended on here by Holly's mum. We like Piesporter wine so plan to cycle into Piesport and buy some. That said, we very often get up the next day and do something completely different!

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

We also liked Trier,

Did you do the land train tour around the city? Saved a bit of walking, the pups liked it

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