FRANCE, LUXEMBOURG, GERMANY, DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN - Part 4

FRANCE, LUXEMBOURG, GERMANY,

DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN – Part 4

June 7, 2012

For the most part in the early part of our return to Germany we used the famous Autobahns where Westerners drool of driving a road with no speed limit. We dream of 200+ kph with no cops in sight. But at most the fastest we saw anyone driving was about 150 kph…fast but no extreme. And they had to step on it just to get past the White Night!!

Our first camping stop in Germany was about 100 km east of Hamburg. It was full with Dutch travellers…couldn’t have been anyone left in Holland to watch the dykes. The area a German friend told us was in the old East Germany. We certainly didn’t see any signs of the old east/west dividing line. There were a couple of brown boards by the road showing a general map of Europe and where the line had been up to reunification in 1989. Most people in the West think of the Berlin Wall which split the city but there were far longer fences to the north and south. A recent article said an estimated $3 trillion (that’s with a “T”!!) has been spent so far in efforts to merge the two parts.

Last night’s campground was fine…nothing special. Except…no we didn’t spot Elvis…nope not even a common Martian. Something much bigger in stature, much more famous, and much more…well…cool. Next to us was none other than the most famous cartoon cat of all time…Garfield. He even came inside the White Night a couple of times. We wanted to get his pawtogragh but with the sarcastic flick of his tail, he left. The leash he has is actually to enable him to control his human.

This is an area of very large crop farms on gentle rolling terrain. Very pretty and very serene. We were back in the cool rainy weather. As we continued south and a bit east toward the Rhine River, the rolling hills became steeper, the fields of grain became forests of tall trees so dense you would have needed a flashlight to walk in them in the middle of the day. It reminded us a bit of the Black Forest further south and even parts of Austria.  The road sign in the picture made us wonder if the problem was short trees or tall trucks. Many of the towns and villages in the area are called “timbered houses”. This type of construction of olden days used large square cross beams at all angles for the support while the brick was only used as a filler between the beams. This makes for interesting designs and beauty.

And with the weather continuing to deteriorate we drove though rain, rain, and more rain to finally get to the Rhine…well sort of. The campground we had chosen some 50 km west of Frankfurt and south of Koblenz was full so we had to search for another. We found one the edge of the Lahn River which itself empties into the Rhine. Pretty place.

The next day we went sightseeing along the east side of the Rhine River. It must be one of the most fascinating, unique and colourful rivers in the world. The cloudy, showery day didn’t diminish what it presented to us. It was a river of history, of battles, of castles to control the area and charge fees to ships navigating up and down, and of the ever-present church wanting its say for the pope of the day. It now is a bustling beehive of activity for tourism, vineyards, and transportation link to deep inside Germany. Nothing here is or was easy. The slopes are very steep and harvesting the grapes for the crisp white Riesling wines produced here is all done by hand. No machine could stay upright! Some houses from the medieval ages remain with their unique and ancient styles. Many are the famous “timbered” houses. They are homey. They make us yearn for a simpler time.

From Lahn Beach, where we had camped, to just above Mainz, is a short 80 km but covers a thousand years of time. Past Mainz is the current age of industrialization and we were not interested. Servicing that area is one of the main things the Rhine does with vessels transporting everything from coal to scrap metal to petroleum products. Some of these can be over 250 meters long and when loaded need tug boats at full power to go south, or upstream, against the strong current. Even then you could walk faster.

We turned back in Rudesheim, a town of tour busses, trinkets made in China and a place where everything costs more than it should. It reminded us of Banff, Alberta.

Churches are everywhere, on low places, on high places, big, small, steep steeples, small steeples, round steeples, square steeples…so many different styles that they almost look like they are part of a different religion.

Some of the buildings have paintings depicting the activities in the area centuries ago.

For the most part the road is built on and as the very edge of the river. A low barrier doesn’t always give a safe feeling. Floods here are common…every spring we were told. Last year’s was 4 meters high!

We ate outside (risky with the rain showers) at an old hotel and ordered a bottle of the local white Riesling. The wine was amazing and the total bill was a third less than what it would be in Canada.

In the heady days of this area, castles were the way to protect your property and your ability to tax anyone who went up and down the river. These castles are everywhere in various shapes, sizes and conditions. They stand now as tourist attractions and as a reminder that power of any kind is temporary.

But were they built for another reason? Was it in fact to protect the hillsides, the vines themselves, and the fabulous grapes born of them? The wines here are still known, now worldwide, for their uniqueness and for being crisp. But the main reason to drink wine here is exactly as the poster says.

June 5^th, out last day on the Rhine and in Germany, and we awoke to overcast skies…again!! Today we drove down the west side of the Rhine heading south. Driving is better with lest traffic on this side. We stopped in St. Goar to visit the remnants of a castle high above the Rhine. Built in the 1200s, it was built, rebuilt, sieged (once for an entire year; even that failed), inherited, bought, sold, attacked, and blown up numerous times. Thanks to the events that took place over 600 years it is an absolute must-see for tourists. Originally built to force boats using the Rhine to pay a toll, it has become an incredible historical symbol. Some of the methods of construction have been well preserved and are impressive such as the fish scale-like roofs on adjoining buildings.

Even today, torture for being a bad boy can be doled out. Just take a look at the men’s urinal. Pulling the levers can be nerve-racking. Which one is to flush and which one is to chop? It was best to simply stand back.

Everything intact it we headed further south along the river toward Bacharac, an amazing town where the core’s medieval buildings and atmosphere have been well preserved. Old dilapidated churches, cobble stone streets, and timbered houses dating back to 1368.

Further on it was time for a lunch stop when we noticed across the road through the trees some structure some 250 meters long, over 1 meter thick, and 15 meters high. The inside looked like a dark straw laid on its side. A brown water was seeping from the bottom. We have no idea what it was.

From there it was on through heavily forested ravines with countless old villages caring for their very own medieval look.

And then, as it is now throughout Europe, with no border restrictions whatsoever and with no fanfare we were in France again.

Between Nancy and Auxerre (about 3 hours from of base near Vendome) heading west the land is rolling with large fields of crops mainly different types of grains giving every shade on green imaginable. We continued to see the timbered style houses. And finally, the vineyards of the Champagne region. Pretty cool even though we don’t care for the stuff.

Two days later is was back to our little apartment in Areines. This was a great trip especially through Norway. With 8,436 km in 30 days it was a busy one.

Postscript: Remember the 20 euros we “lost” in a Portuguese toll road? How it was going to be refunded with a bank transfer? For the massive amount of 17.85 euros? Well, yet another two letters were received from them saying the amount had been transferred to our bank account in May. It was received. And so far Portugal has probably spent well over 150 euros.