FRANCE AND GERMANY 1

Up early to catch the ferry, it was a clear day on the Dover side. Upon arrival in Calais, it was cold and overcast. Fortunately we had warm clothes available and quickly used them. Once over the hills and away from the coast, it became warmer and warmer to being hot. Off with the jackets. 

We stopped at a war memorial site and had a bowl of soup, the only thing being available at that time. There was a bus full of people as well as a ladies luncheon going on.

Lunch stop

War Memorial

Laon was our destination for the night, where we had arranged with John and Gail to have dinner at the hotel. We met them at 7 PM and had a wonderful dinner in the hotel.  

WonderfulSalad

Yummy fish

The next morning we walked up to the Laon Cathedral and around the town before heading out to meet the tour in Ste Prevue, France. 

Laon Cathedral

Inside Laon cathedral

With John and Gail in Laon

Electrics mess

It was a lovely driving day. 

We arrived at the hotel before any other of the tour participants, and had time for a nice swim in the lovely pool. Dinner was nice, but short on vegetables, something we soon began to crave on the trip. 

This was the start of trying to learn new names... as the only people we knew previously were John and Gail from MOAV.

Hotel in St Prevue

After departing the wrong direction from the hotel, we eventually found ourselves heading in the right direction. The day was already warm and lovely for a long drive through France.

Late to breakfast, we hurried through in order to leave about the same time as the group, as the day would be long. We had to get through France to get to the main part of our Alps tour. We entered the Alsace region, which is very beautiful, and also very easy to stray from the route. Stopping for lunch along the river in Verdun, we ran into some of the Jaguar’s on the trip. The day was beautiful and warm and perfect for driving.  However, having hoped to have time to visit Camp du Struthof (google it), we finally passed it after it was closed, arriving at the hotel in the lovely little Alsace town of Ottrott, France “just in time” to change for dinner.

Arriving in Ottrott

Duck and "cereal bar" with red carrots

My stomach was a bit unsettled this morning (thanks,MiraLax and rich food) , so we were slow in getting out of the hotel in Ottrott, France.  There had been a wild lightening and thunder shower, as well as a lot of rain during the night, but the day turned out to be not rainy. We crossed the Rhine River on a small ferry boat, entering into Germany.  The river was MUCH smaller than I had imagined, so the ferry only took a few minutes.  Lunch stop was at McDonalds where I finally was able to eat a bit. We had a challenging drive, getting lost and diverted by roadworks, but finally ended up at our hotel, waterfront on Lake Constance in Lindau, Germany.  Along the way, we were also stopped by a chopper airlifting a motorcyclist who had collided with a car. Later we learned that Sarah was first on the scene, and the motorcyclist was alive. While driving through the windy roads, we were concerned because the motorcyclists were tearing up the roads at very fast speeds, passing at poor times. 

Kirsty and Leader Sarah from their window

A stroll around Lindau and a beer at the local bier garden completed our afternoon.

View from our room with new panorama feature

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of local whitefish, Italian vegetables and tiramisu.

Tiramisu

After a lovely buffet breakfast, we left Lindau for a long drive along the Deustch Alpenstrasse (German Alpen Highway). Unfortunately the rain had starting during the night and continued on through most of the day.  It wasn’t miserable, but our photographs are not the best.

Sarah had reserved tickets for us to visit Hohenschwargau castle, which required quite a hike up the hill for the tour. The rain was intermittent and quite light at the time, which was fortunate, and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour. We could look over and see Neuschwanstein Castle, but didn’t have a tour there.

Honenschwargau Castle

Along Deutsche Alpenstrasse

Valley in Germany

German Hotel

Can you imagine repainting this?

The drive continued through valleys and more mountains until we arrived at our intimate hotel at Tegernsee Lake in Bad Wiesse, Germany. A lovely dinner of roast pork was enjoyed, but I neglected to take pictures.  Philip has developed a “cold” so we managed to get to bed early.

The next morning was our first two-night stop, so there was no reason to awaken early. So we didn’t, and worried that we would miss breakfast, which turned out not to be a problem, and like, we needed more food!

We fiddled around until noontime, doing hand laundry, straightening up and getting out the door.  Although the forecast was for showers, it was lovely out when we departed on foot for the “see promenade”, the walk along Tegernsee Lake.

 Shortly we saw the ferry boat which goes from the villages surrounding the lake, and hopped on for a round the lake tour. Gail and John from MOA V, as well as Janet and Pat, whom we hadn’t really met yet on this trip joined the tour on our first stop, so we had company round the lake.

John and Gail

Tegernsee

Panorama view on my new camera

Lunch was a Turkish Domor, like a Gyros- very filling and yummy.

We strolled along the see promenade and took a nap on the wooden recliners along the shore. 

While browsing, I saw some Finn Comfort shoes in the window for less than ½ the price at home, so had to stop by the shop and indulge. (Lee, they have Birkies for really cheap as well)