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(>Pictures at the bottom!)
…via France – Belgium – Luxembourg – Germany to Switzerland
The melancholy on the ferry between Dover and Calais soon evaporated; we had a new goal and our second son was already waiting for us in Antwerp, Belgium. But this time we had miscalculated the distance quite a bit, and the ferry’s hour-long delay also meant that we couldn’t drive the planned route; evening came faster than we had imagined. Despite the time pressure, we tried to drive along the Belgian Riviera and experience the evening hustle and bustle in the many seaside resorts. We skipped the detour to Dutch territory later and took the faster route directly to Antwerp.
In Antwerp, we experienced the next disappointment; the municipal campsite was fully booked and the groundskeeper shrugged us off. So we parked our van with many other motorhomes in a car park belonging to a riding stable and were exposed to the dubious nightlife on this public car park. The heavy rain that set in suddenly calmed the hustle and bustle of the tuned cars.
The next day, we managed to find a pitch so that we could host our son and his girlfriend for lunch. It was a pleasant time, which lasted well into the afternoon and was accompanied by African-Haitian music from next door. Later, we made our way to the water bus stop, which took us to the centre of Antwerp, hoping that the music would have stopped by the time we returned. It’s not that we had anything against the music, but it was just way too loud!
The centre around the cathedral of Antwerp surprised us completely and we were not the only ones who enjoyed the beautiful weather and strolled through the countless alleys on this Sunday afternoon. Of course, we had to taste the Belgian fries, on the advice of our son. According to history, the thin and deep-fried potato sticks were invented in Belgium and later spread all over the world. Maybe it was French-speaking Belgians who fried the chips somewhere in the world and that’s how they became ‘French Fries’. 😉
We took the water bus back and from far away we could already hear the bass booming from the party area, which, next to the campsite, offered the best music; that is to say, very booming music with thundering bass. You couldn’t sleep here! The barmaid on duty at the campsite said that the party could go on until well into the morning hours and nobody knows exactly when it would end. A little frustrated, we sought out the distance and retreated to the car park where we had already spent the previous night. The music was still audible, but at a tolerable level.
The night was pleasantly quiet. In the early hours of the morning, we drove back to the campsite, where we had a long-awaited shower and breakfast. The subsequent timing was perfect; everything was stowed in the jeep when the first raindrops fell from the sky. The accusation that the rainy weather from England was continuing to follow us, or that we had simply brought it with us, became more and more substantiated! 🙁
Our onward journey out of the Antwerp conurbation proved somewhat more difficult, as many of the roads on our map were one-way streets in the real world, or the countless construction sites made it impossible to pass through. The signposts in Flemish were of course extremely helpful to us, and often led us to a dead end. The many odysseys took their toll; by the time we had finally left the large urban areas behind us, it was already time to look for an evening camp. In the border area with Luxembourg, it finally became more rural again, and we passed through ever larger forest areas. Here we found a suitable overnight spot in one of our apps for overlanders and motorhome owners.
The rain pelted down on our Jeep as we drove along the forest path to the site. It seemed that forestry work had been carried out here in the last few weeks and it looked more like a field than a parking space in a forest clearing. So we looked for a suitable alternative a little further into the forest. But the paths were more like return routes for forestry tractors than developed forest paths with a firm surface, and the soggy ground and rain hardly improved the driving conditions. At some point, our off-road tyres were so clogged with mud and mire that they resembled mud tyres rather than grippy off-road tyres, and our jeep skidded in a mud hole; end of the road! It took a while before we could free our vehicle from its predicament and completely soaked – Tom – we went back, where we finally found a place in a forest clearing for the coming night.
In the morning, the sun was smiling at us as if nothing had happened and the first people out for a walk with their dogs were grumbling about something; in any case, our morning greeting was not returned. Whew, are we not welcome here or just in the wrong place? What the heck; we enjoyed our fried eggs and coffee from our classic Bialetti coffee pot.
With newfound energy, we continued, but we didn’t have much time for the countless side streets in neighbouring Luxembourg; we really wanted to visit the SeaBridge meeting in Bad Dürrheim (Germany) and so we chose a fairly direct route across Luxembourg and France to southern Germany. Despite the brisk pace, the ‘line choice’ on our electronic map took us to places where no normal tourist would ever drive. Despite the rainy conditions, exploring these remote villages and small towns was a great experience.
Strasbourg and the local traffic chaos were already behind us when we crossed the Rhine bridge at nightfall and looked for a place to spend the night. The motorhome parking area in Kehl was well occupied, i.e. there was no space left even for our mini camper. In such moments, modern communication options also have their advantages and we were directed to a car park on the banks of the Rhine, where a few travellers were already standing with their mobile homes.
East of Offenburg, the Black Forest, with its steep and deep valleys, resembles a pre-Alpine landscape and we were very surprised by what we saw. This area is actually very close to our home, and yet we enjoyed this almost mountainous hilly area with all its surprises like a new discovery. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were not particularly good and the visibility was correspondingly limited. The countless small towns in the deep valleys, where presumably the Romans already enjoyed the thermal waters for their wellness, were all wonderfully maintained and truly beautiful.
We ignored the warm thermal water in Bad Dürrheim and attended numerous lectures on long-distance travel, which were shown to travel-hungry visitors at the SeaBridge meeting. Whether you finally sign up for an organised trip or just enjoy the lectures is an open question, but the pictures for each topic were worth seeing and led to reverie. Many conversations with like-minded people and tour guides rounded off the event. I was also able to find out a lot of useful information from the groundsman at the ‘RV park’, who also builds lightweight and robust frames for RVs, so that I can slim down our Jeep a bit during our short stay in Switzerland.
The way home would not have been far, but another wish for a vehicle-related change took us via Biel (Switzerland), where the possibilities of my wish (Tom’s trailer coupling) were shown to us. Somewhat disappointed by the price and the possible delivery dates, we left the urban area and climbed up into the Jura and its wide-ranging landscapes. The onset of rain was not exactly what we had wished for the following night around the campfire.
On a ridge above Bourrignon, we found a wonderful place for the coming night. But what does wonderful place mean here: rain and wind, autumnal fog banks and cold were almost irresistible. Only thanks to the fire and wind protection of our camper van was it bearable to some extent. But we didn’t stay outside for long, soon retreating into the confines of our small cabin and leaving the parking heater to do its warming work at full power. With howling wind, we lay down under the warm blanket and bet each other whether there would be snow on the ridge the next morning, which would perfectly round off the past few months. 😉
There was no snow during the night, but it was very fresh and the wind still whistled around our jeep. Coffee and breakfast were soon taken care of and we were already feeling our way through the fog-shrouded landscape, where perhaps not all paths would have been allowed. But in the rain and fog, we were a bit more daring and our car – according to certain statements – looks very strange and could perhaps pass as a forestry vehicle. :-/
With many dreams and ideas, we reached our temporary home and unloaded the Jeep, which should weigh a few kilos less when we leave. A flat-moving is also still on our ‘to-do’ list.
Well, we can’t wait to finally go further south again – Morocco would be the next destination.
Chantal and Tom/end of September 2024
>Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator