Category: Europe 8 Lakes Tour 2019

So we had a lazy morning – I updated the blog and Dave was messing about on his computer (like he does !!!)
I made us a nice fruit salad and then we set off supposedly for “The B500” (which is apparently the iconic road through The Black Forest 🌳 – as Route 66 is to California)…
So we picked a campsite and both Google Maps AND our Garmin (Motorhome SatNav) tried to send us via the motorway (as it was a more direct route and thus quicker) and after we stopped for fuel (quite soon after we left the previous campsite) I googled it again and dragged the route over to go down the B500 and advised Dave (strongly) to hang a right – but no – being a man, always being right, etc. he went left…
He got himself on the B500, informed me I had been wrong and told me to get a photo of the B500 sign on the road – which I did. However – as you can see – it’s on the way to Paris – i.e. we were heading north not south – but it still took a while to eventually realise this and go round the roundabout and back on the other side 😂😂😂
Anyway – it WAS a lovely route (if a bit steep and lairy in places – at one point where they had closed the road and Dave had to do a 3-point turn on the edge of a cliff where they were hang-gliding off the edge, I shut my eyes and hung onto the arms of my chair !!!)
It was too busy to park at the BEST photo-opportunity place but we pulled over and had lunch and took a couple of photos anyway…
Notice the “bald” trees – bit of trivia – some beetle has been feasting on the trees (I would have given you a more informative explanation but the mobile phone and data coverage here is shocking !!!
And (sadly) the tribute to the motorcyclist who sadly lost his life at the side of the road… 💗💋 xxx > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

• Location: 48° 48′ 30.84″ N 8° 8′ 17.22″ E

So we did a fairly long haul from Luxembourg 🇱🇺 City to Germany 🇩🇪 yesterday – over 3 hours in The Van.
What we noticed as we drove back into France 🇫🇷 before hitting Germany 🇩🇪 was that lots of towns had German or German-French names (e.g. Mendorf Les Bains) but the road signs were all still in French…
We tried one campsite close to the top of the Black Forest 🌳 but it was full (Dave was delighted as it looked like Butlins’s 😂) then came across “Camping Adam” a little further along.
It is set around it’s own lake and so I went for a swim when we arrived yesterday – Dave went in up to his knees, muttered something about eels and went to watch me at the side !!!
It was so hot 🥵 it was just lovely to cool down… Then we got dressed and had a drink down by the lake and had a lovely BBQ followed by choux buns from the E.Leclerc hypermarche which were to die for (I’m going up be over 10 stone on my return !!!)
Nice lazy morning updating the blog – off for a shower now – more later – Auf Wiedersehen for now 💗💋 xxx > > > > > > > >

• Location: 48° 43′ 37.85″ N 8° 5′ 2.87″ E

So we got off the Skyliner and had a couple of drinks 🍸 🍺 in the sunshine in the centre where I spotted “C & A” !!! Remember that chain ? It bit the dust well before BHS in the UK but appears to be alive and well here !!! Sadly it was closed 😐
Luxembourg City is really hilly (thank goodness for the ELECTRIC bikes) so we cycled back and here we are with views over the city before our return journey via the woods where My Dave managed to capture a photie of Bambi… 💗💋 xxx

• Location: 49° 36′ 38.89″ N 6° 7′ 54.54″ E

So we came out of Notre Dame and were supposed to be going to the new (free) Pfaffenthal Glass Lift for panoramic views of the city but I made the mistake of showing My Dave some photos of it and hi noticed it had a glass floor (which he isn’t keen on to say the least !!!) so we ended up paying 14 euros to go on the Skyliner Rotating Lift (which I think was probably better in the end). Photos of the Woman of Gold (which was a WW II memorial but now signifies the freedom of Luxembourg 🇱🇺, the compulsory double-selfie with nothing recognisable in the background, each of us with the Luxembourg 🇱🇺 flag in the background on the way up, me with the Adolphe Bridge in the background, and also the time lapse photo-vid that Dave took which does the full rotation in 12 seconds… 💋💗 xxx

• Location: 49° 36′ 34.31″ N 6° 7′ 46.26″ E

So we trundled off to Luxembourg City and had lunch outside the van and then set off on the bikes for the centre.
Supposedly a 22 minute ride, we ended up following the river through the forest 🌳 and it took us over an hour but it was idyllic – with the breeze and the dappled sunlight (although I did kept giving Dave ear-ache that we were going the wrong way 😂😂😂).
We tried to visit the Grand Ducal Palace but it was fully booked so we bobbed over to the Norte Dame Cathedral and it was beautiful…
Check out the stained glass window of the Three Kings visiting baby Jesus and also the painting of The Wedding At Cana (where He changed water 💦 into wine 🍷)…
And I particularly liked the framed picture of the candles and it translates as:-
I don’t know how to pray, I don’t know what to say, I don’t have a lot of time…
SO ?
The light that I offer is a little bit of the good in me, … is a little bit of my time, … is a little bit of myself
That I leave before the Lord, … before the Virgin Mary, … before a saint
This light that shines symbolises my prayer that I continue as I leave…
* * * * *
God Bless the lot of you – whatever you’re up to and wherever you are 🙏 💗 xxx

• Location: 49° 36′ 36.61″ N 6° 7′ 50.95″ E

So as we left Dinant, Belgium 🇧🇪 yesterday morning, Dave wanted me to take this photo and pop it on the blog (for when we’re old and senile and can look back at where we’ve been). Full-on day in Luxembourg 🇱🇺 – blog entries to follow shortly… xxx

• Location: 50° 15′ 44.85″ N 4° 54′ 36.2″ E

So we visited a lovely (cool !!!) church and on the bridge there are all different painted saxophones dedicated to different countries (there wasn’t one for the UK 🇬🇧…) And then had a couple of beers at a riverside bar (no photie – sorry)… xxx

• Location: 50° 15′ 39.59″ N 4° 54′ 43.69″ E

So here we are visiting the La Maison De Monsieur Sax – the house where he was born – on Adolphe Sax Street… xxx

So we had a lay-in and were making our way to Luxembourg City (through Belgium) and we came to the town of Dinant en-route (apparently My Dave has stayed here at a campsite on the river with Mick and Paul 4 times in the past).
Dinant is where Adolphe Sax was born in 1814 and he invented the saxophone 🎷!!!
We decided to have a night here and got a lovely spot overlooking the river – here’s My Dave tucking into lunch, me with a cup of tea by the river and then the compulsory selfie – more photies of the town in a sec… 💗💋 xxx

• Location: 50° 16′ 37.34″ N 4° 53′ 49.76″ E

Ventured out on the bikes. Only because next door did! Got to keep up with the Jones’s.
Got as far as Lidl’s no less. What an adventure. Charlie Borman eat your heart out:)

• Location: 50° 17′ 58.46″ N 3° 47′ 46.52″ E