Sunday 27th September – Seebruck, Chiemsee, Germany

 We had decided to explore Bavaria for the main part of our trip but had only set our initial stop of Chiemsee, a lake in the bottom south-east corner of Germany. In theory, it was a two and a half hour drive to the lake but there was a major delay on the A8 south of Munich. The motorway was reduced to a single lane, the queues were horrendous and it added nearly an hour to the journey. Once we were past the roadworks the driving was easy and the motorway quiet. We got views of the very large Chiemsee lake before we turned off and drove up the eastern side. Just before the town of Seebruck, we arrived at Campingplatz Kupferschmiede am Chiemsee. The café opposite the campsite is very popular with bikers and there must have been more than 50 bikes parked in the roads around. We chose our pitch and relaxed after a rather tedious journey.
Photos: Our pitch at the campsite.

Saturday 26th September – Ehingen, Germany

 We originally planned to spend a couple of days in Augsburg but realised that it was weekend and we might have problems getting into the stellplatz. We also planned to come back to the area to visit other sights, so we decided to find a more rural stop for one night and then move on.
We have spent a lot of time on motorways and so we set a cross-country route to reduce the motorway mileage. The journey was reasonably straightforward except for a couple of roadwork delays and we arrived at the Ehingen stellplatz to find a lot of other motorhomes but plenty of space for us. The stellplatz sits on top of a hill on the outskirts of the town and has views over the town, hills and countryside. The stellplatz has free WiFi and there is no charge for the first 3 nights. We went for a short stroll past the excellent sports facilities and more views. There are opportunities for much longer walks – another time, perhaps?
There is a Greek restaurant next to the stellplatz – the Germans love Greece and Greek food, as we do too. However, we couldn’t face another Greek meal before we ate some genuine German food, so we decided to eat in the van.
The Camembert smell is getting stronger!
Photos: The Harvest Moon rises over the Ehingen stellplatz and the Greek restaurant.

Friday 25th September – Saarlouis, Germany

 We woke to a bright blue sky with that lovely view down the canal. The small, basic wooden hut just a few metres down the tow path was shut but yesterday many locals sat outside it drinking beer, wine and coffee. It must be the smallest bar that I have seen.
I walked into the town for croissants and found a small market in the square in front of the church. We really know that we are in France now! Fish, meat, cheese and vegetable stalls provide supplies for the locals. We stopped at a large supermarket yesterday and stocked up with French goodies, so we had no room for more. The croissants were excellent and I also bought a ‘ferme’ loaf for lunch. I really like Camembert and I had bought a Isigny-sur-Mer au lait cru (unpasteurised) Camembert at the supermarket. It was really ripe and, every time that we opened the fridge, the smell filled the van. I know that we shouldn’t keep cheese in the fridge but we were concerned that we might be asphyxiated by the fumes during the night if we had not done so.
We travelled through Belgium and Luxemburg before entering Germany. I bought a little diesel in France (@€2.339 per litre) and then filled up in Luxemburg where the tax on fuel is much lower. I still set a personal record because, despite the diesel costing much less at €2.095 per litre, I spent €167 (approx. £143) to fill the tank.
We arrived at the Saarlouis stellplatz (aire) to find a building site but there was still space for motorhomes and a good number were already parked up. I had found that there was a Greek restaurant and a bierkeller (bar) close to the aire and we set off to the restaurant, which is on the banks of the Saar river. As we approached, we were assailed by the very loud, bassy music coming from the bar. The restaurant was just a few metres away and we sat on the balcony looking over the river and watching the very large cruise boat leave its moorings and head for the next stop on the Saar. The meal was very good but it was a little strange to be eating a Greek meal whilst listening to continuous disco music.
Photos: The Saint-Venant market and church; The Saar river and cruise boat at Saarlouis.

Thursday 24th September – Saint-Venant, France

In anticipation of potential delays at Dover port, we arrived very early for our ferry but we sailed (sic) through passport control – the new biometric checks have still not been implemented. Being the first in the motorhome queue, we boarded the Irish Ferries Oscar Wilde early and were placed directly in front of the doors, positioned to be first out on arrival. The ship’s lounge was incredibly quiet and we got seats looking over the bow with views of approaching France. The weather has been very good for the last few days and the sea was like a millpond.
It was a very simple journey to the aire at Saint-Venant, somewhere that we haven’t stayed at before. Just four places were reserved for motorhomes, right next to the canal. We wandered into the small town to check out potential places for dinner. It was a fairly typical, rather rundown, Northern French town but had lots of small streams running between the streets. The restaurant that I had identified on Google Maps turned out to be a bar/PMU (betting shop) and didn’t look very exciting, so we decided to eat in the van. On the way back we took a slightly different route and found some more attractive areas that had been restored and improved with EU money. There was also a pretty water mill on one of the streams.

Photos: Ready for a quick getaway; View from our pitch at Saint-Venant; The mill; Sunset over the canal (real colours!).

Wednesday 23rd September – Dover, England

We caught the same bus as yesterday but this time we travelled into the centre of Dover. Our objective was the the installation but I wondered how long it would be before the water jets became blocked or started emitting jets of water rather than mist.

We were really impressed by the museum. The exhibits were interesting, very well displayed and had excellent information boards. The star attraction was the Bronze Age boat that was in amazing state of preservation given that it dated from 2550BC. It is 9.5 metres long by 2.4 metres wide and its construction is still very clear - even the yew withies tying the oak planks together. A video show a half-size replica that had been built and rowed in the English Channel. The Mary Rose Trust had helped to preserve the waterlogged remains that were discovered in 1992 during roadworks close to the Dover seafront.
Amongst other interesting exhibits was a section devoted to finds of a number of local, responsible metal Dover Museum but, as we approached the building, we saw an intriguing (modern art?) installation. It consisted of a series of large metal arches expelling a mist. The water spray was so fine that it hardly felt wet when we walked under the arches. I can imagine that it would have been very pleasant to stand underneath them during the extremely hot weather that we experienced a few weeks ago. I really liked detectorist clubs together with a very amusing, tongue-in-cheek model showing the involvement of the club members in a local Time Team dig, complete with all of the Time Team stars.
Before catching the bus back to the site, we decided to drop in to the Maison Dieu. This is the Town Hall and has recently been beautifully restored. The main hall (see photo below) had been painted over in beige pain and they only discovered its magnificent decoration during the renovation.

Photos: The misty (mystic?) installation; The Bronze Age boat; Detail showing the yew ties; Part of a replica; The metal detectorist clubs’ model - can you spot Mich Aston?; One of the Maison Dieu halls being prepared for a function.

Tuesday 22nd September – Dover, England

Just 5 minutes’ walk took us to the bus stop where we caught the 93 bus. Officially, the bus doesn’t stop at Dover Castle on the way into town but the driver very kindly dropped us off close to the entrance and pointed out the bus stop when we could catch the bus on the way home. We paid our entrance fee, reduced for seniors and further reduced because we arrived on public transport. Getting old is not all bad news! It still cost us over £20 each but there is a huge amount to see at the castle and it was very good value.
We entered over the very deep ditch and across the drawbridge at the Constable’s Gate. We explored the grounds and defences that have changed and expanded dramatically over the millennia since its origins as an Iron Age hillfort. One of the first places that we visited was the Church of St. Mary de Castro Church and the lighthouse. The church, built about 1100 pre-dates the castle but the lighthouse is Roman and is amazingly well preserved considering its age. The thin Roman bricks are very obvious in the lighthouse walls and there even seemed to be some of those bricks in the church. Perhaps they were taken from other Roman buildings? The preservation of the lighthouse can be explained by the fact that the building was reused as the bell tower of the church.

The wartime command tunnels where the defence of the English Channel was controlled, were closed for refurbishment – a great pity as I really wanted to see them. However, the tunnels used as a hospital in WWII were open and we joined a very good guided tour of them.

We then walked up to the Great Tower, the keep in the inner bailey of the castle. The Tower, built in the late 12^th century, has a well used to supply fresh water to the occupants, especially useful in times of siege. The well was sunk into the chalk of the hill and then continued in brick up through the tower. The guide in the well room threw some water down the well and we waited to hear when it hit the water below. I was quite convince that it had hit the side of the well but after 10 seconds there was a loud noise as it reached the bottom. The well is currently 300 feet deep but, when it was built, it was 400 feet deep. That was a very impressive bit of engineering for the 12^th century and I was very glad that I wasn’t the man digging the shaft that was less than 3 feet wide down through hundreds of feet of chalk and into the water below.

Photos: The Constable’s Gate; The Roman Lighthouse next to the church and with the Great Tower in the background; 19^th century graffiti in the Avranches Tower; Approaching the inner bailey and Great Tower; The well in the Great Tower.

Monday 21st September – Dover, England

 A fairly relaxed start, picking up Cara from the secure storage and heading off to the A303. Every time that we have taken a ferry from Dover, we have said that we must visit Dover Castle some time and the time has finally come. We got our act together and booked three nights at the Hawthorn Farm Holiday Park, just outside Dover with bus connections to the town.
After an uneventful journey we arrived at the campsite and ANPR meant that we could drive straight through the barrier and on to our allotted pitch. We had booked a hardstanding pitch and these were close to the entrance and handy for the shower block. However, our pitch backed on to a hedge, the other side of which is a railway line. Fortunately, it is not a main line and the trains are short and travelling slowly, so the noise is not that great. Unfortunately, the trains run from 04:00 to midnight, which led to a rather disturbed night’s sleep. If we stay again, we will request a grass pitch further away from the railway line.
Photos: One of the many trains passes our pitch.