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Brrr! (Feb/Mar06) Last Bit... Posted on: 10-19-2007 @ 07:03 pm |
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Part 3, the journey home…….
Time to start heading home and we decide to loosely follow a similar route back. First, a fairly long stretch back to Freiburg. Drove all day, we had nearly got snowed in at Oberstdorf but managed to get out with the chains on. Really slow to get out of the area, there seemed to be loads of people on the road, and there were many tailbacks. Still, never mind all the extra snowfall made the scenery even more beautiful on the way back than it had been coming in, so that was a bonus.
As I mentioned previously we planned to stop at Donauschingen but the aire was under even more snow than our first visit and the authorities obviously had more pressing duties keeping the roads clear rather than clear a spot for motorhomes which was fair enough so on we went. We also stopped at a delightful stopover at a small village called Hufingen.
Hufingen stellplatz
The stellplatz was on the outskirts of the village in a pleasant location by the river. The snow had been cleared down to the stellplatze next to the sani station so the plan was to stay there for the night however a chap explained we couldn’t stop as there was to be a big bonfire party that night and there would be no room for us to park, well I think that’s what he said and we didn’t want to risk being turfed off later so we pressed on back to Freiburg and ‘Thally’ directed us to the shell lpg station to top up before going back to the Stellplatz for the night.
Freiburg had also had about a foot of snow but once again a track had been cleared with just enough room for us to sneak in for the night alone. Very tired, we slept like logs again.
Freiburg stellplatz - more snow than the first visit
Next morning we stumbled across a huge ‘real’ supermarket on the outskirts and stocked up with all those bits you can only get in Germany before venturing back into France. Once again ‘Thally’ threw a wobbler as we approached the border so we ignored her until we got into France then reset it for the parking at Col de la schluct.
I figured that if Germany had been having some serious snow then chances are that it would be similar round here and especially over the passes so as soon as the road began to rise and I saw a bit of snow settling on the road I stopped and donned chains just to be on the safe side.
road up to col de la schluct
Turned out to be a good call and the roads gradually got worse the higher we went with very few places to stop to don chains which surprised me. A really picturesque drive to the top of the pass and parked again at the top and did a bit of snow shoeing around the area.
Like Germany they had had about 2 foot of snow up the top here. We were contemplating staying the night up here again but there were no other vans to be seen so thought better of it. Hate to get snowed in alone!
We headed partway back down the pass to Belle hut and decided to treat ourselves to a stay on a proper campsite and booked into camping belle hutte. What a cracker of a site in a stunning location, €20 a night without leccy but well worth it.
Belle hutte by day...
Beautiful squeaky clean toilet blocks and a lovely view round every corner. There is a dedicated motorhome parking area at the front of the site and all the caravans are on the terraces up the hillside. They also have a few holiday chalets which are lit up at night with neon, sounds really tacky but it looked really impressive against the snow at night.
...and by night
Next day we hired some skis and spent a lovely day going round all the cross country tracks, really getting the hang of this skiing lark, we can now ski freestyle out of the grooves and I only fell over twice, yep, a great improvement!
Kept hold of the skis and went back up to the col and did more skiing up there as its our favourite stretch then handed them back and retreated to the aire at Gerardmer for our last night in the snow.
The new aire at Gerardmer
Next morning we doubled back to Lac Du Der and stayed the night alone in the same spot again. We were back into plus temperatures now so switched back to the normal waste tank and lashed the 5 gallon container to the rear (giving more room inside for wine at Auchan!). The wind really blew overnight and rocked us to sleep. Had a quick walk round the lake (not all the way – it’s a big lake!) then had a spot of breakfast and off we went again.
We had read about the aire at Reims in a recent article in MMM so set ‘Thally’ and she took us straight there with no fuss.
Entance to the Reims aire
This really is an unusual aire located at the rear of the ‘comedie’ theatre, to get in you drive up to a barrier and then get an access code from the office up the stairs. It’s all free with fresh water and waste emptying facilities and is ideal if you want to explore Reims and maybe take in a play or visit the Cathedral. Right next to a busy dual carriageway so it’s a bit noisy but hey, it’s free. We did the latter and had a look round the cathedral and also had a walk round the shops.
Sadly we were approaching the end of the holiday and our customary last night on the sea front at Calais.
Calais
Went to Auchan and did the usual stock up with a litre or 50 of wine, as you do, then back to the aire for the ‘last supper’ and onto the ferry the following morning to head back to good ole Blighty (?) and end of holiday  .
Some observations along the way;
Diesel in France about €1.05 per litre in supermarkets – LPG about 65cents per litre
Diesel in Germany a little dearer than France, around €1.07 - €1.10 per litre and LPG similar to France at 65cents per litre.
Don’t use the Leclerc at St Dizier, its now decidedly motorhome unfriendly with height barriers on all the car parks and only 2 slots for motorhomes a long walk across the road at the fuel station.
More and more places in France seem to have adopted the PIN system instead of signature, especially the supermarkets which is good news.
I have not yet come across one supermarket in Germany that accepts debit or credit cards, they only seem to take cash. German filling stations are a different matter and cards are widely accepted everywhere and there’s no problems filling up on Sundays like in France.
Well, that’s it, hope you enjoyed the write up, we certainly enjoyed the holiday and can’t wait to do it again next year, it just goes to prove that with a little preparation its perfectly feasible to motorhome in alpine conditions with a non winterized van so please don’t let that put anyone off. What really surprised us is that apart from at Calais we never saw one other UK van throughout the whole holiday but sometimes it’s nice that way!
More Photo's here... http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=gallery2&g2_itemId=69950
Roll on next year.
Pete. |
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Last updated on 10-31-2008 @ 03:05 pm
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France
