Black Forest (part 2 with Millie)

Thursday 1^st August Stuttgart.

We were woken by the sound of city life: bin men doing their rounds and then a workman cutting a grassy bank with his strimmer.  At 8am we bought an hour’s parking whilst we had breakfast and then headed out to find our friend Jurgen’s house in Thingstrasse Stuttgart.

We were both excited at the prospect of seeing Millie and so were very disappointed when we received a phone call from Sharon saying that they had been stuck in traffic for two hours and were going to miss the plane. By this time we had arrived at Jurgen’s flat, we had coffee on his third floor balcony and awaited news. In the end Sharon was able to book Millie onto the 5pm flight which arrived in Stuttgart shortly after 8pm. However the day’s drama did not end there as there was another phone call which despite the fact that Millie was on an assisted flight informed us that Millie’s passport had been found on the transfer bus between terminal and plane! We were very grateful for Jurgen’s help as he liaised with the civil police at the airport for us enabling Millie to enter the country on a temporary German passport. We then arranged to have her own passport flown out the following day. Millie’s first solo flight had certainly been interesting. It was about 9.15pm when we got back to Jurgen’s so we parked quickly and then walked down to the local Italian restaurant where we enjoyed a good meal.

Friday 2^nd August Stuttgart to Lenzkirch

Our return journey to the Black Forest was delayed as we had to wait until 1pm to pick up Millie’s passport. This went without mishap and we were able to continue the 150km journey south. The traffic was initially heavy but soon we were able to travel at a good speed arriving in the small village of Lenzkirch.  Here we had to negotiate an umleitung (diversion) to get to the campsite that Jurgen and Massia had arranged. They had arrived about an hour before us and we were able to park next to them. We were all hot so the first task was to find the ‘ natural lake’ the campsite owners had built here so that we could go for a swim. It was rather fun to swim with the coots and waterlillies. That night we had a BBQ and it was great to relax with a few beers from the brewery that owned the campsite.  Millie was very pleased to learn a new card game from Jurgen ‘mau mau’.

Saturday 3^rd August Lenzkirch and Feldberg

The temperatures in southern Germany were in the high 30s. Mike and Millie went for a quick swim in the indoor pool and then we all left for Feldberg.  Feldberg is the highest mountain in southern Germany and the temperatures would be cooler here. We took three buses with minimal waiting time between each and then a cable car up the mountain. All the transport was free with the Hochschwarzwald card that came with our campsite fee. We walked for about an hour up to the highest point where we ate our rolls for lunch and then we repeated our journey back to the campsite. At Lenzkirch there was a long wait for the last bus so we walked the last 30mins home. We were all very hot when we arrived so our first stop was at the brewery for beers and icecream. We had a quick swim and then got ready for a meal at the brewery restaurant that Jurgen had booked. It is chanterelle season so we all had chanterelle soup to start and Jacqui had pork steak with chanterelles for a main course.  Millie had her first weiner schnitzel which she enjoyed very much. We were all tired and in bed by 11pm.

Sunday 4^th August Lenzkrich and Triberg

Mike and Millie went for a swim after breakfast whilst Jacqui got the van ready for our trip to Kehl for the van repairs. At 11am the day looked grim: very dark clouds that were soon causing a downpour of rain and hail. It rained for a good hour and then the  skies cleared so we said goodbye to Jurgen and Massia and set off for Triberg. We had a good drive and stopped for lunch at the same picnic stop where we had slept a few days beforehand.

Once in Triberg we headed for the large waterfall and had a good wander up the hillside. At one point we took a detour to the ‘high ropes’ where Millie and Jacqui climbed around the trees on wobbly planks and ropes. Despite a good safety harness Jacqui felt uncomfortable and nervous most of the way round but Millie loved it. It should have cost 20 euros but as we only had 15 euros we negotiated a reduced entry.

Back in the village we found a cash point and went to the café for Millie to try the Black Forest cake. She did not like the kirsch taste so instead she ate most of Jacqui’s raspberry cheesecake. We left the town at 7pm and headed for the ‘largest cuckoo clock in the world’   and were fortunate to hear its last call of the day at 7.30pm. We continued our journey arriving in Kehl shortly after 9pm where we were able to park outside the workshop.  Jacqui made a quick chicken and rice supper and then bed for us all as we had to get the van into the workshop by 7am.

Monday 5^th August Strasbourg

We were up just after 6am so that we could wash and get ready for the day. We drove the van into the workshop. Sandra, who spoke very good English, explained all  the work that was to be done to both the workshop manager and us. There was a slight hiccup as the workshop manager did not like our LPG system but agreed to work on the van outside the workshop despite the 39C. They then provided us with breakfast and after that we took their hire car (15 euros per day) and headed off for Strasbourg. We were able to park very centrally, the advantages of being in a Fiat 500 over a 3.5 ton motorhome. Our first visit was to Place Kleber, it was quiet here this morning and we could see the fountains and surrounding buildings with ease. From there we walked down the shopping centre to Place Gutenberg with Millie stopping off regularly to admire earrings. From here it was a short walk to the soaring Cathedral de Notre dame. It was a beautiful building but once again it was largely covered in scaffolding for restoration work. Inside there were some fine stained glass windows and a huge astrological clock. One of the things the clock is famous for is striking midday with accuracy at 12.30pm. From there we walked down to the picturesque area of Petit France where there are lots of bridges crossing the canal. They were all highly decorated with colourful petunias.  Jacqui was hoping there would be a breeze by the waterside but it was just as hot so we decided to try to find a shady park for lunch. Back in the car we drove to the area of the European institutions and we found a lovely park opposite the European Parliament and just down the road from the European Court of Human Rights. It was around this time that we had a call from Burstner informing us that all the work had been completed so we headed back to Kehl.

It took us a while to go through everything and Mike found one blind that had been fitted damaged. This took another hour to rectify but they did provide us with refreshments.  Overall it cost over 1300 euros.

It was then a hot drive back to Lenzkirch with a Lidl shop en route. It was good to be back in the Black Forest where it was cooler and had access to swimming pools. A swim, a large beer and a BBQ and we all began to feel human again. Yet again Millie enjoyed playing cards with us for most of the evening.

Tuesday 6^th August Lenzkirch

Today was a lovely relaxing day. In the morning Mike and Millie went swimming and missed saying goodbye to Jurgen and Massia.  The rest of the morning we relaxed in the sun and at 1pm we were delighted to see Jules and Jay (not forgetting Charlie their pooch) arrive. As we had not seen them since Greece we had a long chat about our respective travels. Later on we took Jay to the ‘natural lake’ for a swim whilst Jules (who does not like frogs) tried to take photos of the numerous dragonflies  as well as of us. In the evening we shared a BBQ (largely provided by J&J) and played cards with Millie until bedtime. She was very pleased there were 5 of us so that we could play ‘pit dwellers’.

Sleep was shortlived that night as there was another massive thunderstorm. One particularly large crack of lightening followed by a prolonged thunder roll had Millie leaping into our bed. As the storm showed no signs of abating Jacqui left her to sleep with Mike and took the smaller bed.

Wednesday 7^th August Titisee

Jules and Jay left for France after having coffee with us – perhaps we will meet up there too. By lunchtime we were also ready to leave the site.  It was a showery day but we decided to go to lake Titisee for a boat trip and to look around the town.  The boat trip was free with our hochschwarzwald card and we enjoyed the 30 minute tour of the lake. The town was more disappointing being full of tourist tat. Millie was really keen to go back to Feldberg to try the other ‘high trees’ climbing set up there. As it had stopped raining we drove up there but found the centre to be closed for the next couple of days due to the thundery weather. So back down to Lenzkirch where we visited the post office to post the insurance claim off and to the campsite to return our discount cards. It was now time to leave the Black Forest for Stuttgart in readiness for Millie’s flight home tomorrow. We had agreed with Jurgen to park outside his flat for the night. Of course, with his hospitality, this meant we were invited in for supper. We had a pleasant last night with him although Millie was feeling out of sorts.