View 2007 in a larger map with points of interest table of contents

July 30: We leave Germany through the old Roman town of Trier, take a quick deek through Luxembourg (usually we pass the Duchy :-) and enter France. We intend to get to Champagne, but decide to take a night's rest in Verdun, camped below the walls of the old citadelle.

July 31:We wend our way through the forests and fields of Argonne to Reims in Champagne. Of course, we just missed the 12-2 lunch hour, so we walked around the town before departing. In the picture below Taylor & Thor are sitting next to a spherical fountain  - it is located in a pedestrian zone (in German: fusgangerweg). This is a feature of many European cities that adds a considerable dimension of livability - in the very centre of the city you will find a network of streets essentially barred to vehicles, devoted to pedestrian exploration of the oldest & most interesting parts of the city.

Then we decided to look for a Champagne Domaine to stay at overnight. For this we use France Passion, an organization of about 850 French vintners and farmers who provide no-charge overnight camping spots for self-contained motorhomes. We check out a couple and settle on Remy Galichet in the aptly named town of Bouzy. The red emblem with the green arrow through it in the pic below is the France Passion sign. The friendly vintner came out to greet us and told us where to park so as not to get in the way of the trucks in the morning.

Aug. 1 - Winding our way along the Marne in the direction of Paris, champagne caves gradually gave way to farms - again utilising France Passion, we stayed at La Ferme Parrichets - where after meeting the owner of the farm we stocked up on homemade chicken fricassee, pate, fresh free range eggs and Biere de Brie, brewed entirely on a hop farm nearby!

Aug. 2 & 3:Paris!: We do a straight run on the freeway into Paris, getting a bit bogged down in traffic on the Periferique - the ring road that surrounds the city (although Paris has grown outside the Periferique in every direction). The camping is in the Bois du Boulogne - likely the most expensive in Europe, but worth it due to its location right in the city - on the Seine near the Champs Elysee. We'll only stay 2 days, simply walking old favourite haunts, having a coffee at Deux Magots, dinner at a favourite restaurant. No art galleries, etc.

Aug. 4 - We leave Paris, heading down the N7, a pit stop at a Carrefour Hypermarche and a turn around the medieval town of Chateau Landon before settling in a park-like setting on the banks of a spring at a town-provided no-charge camping aire in Noget sur Vernisson.

Aug. 5 - We expect to drive 100 kms or so to the Nevers region, but about 20 km. down the road we check out Briare and decide to stay the day on the banks of the Loire River. Briare has a unique attraction - a half mile bridge for boats over the Loire - the "Pont Canal".

Aug. 6 - 9 We begin a tour of the countryside of the eastern Loire & Burgundy. The medieval town of Apremont sur Alliers, with its Chateau gardens, lunch (menu du terroir - charolais et escargots et un carafe du vin!) within the ramparts of the old hilltop town of Bourbon, encamped next to the Loire in Decize & Digoin, strolling through the partially dismantled Abbaye de Cluny, staying the night on the grounds of the Chateau de Bois, partaking of a degustation of Pinot Noir de Bourgogne, visiting medieval sites, driving tiny one-lane roads with impossible turns (glad we aren't one foot longer :-) - that duck in the pic below was going nowhere fast - Taylor had to leap out & exercise her duck-wrangling talents to avoid it becoming confit!

Aug. 9- 14  We enter the fabled Cote d'Or wine region of Burgundy from Chalon sur Saone. Using France Passion, we stay in the Rialta right on the grounds of wine domaines in Pommard and Chorey. We take a tour through the Hautes de Beaune/Hautes de Nuit region to visit the medieval town of Chateauneuf en Auxois, then continue, with a stop to buy a few select bouteilles in Vosne Romanee, to Dijon, for a walking tour of the town. After that, we travel past Besancon to Baume les Dames in Franche-Comte, where we find a tranquil spot next to a canal for the night. Thor refused to cross the bridge across the canal lock, so Taylor did her usual "let's spoil the poodle routine" :-). The following day, we drive through the Alsace region, dotted with French towns with German names and a war-torn history, heading for Freiburg to begin the final leg of this tour.

Aug. 14 - 21 We enter Germany near Basel Switzerland and make our way to Freiburg - an old university town in the Black Forest. Although the Altstadt was completely destroyed in an Allied raid in 1944, the town still manages to retain the essence of a medieval scholarly centre. It was also the home of the great 20th Century philosopher Martin Heidegger - although this is mentioned nowhere in the tourist literature. Schweinhaxe und Bier at the Ganter Brauhaus on the cathedral square round out our visit to Freiburg; the next day we set out for a leisurely drive to the capital of United Europe - the picturesque city of Strasbourg, sitting on the Rhine just inside the French border. Re-entering Germany on a ferry over the Rhine, we wend our way through Heidelberg, up the Neckar, staying overnight at Ebersbach, then up into the Odenwald, staying in the picturesque village of Erbach. Hard to believe we're within 60 km. of Frankfurt flughafen. Thor & Taylor fly out from Frankfurt, while I proceed into the Netherlands, where a friend helps me secure temporary storage. And there the Rialta sits, waiting for our next voyage - maybe Morocco over Christmas, maybe Greece via the motorhome ferry and then into Turkey ?

Summer 2007: