3rd July 2016
Edinburgh to Tankerton
Sector 446 miles
Total 4386 miles
Finally, having sorted things out with the NHS, escaped from Scotland early Sunday morning and undertook the usual long tedious trek down the A1/A14/M11/A2/M2/A229 down to Whitstable to over night at my sister's place in Tankerton.
4th July 2016
Tankerton to Malo-les-Bains
Sector 118 miles
Total 4504 miles
After an easy crossing from Dover to Calais, noticed that the illegals 'camp' at Calais looks like it has been rebuilt after having been pulled down by the French Authorities in April. Police cars all over the place. Anyway passed without incident and then pottered around a bit to end up at the free Aire at Malo-les-Bains. Essentially, the eastern extension of Dunkerque.
5th July 2016
Malo-les-Bains to Tournai (Belgium)
Sector 72 miles
Total 4576 miles
The motorways in north-eastern France and Belgium are free to use so I took the fast route after a damp morning walk along the promenade,to get some bread, to Tornai. Parked up there at a free Aire on the edge of a huge car park just outside the centre of the old town. Originally developed as a roman settlement (bits exposed in the north aisle of the cathedral) then later and important textile manufacturing town in Flanders in the early medieval period. with it's associated guilds. Weather brightened a little in the afternoon and had a wander around the Grand Place, Cathedral (mainly closed for restoration) and down to the River Scheldt - to see a huge barge pass beneath a vertical lift bridge in the town centre.
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| Tournai - Pont des Trous |
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| Tournai - Grand Place Banners represent the old trade guilds |
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| Tournai - Bloody great barge passing through the middle of town |
6th July 2016
Tournai - St Hubert (Belgium)
Sector 126 miles
Total 4702 miles
Initially motorway and then back roads through the province of Belgian Luxembourg (essentially part of the Ardennes) into wooded hills and ridges. to stop off at a free Aire, next to a park, in the cathedral town of St Hubert.
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| St Hubert - Main Street through town |
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| St Hubert - Cathedral Church and I think the visitors lodgings on the left
7th July 2016
St Hubert to Forneau St Michel (Belgium)
Sector 8 miles
Total 4170 miles
A few miles down the road to stay and a very quite aire surrounded by pine, birch and beech forest situated between an extensive museum of rural life, with numerous relocated buildings from schoolroom and church to barns and water mills, and an iron works museum. I discovered after I had been wandering around for about two hours that I should have paid an admission fee - reduced to 5euro for seniors! Another 5 euro saved. Later a long evenings walk through the forestry along a more or less blazoned trail.
8th July 2016
Forneau St Michel to Redagne (Luxembourg)
Sector 54 miles
Total 4764 miles
On through mainly wooded hills and ridges via Bastogne, of Battle of the Bulge fame in December 1944 where the 101st US Airborne were encircled with the well known response of 'Nuts' when requested to surrender. Stopped of at a free Aire on the edge of town next to a park with a huge supermarket (Cactus) just five minutes walk away mainly surrounded by arable fields.
9th July 2016
Redagne to Echternach (Luxembourg)
Sector 32 miles
Total 4796 miles
Woods and rolling arable fields to end up near the German border late in the day at a free Aire at Echternach located on a huge landscaped parking area above a large lake and park a kilometre or so out from the town centre. Spent a couple of nights here and did a long walk on the second day along yet another branch of the Way of St James (last partially trodden by me in the Tarn valley last summer). Bloody hot on the Sunday afternoon at around 33C. Convenient supermarket at the edge of the car park and diesel only 0.923c per litre - the price seemed to be fixed in Luxembourg as far as I could work out from the free newspaper, in French, from the supermarket. Also of note was that, Luxembourg's immigrant population has increased by 12.5% since 2005 and now totals 47% of the population as a whole! Oddly the most populous group were Portuguese.
11th July 2016
Echtnerbach to Herrstein (Germany)
Sector 56 miles
Total 4852 miles
Into Germany through more wooded hills with huge conifers in the Hunsruch National Park to end up in a small aire at the edge of a typical German village with half-timbered houses, castle and a couple of churches (town church and castle church). Pleasant morning's walk a long a medieval themed trail before breakfast the next morning.
12 July 2016
Herrstein to Neckerbischofheim
Sector 115 miles
Total 4967 miles
Onwards and eastwards across the Moselle and Rhine to get on to the Burgenstrasse (a tourist route that eventually ends up at Prague) which I hope to follow for the next few days.
Small town with an aire next to the open air swimming pool - entrance fee 2.50euro - Edinburgh City Council about £6! A really friendly German guy that has come to the aire to clean out his wohnmobile, after a trip to Italy, was kind enough to give me two guides to aires in Germany. It's really great when you met such helpful people - why can't it be like that all the time?
13th July 2016
Neckerbischofheim to Weinsburg
Sector 56 miles
Total 5021 miles
Careful planning for a twenty five mile trip via a couple of castles became nearly sixty miles as I kept loosing the Burgenstrasse route from the signage - so much for Germanic efficiency! Any way ended up at Weinsburg, in a free aire near the centre of town, which is crowned by a circular hill surrounded by steeply sloping riesling vineyards and topped off by a late medieval castle.
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