see trail on Wikiloc here ! The weather is cold but a bit overcast today and we set off on foot from the hotel along the creek nearby. We take the scenic road up the valley and hike steadily uphill all the way to the Windeck. We don’t follow a marked tour, but have a… Continue reading hike around the Windeck
See Wikiloc trail here ! Up at seven thirty, breakfast at eight and we leave around nine thirty from the hotel, wearing lots of woolly layers, winter hiking pants (this is actually a thing) and rain jackets with a down bodywarmer. We studied the route on the map so we use the Wikiloc app not… Continue reading Hike to Titisee
Shoes are waxed, everything’s washed so we fill up the trunk and get ready to leave around nine thirty. It should be a 6 hour drive and it’s a Sunday, so we’re not expecting any traffic jams. Everything goes smoothly, we switch drivers every two hours and have a quick meal in a rest stop.… Continue reading drive to Hinterzarten
Today is a gloomy day with overcast weather and a light drizzle, though this does not change our plans: we drive to Vladslo to visit the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof. We haven't visited any German cemeteries in France, though we did not exclude them specifically from our plans. Here around Ypres there are several close by though and… Continue reading Around Ypres
The In Flanders Fields museum in the centre of Ypres opens only at 10 am, so we have time for a leisurely breakfast before leaving the B&B. We see a few big buses so we expect a crowd and indeed we're surrounded quickly by classes of schoolchildren. Doesn't matter, the museum is nicely organized so… Continue reading The Ypres Salient
We’ve prepared our itinerary from Saint Quentin to Ypres and timed it perfectly to arrive at the first museum at opening time. It turns out however that the Historial de la Grande Guerre in Péronne is closed on Wednesdays after October. It looks very interesting from the outside so we’re sorry to miss it, but… Continue reading The battlefields of the Somme
The view of Verdun from the hotel room is nice, but we decide to stick to the theme and so we leave for the Fort de Vaux after breakfast. We passed it yesterday so we decide to forgo the help of the GPS and find our way ourselves. Serendipitously, we stop at one of the… Continue reading The battle fields of Chemin des Dames
Dinner was great, we had the Menu de la chasse with wild duck, pheasant and deer and tea with mignardises in the lounge by the fire. The hotel is very charming, but we feel a bit out of place due to our age: most of the other guests seem to be retired. Alarm is set… Continue reading To Verdun
This is the excerpt for your very first post.
Important Note: I did not write this during the journey, but only in 2019 when adding the journal to the blog. After a leisurely breakfast we set out on the last leg of our trip home. We follow the Valley of the Seven Castles. The drive itself is charming: green fields and forests, blue skies,… Continue reading Mersch to home
Important Note: I did not write this during the journey, but only in 2019 when adding the journal to the blog. Today we drive to Luxembourgh, that's about 345 km so we have plenty of time to visit stuff on the way. We start with Kaysersberg, recently voted the prettiest village in France. We park… Continue reading Colmar to Mersch
Important Note: I did not write this during the journey, but only in 2019 when adding the journal to the blog. We leave the car at the hotel and walk to the Basel zoo, arriving just at opening time. We spend most of the day here, having a sausage in a bun for lunch. We… Continue reading Basel to Colmar
The weather is grey and foggy, but by the time we set off (after a disappointing breakfast) it’s starting to clear up. We drive towards the Trümmelbach waterfalls, following a picturesque highway passing by lakes and through tunnels. The drive up to the falls is very nice, with views of the canyon valley and snowy… Continue reading Altdorf to Basel
Arne picked me up at the Avis office in Como the day before around 6 pm. We drove to the B&B La Villa and visited Como after a quick shower and hugging the local cat. In the morning, I have several texts and calls from family, wishing me a happy birth day. Hugging the cat… Continue reading Como to Altdorf
For breakfast we get a baguette, margarine, jam and a knife (no plates), so we’re done pretty quickly. We get a baguette from the bakery for our lunch and set off. This time we’re able to follow the canal road, since it’s used as a service road for a series of 26 locks, closely spaced… Continue reading LE CHESNE – CAUREL: 60 KM
It’s a short day, so we get up a bit later, take our time with breakfast and leave around 9h30. We get turned around leaving town, but once we find the right waterway we’re off. The weather is still stormy and windy and we’re expecting rain, but it’s a beautiful road along the Maas river.… Continue reading CHARLEVILLE-MÉZIÈRES – LE CHESNE: 50 KM
We follow the Maas river south the whole day on the Trans-Ardennes route, though fortunately the river loops back and forth so we don’t have the wind straight in our faces the whole way. The weather is pretty stormy with fast moving clouds and occasional rain squalls. When it rains, it rains a lot but… Continue reading GIVET – CHARLEVILLE-MÉZIÈRES: 85 KM
to Namur Today is the longest day (counting in kilometers), so we have breakfast at 8 and leave around 9h30. The first stretch is supposed to be really easy, since it follows an ancient railroad, however it seems that though the incline is small, it’s significant and continuous, so it’s basically a long way slightly… Continue reading GELDENAKEN – GIVET: 95 KM
to Leuven We packed most of our gear on Saturday, got some new t-shirts etc. and checked the bikes, so on Sunday morning we just need to have breakfast, load up and start cycling. I go to the bakery to get pistolets for a carb-rich start of the day and we try to finish off… Continue reading LINT – GELDENAKEN: 82 KM
We get up and start packing. I fold all the dirty clothes in one side of the trunk, determined not to open the zipper until we’re near the washing machine at home. We leave around 9 with an ETA of 3 pm at La Butte au Bois, a Relais & Chateaux hotel with a Michelin… Continue reading A smooth drive to la Butte au Bois
This is our last walk and we had some doubts about whether we wanted to actually do the steep climb. However our legs are in pretty good shape in the morning so we set off to Gfäll after stopping at the Edeka store to get some sandwiches for lunch. The road to Gfäll is the… Continue reading Der Grosser Rachel
Febe writes 