Places

08
Sep
2019

Brief Stays in Ghent & Germany

Whilst not perhaps able to fully endorse the extent of Lonely Planet’s effusive description of Ghent, I can confirm that it is well worth a visit. I thought it was a lovely town, and really accessible with fantastic free motorhome parking including overnight which I took advantage of, walking distance from the centre.

All ‘worked’ re my next 2-night stop at the Dusseldorf Caravon Salon. My main achievement here was to visit the show/exhibition extensively and twice and not buy a single thing. I stayed on the 800-place ‘caravan-center’ whose convenience was not outweighed for me by being under the flight path just by the airport, with business take-offs every minute or so it seemed, making their presence felt from 6am. Quiet though from 23:00 hours.

The 2nd day I made myself get the bike off the rack and cycle along the Rhein to Dusseldorf. Very easy – maybe 6 km away on the flat (for obvious reasons!) the sun was shining, and it was all well worth the effort. Really liked Dusseldorf Altstadt – ie historic centre – and the main thoroughfares. The Rhein is still used for loads of cargo boats transporting vehicles, lorries and all manner of goods.

From there, a 2 hour drive to a most fantastic welcome and 2 nights spent in Wissenbach benefitting from the most gracious hospitality, following the same that I was blessed with in London, my requested German gastronomy of Bienenstich and Curry Wurst, and visiting the Grun Villa museum in Dillenburg which included representations from all the industry/manufacturing there is in this area, including the first ‘airline kitchens’, which has had a historic and worldwide reach.

An abiding impression as I drove the 300 miles south to Lake Constance (Bodensee) for the last overnight in Germany was of the miles and miles of forest/woods still retained. My route around the east side of Bodensee took me through miles of fruit orchards and also vineyards.

Posted by admin in Belgium, Cities-Towns, Germany, Places
01
Sep
2019

Summer in the UK, & into Autumn

It’s 1 September, blue sky and sun shining on a flat sea, the coast of France once again in sight and I’m starting this post from the ferry taking me as planned across the channel to Calais, from where I will hot foot it into Germany. After an overnight in Ghent, Belgium, I am first of all going to the Dusseldorf Caravan/Motorhome show – apparently much bigger than the Birmingham NEC one – because yes, I am still a nerd for ever more tiny space and vehicle homes design, and this is THE mecca for all things motorhoming. Will see.

It’s been a good interlude between travels. One of the things I’ve been able to do in the time back in the UK is obviously spend time with family and visit some old friends, many of whom I haven’t seen for years. I’m going to continue this with a visit after Dusseldorf to a former au-pair who was with us 20 years ago but now with her own family in Germany,

I split my time in July/August very comfortably between my Mum & partner’s house in Lancashire and extended family back in Harrogate. Despite much coming and going with bags containing equipment to cover any type of activity I might want to do in these various locations, my memory and post-it notes failed only once (at least as far as I’m aware having at least made it through border checks etc) resulting in me driving in the end many unnecessary miles back from whence I’d only just travelled, to retrieve a bag thought left behind, but which was, in the end, at my new destination already. Abit of a tortuous description, but it sort of reflects the idiocy of that event! Now that I’m back living out of the van again for a few weeks, so only one respository of stuff, fingers crossed, all necessary items will remain with me.

Having decided that I still had motivation for business analysis work when the career break ends, I took a professional diploma a couple of weeks ago, so it was a good use of time to be able to do revision in a very relaxed fashion. Got absolutely fed up with it all though so the exam date came around at just the right time. Hopefully I’ll have passed it to add to my CV/LinkedIn if I come to apply for new jobs. At the mo, am feeling that just when British employees are going to become a hassle to employ, I would like to see whether I can get a contract in some European city, doing this only some 30 years after I had the original intention. Evolution of such a possibility to be continued when this journey finishes, which will probably be towards end Oct, when I will take a ferry circumnavigating the globe, or put the van on an earth-orbit-hopping spaceship so as to arrive at Scotland via the Arctic Circle or alternatively, black hole; either will be preferable despite my travel sickness and increasing aversion to flying, to getting caught in the post-no deal Brexit queues.

Having decided that I did not have motivation to do house hunting over the Summer so as not to risk distracting myself from setting off again, and closing down any other options, a house which ticks all the boxes unexpectedly presented itself in Harrogate just a couple of weeks ago, so I promptly put an offer in which was accepted, so that’s now all going ahead 🙂 Plus ca change!

The last objective of the Summer was to achieve the longed-for bop, and last night’s ‘Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet’ event in south London, which I lingered around in the UK for, delivered. I stayed at the Crystal Palace caravan site some 3 miles uphill from the pub venue in Bellingdon, resisted using Uber for the first time after having checked the prices, and after 3 hours shuffling on the dancefloor with other like-minded 70/80s funk disco aficionados, little rucksack on back, and feet this time in non-birkenstock shoes, managed the cycle ride back by midnight.

I’m finishing this post now in Ghent on a free car park in a really pleasant location along with about 10 other vans – Monte2 feels welcome and at home – about to watch some British tv courtesy of getting the Amazon firestick to work. Autumn touring is already making its difference felt with time being one-hour later over here, so the night draws in even earlier. More hiding then in the van of an evening, playing guitar, typing away, reading, watching some tv.

Tomorrow morning I will seek to be “wooed by one of Europe’s greatest underappreciated all-round discoveries” ?? 🙂 – surely Lonely Planet’s over-egged its billing for the town.

Then, Dusseldorf & Wissenbach here I come, after which head for Croatia. Tschuss.

Posted by admin in Belgium, Musings, Places
06
Jul
2019

Honfleur – and then ferry

For my last full day and night of the Western Odyssey I drove the few miles across Normandy countryside to where the Seine flows into the sea between the town of Honfleur and my sailing port of Le Havre. I stayed at the very nice 2-star Camping du Phare, for an extremely reasonable cost without electricity, given it’s location at this beautiful little town on the tourist trail. There’s loads more to visit around this area, just over the Channel, beaches as well as the other towns and villages, and well worth a return trip.

Le Havre was destroyed in WWII and rebuilt in this style:

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Cities-Towns, France, Places
04
Jul
2019

War Grave

The grave of my Mum’s first cousin, Captain Arthur Deakin Eteson

I visited the WWII cemetery at Hottot-Les-Bagues to look for the grave of Captain Arthur Deakin Eteson, only son of my Mum’s aunt and uncle, who died in the Normandy landings aged 27. In looking for his grave, (before realising there is an index in each cemetery) I found myself saying thank you across each row of graves. All nationalities were represented, but most seemed to be under 25, and as young as 18. The cemetery was beautifully maintained, as are they all, and places for reflection. What tragedy – no computer game!

  • Gravestone at left under the tree
Posted by Jackie Barnes in France, Musings, Places
04
Jul
2019

WWII and the EU

I drove to Caen WWII Memorial Centre and spent 3 hours dedicated to reminding myself about this momentous and horrendous time period in not just Europe but the world’s 20th century history.

In continuing to my overnight stop at the village of Asnelles – the D-Day landing site ‘Gold Beach’, it was obvious how much this area of France commemorates with respect what happened in June 1944. Streets in Asnelles are named after British regiments – eg, Rue du Devonshire Regiment – there are plaques and streetlight banners highlighting armed forces individuals who fought in the Battle of Normandy. And up and down the beaches are wartime defenses, and equipment just left there as a very vivid reminder of what happened then.

I decided to watch the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’, which I really feel should be compulsory viewing in schools for all 16 year olds, as well as films such as Schindler’s List, as the still living participants and witnesses of it all become ever fewer. We should make all efforts to not forget the horror which was unleashed as a result of evil philosophy on behalf of leaders who in Germany, Italy and others were able to seize power, and then distort almost completely the moral framework of their citizens. The fact that such ideologies continue to flourish and have since then managed to escape Pandora’s box, and wreak similar evil in our lifetimes, means we must not take for granted the relative freedoms and prosperities we have enjoyed in our liberal democracies.

In conversation with others, the fear of the rise of populism and nationalism in its worst forms throughout Europe was a repeated theme.

  • Normandy Landings

As I set off this morning and stopped briefly on the cliff tops at Arromanches, I thought about the EU, and how I want to celebrate the force for good that I, in my simple perception and knowledge, feel it to have been through its evolution since the second world war. In reflecting on how difficult it is for the opposing sides in Northern Ireland to overcome the wounds and legacies of that historical conflict, imagine the gulf, the bitterness, and the need for revenge and retribution, amongst and within the nations of Europe arising from WWII, coming also after WWI. In the span of one person’s lifetime, I am proud that these nations’ representatives have worked so hard together within this structure and its previous incarnations, I feel, to establish an order which indeed has restrained enmity and sought to enable its peoples to flourish from out of the devastation of that war.

Perhaps one will say that indeed it served this purpose in the 20th century, but now it needs reform and is no longer right for the world as it is now, and Great Britain’s place within it. My view remains that all things considered, the EU is still a force for peace, for prosperity, for flourishing of its peoples, and yes for ‘good’ , which the United Kingdom is leaving for an empty slogan of ‘taking back sovereignty’, and a misplaced confidence in a Britain of its empire of the past. To face the challenges of now – strong-man politics, the rise of populism and nationalism, globalisation with potentially rampant corporations in reality stronger than nations, climate change, we need to be part of that bigger community, to be able to stand together as a block to defend and continue to develop the values of freedom, human rights and social democracy, which have been so hard won .

In conversation with others, whether Dutch, German, or French, sadness at the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU was a repeated theme.

Posted by Jackie Barnes in Cities-Towns, France, Musings
03
Jul
2019

Against the clock now – Mont St Michel, Normandy Beaches, Honfleur

Booked the ferry from Le Havre to return to the UK Fri 6 July, and planned the route from Perros-Guirec via Mont Saint Michel, Caen and the Normandy beaches and then Honfleur town visit. Apart from passing through, this is my first visit to Normandy.

The weather continues to be perfect for driving, stopping somewhere overnight, and walking/cycling to explore.

Mont Saint Michel was very impressive, although I decided that a visit to the inside of the Abbaye would wait for another time. The surrounding countryside is peaceful, and seems ‘gentle’. Don’t know whether this will change once the full Summer holidays start. Stayed on a camping car private aire called La Bidonniere about 2.5 miles from the start of the causeway and can see the Abbaye through my van side door.

This morning I woke up quite early and had just the sound of birds, gentle breeze and the faint echoes of successive village bells chiming 7am, from across the flat plains. Perfect.

  • view in distance from Monte2
Posted by Jackie Barnes in France, Places