Hurrah! We're in shorts and t-shirts, the sky is blue, the temperature warm and the sun is shining..bliss!
After our meusli this morning we visited the shoe museum,
it's awesome and the lady in charge very kindly dug out some maps and information for us on attractions in the area. A lovely lady from Rothenburg ab der Tauber, who kept apologising for not speaking perfect English but her English is so much better than our little bit of German. Being early, we were the only ones there which we appreciated and after a lengthy visit, we sauntered down into the town
to one of the two bakery/cafes for coffee and delicious cake. The crowds had arrived at the museum when we returned so we were glad that we'd gone there early.
Back at the motorhome, we packed and left for the not very long drive to BurgBerwartstein but had difficulty finding where to park the motorhome. There was a small car park a 0.2km walk from the castle and I found a spot for Mike to pull into, but a young man whizzed past and 'stole' it from us, so Mike had to back out which was a quite tricky manouevre and we could not find another place to park so abandoned the idea of a visit. We then drove .9km to the seehof,
a lake with a small sandy beach, grassed areas and shady picnic spots where several young families were swimming and playing. A lovely area which compensated for missing out on the burg. As we drove back up the road, we could see that there were still no parking spots for us so we continued on. Driving through gorgeous countryside and lovely villages,
we soon came to the German/France border and 5 minutes later,
to the turn off to the Chateau de Fleckenstein, had no trouble in parking and made and ate lunch before starting up the track to the ticket office which is where I chickened out, my knees do not like climbing up rocky tracks or multiple stairs, so Mike bought his ticket and bravely went on alone.
The Chateau de Fleckenstein , a major medieval site in Alsace was constructed in the 12th century by the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The fortress is embedded in a rocky ridge of spectacular dimensions. It stands guard as part of the defensive line of castles of the Vosges of which it is a classic example.
When Mike reached the castle entrance and saw how far and how high he would have to climb, he also reneged but was able to take a few photos from the outside
Our planned overnight stop at Pfaffenhausen didn't come about, there are only 7 places available in the aire de camping car, 5 were already taken by normal size motorhomes, and a very large, bus sized one took up 1 and a bit places, leaving little room for a 7th vehicle. Not to worry, we went on to Saverne, on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin where there are plenty of spaces and is so lovely, much better than at Pfaffenhausen and who knows, we may stay another day.
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