NOT
It’s Tuesday, so we must be in Koblenz, right? Before the start of this trip I’d asked Jim, apart from the camp sites at Koblenz and Bokki, where we were headed!
“Just going to ride with the flow” was the answer I got . . . . so go with the flow we did . . . . . the flow of the Rhine! After a leisurely start we headed for the other side of the river and then wound our way south under wonderfully clear skies, passing many picturesque Schloss’s along the way.
We did sort of have a target in mind for the day – the infamous B500 that wends it way through the Schwarzwald below Baden Baden. Not sure where we stopped for lunch, but we did, and then continued south in search of this fabled road. I use the term “fabled”, cos for a good while that’s all it seemed to be – a story from a book written many centuries ago. I think it was around Weisbaden and Mainz that we got sort of lost, with one nag-nav saying this way whilst another said another way. This led to a very long and hot day in the saddle, with temperatures hitting 35 degrees Celcius during the afternoon! Eventually we found our way into the Schwarzwald and found a very rustic campsite near the village of Ottenhoffen im Schwarzwald. No English spoken by the owner and my grasp of the lingo is minimal, which led to us being pointed in the direction of a hillside field away from everyone and every amenity!
We set up our tents and set about the task of filling our bellies, but not before some light entertainment from the newly wedded Mr Simpson. The “facilities” were nailed onto the side of a barn and were not in the best of condition. Locking of the door was, I found, best left to yer derier if you were pointing Percy, or your boot if you were having a Tom Tit. Jim decided to use the rusty nail that was doing duty as a door lock, and it worked a treat. Unfortunately for Jim the actual door handles innards had seen better days back in the late forties (don’t mention the war), so once relieved, his efforts to extract himself from the ramshackleshitter came to a swift end. After about ½ an hour of giggling, pointing and prying, the steel framed bog door gave up it’s hostage and Jim burst into the increasing twighlight with a huge sigh and a few expletives :blink: :woohoo: . Just as well our hosts comprehension of English was virtually nill – not that he’d have understood Jim anyway, even if he could understand English :whistle: !
The site, as has been intimated, was a tad basic, but I have endured worse recently. The evening passed very, very quietly, with only a few ales consumed, as we all gawped at the stars and relished the complete and utter silence that surrounded us . . . . . . once certain parties had stopped guffing that is
But we still hadn’t found the B500!
The next day saw the sun quickly burning off a slight mist, leading to another superb weather day ahead. Led by Jim we wended our way out of Ottenhoffen im Schwarzwald and headed up into the hills via switchback after switchback, eventually hitting the B500. And so the bend swinging fun began, mile after mile of it, interspersed with an occasional village or huge view over the surrounding hills and valleys. This entertainment led to very few pictures being taken, cos we was having fun. We did happen upon this place as we wended our way south . . . .
Somewhere along the route we grabbed some “doings” and found us a handy layby where we could do what only Brits on Tour do well – have a cuppa and make up a sandwich or two at the side of the road.
During this stop we discussed the matter of fuel, all agreeing that it would be a good idea to fuel up before we crossed into Switzerland. Not 10 miles further on from our stop we found ourselves engaging with a Swiss border guard – Bummocks – we were in Switzerland. Not to worry – we found some manned fuel pumps and filled the machines, then set about finding a camp site.
And here is where we found ourselves . . . . . Merlischachen, on the side of lake Lucerne
More tomorrow . . . . . if the censors allow
Steve T
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