28 July ’05, Thursday.
“The Grand Duchy”…well, that’s Luxembourg…yep, and it’s a tiny country that is a big “tax shelter” as well. I guess for those that have something to “tax shelter”, this is one of the best. That isn’t all that Luxembourg is, or has to offer. There is the history that goes back to 963 when a Count Sigefroi (Siegfried) built a castle on the highest hill in this area. Since that time, the castle and the surrounding area has been over-run by at least 20 times in 400 years. Each time it was “besieged” it was knocked down and re-built until finally it was regarded to be the strongest fortress in Europe. It earned the nick-name of “Gibraltar of the North”. Well, I saw “The” Gibraltar in 1960, and we saw the “Gibraltar of Greece” last December, and now…we see “Gibraltar of the North”. This “Gibraltar” thing is big over here. Last night when we were making plans to catch the train into Luxembourg, we were expecting it to be raining. We had had a thunder storm with some rain earlier in the evening and again about 1 or 2am. When we finally made it out of bed (about 8am), it was a little overcast, but looked pretty good. By the time we had reached the train (about a 10 minute walk) at 10:20am, it was looking like it might be a hot one. As it turned out, it was a “hot one”. The temp was up and the humidity was even higher. When we arrived in town, we found the TI (Tourist Information), got our map of the city, found the locations of the internet café, checked out the “self-guided” walking tour, and we were off…to find Starbucks… What a surprise, the closest one was in Germany, so we had to find another coffee house to get this day started. That wasn’t as easy as it sounds, but to be honest with you, it was only because we (I) were too picky. When we (I) finally made our decision and ordered…it was a mistake, we should have stayed at the first place… You would think it would be easy… To many decision makers… Coffee taken care of, we headed over to the internet for an hour and a half, and then lunch. This time we made it much easier, we choose Mexican. She, a Taco Salad, Me, a Pollo (chicken) Quesadilla. Then, on a full tummy, and on a hot day, we start our “self-guided” tour of Luxembourg. We followed through the “old town”, down into the Petrusse River valley (this time of year, it’s about the size of a stream of water flowing from a water hose), under the wonderful and tall old bridge that was built in 1908, through the Citadel Gardens ( that also has the Quirin Chapel, a beautiful old church that was built right into the side of a hill in the 14th century), back up this steep hill (and I do mean steep !!!), and on and on…it was hot (had I mentioned that before?). Finally, we had had enough, and we found our way back to the air-conditioned train and the 12 minute ride back to the little village where we are camped. I really wanted to stay on that train for a few more hours, but that wife of mine got right upset. Back here, we settled for a couple cold showers, and a couple cold beers, and all that made it much better. I was feeling a little hungry, but she (my lovely), wasn’t, so I went over to the camp restaurant and ordered a spaghetti dinner for myself (she didn’t want anything…). When the order came out, there it was, 2 orders, now 2 HUGE orders of Spaghetti…we will be eating spaghetti for a week to come. Tomorrow…back down to France, and Epernay (in the Champagne district, with lots of samples…

26 July ’05, Tuesday.
What do you know about Verdun, France ? I would have been only to say that it is somewhere in the northern part of France… Well, I would have been right on that regard, (although if you had asked me that question a few months ago I would not have even had that right), but now that we had taken this morning to go on a tour of the “Lower Citadel”, I can tell you a little more. Can you imagine a conflict, no, a war, where over 700,000 men lose their lives in just 4 months, and to top that all off, neither the aggressor or the defender gained any strategic advantage over the other. Verdun is where that part of WWI took place. Our tour took place inside the Citadel. This Citadel, built by the Vauban’s in the 17th century as a logistical center for the military, was “honeycombed” with tunnels that seemed to go forever. It could house over 2,000 men and supply them with all their needs from cooking, medical, armament, and command posts. It also gave them their access to the trenches that they fought from. Our tour took us 6 at a time, through the tunnels on a small tram. It was really done well, with videos portrayed as if we were there at the time, and fixed displays of the mess and living areas to mention a couple. If it had a negative, it was that it was COLD as hell in there…about 7 degrees Celsius, but that also gave me a little “close time” with Louise. We continued our walk of Verdun by going into the town its self. Verdun sits on both sides of the Meuse River. It isn’t very large so we were able to walk it in no time at all. Fact is, this is the first time that we have seen physical evidence of fighting from WWI and WWII. There are a number of buildings that still have areas where bullets have hit the building and left the marks to show it. Seeing as how most of the shoppes close down from noon to 2, we went looking for lunch. I must say, Louise seems to always order the right foods…she ordered this chicken and corn salad, and it was fantastic. After lunch, we found the internet, so I was able to up-load and Louise was able to answer some emails that were over do. As we walked through town, we came upon a long water feature that came down from a tall monument at the top of the hill. The first look, it reminded me of a Aztec pyramid, but it was one more additional WWI monument to those who fought for Verdun. You might say, that I was a little taken with all that we saw. We also saw a wonderful cathedral. Most of the stained glass windows were from the 13th century. It is amazing to see the work that they could do then, spectacular. You know, it’s always good to get back to “Bumble Bee” after a day like this, because we have that little time where we sit outside, around the table and enjoy a well deserved glass of wine and a taste of cheese. Then of course, comes out the barbeque to complete the enjoyment with a great meal. You know, I’ve been going to mention this for quite awhile…(now that I think about it, I’ve already done it a time or two, but..), in this campground we have a mixture of travelers from all over Europe, but a group that stands out in numbers are those from The Netherlands… If we were to take a count tonight, I would lay you odds that about 80% are Dutch…THEY ARE THE TRAVELERS and we have seen them in every country we have been in!!! Tomorrow, we pull up again and this time we are heading up to Luxemburg for a day or two

25 July ’05, Monday.
Wouldn’t you know it, but I’ve got some catching up to do again… On Saturday, we decided to take a trip through a portion of the Black Forest. Baden Baden is just about where it starts, so we headed south from there. Our first stop was high up on a hill where there is the ruins of the Windeck castle, a hotel, and a restaurant that originally was a large stable. The castle was built in the 11th century and the Windeck family had it until the 14th century. After they left it, it just fell to ruins and is just as you see it today. Lunch sounded real good about the time we arrived at the castle, so we found ourselves a seat at the front of the stable and enjoyed some of the local foods. In continuing our drive, our next stop was at Mummelsee. There we found a large lake (that is where the “see” comes from) that sits up about 4000 feet in the Black Forest. There are hundreds of walking and hiking trails up there as well and during the winter, it becomes a popular ski resort. We really don’t know just what everyone is finding about this place that makes it so popular, but we could hardly find a parking place. After a quick tour, we headed back to the van completely puzzled as to the draw of this place… We were told that on Sunday there was going to be a large pork barbeque at the campground. Now that sounded good, so when Sunday arrived we made a point of staying close to home. About 11am and we started seeing things being put together…the barbeque arrived, the souvenir store opened, and the brass band started setting up. Oops, drinking beer at 11:00 on Sunday morning!! By noon, the band was playing and the people from the campground started heading for the food and drink…I thought I would be quicker, but I still got my share of all the goodies… Actually, it was wonderful and the pork with German potato salad more than filled our plate. We had so much, that Louise and I had to share a plate so that it wouldn’t go to waste. Needless to say it was time for a nap. After the nap we had some noodles for dinner and as the rain had started again, we decided to watch a movie.
Well, this morning we pulled up stakes in the rain, and headed across the border and once more into France. Our trip today took us from Baden Baden down to Offenburg Germany and then east to Strasbourg France. From there we just found the most comfortable road to travel and headed northwest toward Metz and then onto Verdun for the night. When we awoke this morning it was raining and it continued pretty much off and on throughout the rest of the day. Tomorrow looks much better, so we are planning to make a day trip up to Luxembourg. Hopefully when we get there, we will also find a internet available to post.

22 July ’05, Friday. I just thought you might like to see this again...
Yesterday we un-hooked Bumble Bee and headed into Baden Baden on an exploratory visit. As we pulled into town, we were surprised to find a parking space at curbside and right across the street to the entrance of the town. This is too good… what we found was, the longest we could stay was only one hour. This wouldn’t do, but we also didn’t want to over-stay the hour and pick up a parking ticket with it. We headed over to the Information Center and asked about a parking lot that we could fit into, but all she could come up with was one that was back out of town about a mile. After visiting with her and having a bite to eat, we pulled up stakes and headed out to find the “camper parking” lot. After a couple of “turn arounds”, we finally found what we were looking for. Now we know and tomorrow we will use… Heading back to the campground, we stopped by a Walmart store and grabbed something to barbeque. This store was a mess, but it still was doing a business. Back at the campground we set up again and started the barbecue to cook our pork loin. We had a new neighbor and they were from The Netherlands. I kid you not, I would guess that over 40 percent of the people at the campgrounds are from The Netherlands…they love to travel and camp !!! We had a nice visit and they have invited us to come by and stay with them next time we are in Holland… It is really nice of them and the other couples that we have met since we have been on the road…if we had the chance, we could stay with enough families to start another 2 year tour and not stay with the same family twice.
This morning we un-plugged “Bumble Bee” again, and headed into Baden Baden. Our parking location was already set and our first destination was also set. Today was the day for our excursion into the Roman-Irish Baths of Friedrichsbad. We had been reading about the different baths that are available here, and Friedrichsbad is the one we chose. This bath has been operating for over 125 years. It is not bathing suit optional. No clothing allowed... We experienced the “ultimate in Roman Bathing culture combined with Irish Hot-Air-Baths”. We had the bathing pleasure of 16 different stages, and water and steam temperatures from 48 degrees C to 18 degrees C. We also had all our tension ebbed away as we had a rub down with soap and then massaged with a brush. This exfoliates the skin and was a great start for the rest of the 3 hours we spent there. The first 6 areas we were separated, and then we were brought together for the next 4. What a great way to while away the afternoon !!! In getting back to camp, we decided to have dinner at the restaurant here on the grounds. Louise had Snitzel and I had a fish dinner…both were real good and more than enough to fill us. Arriving back at “Bumble Bee”, we again found new neighbors, but this time it is a young couple from Canada. Aaron, was originally from the Tacoma area and now they live in Edmonton. They are making a 3 month trip in Europe and have already been through Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland. We are the beneficiaries of 2, 2005 Rick Steves travel books from them…Spain and Portugal…Thanks, and we will use them !!!

20 July ’05, Wednesday.
We spent 4 nights in Tubingen and it was well worth the time. We really only walked in to town twice. I know there was a lot we didn’t see, but every once in a while all you really want to do is just “pass’… This morning we put everything in “Bumble Bee” and headed out. Our destination was Baden Baden, which was about a 3 hour ride, with lunch and a stop for groceries included. Fact is, we by-passed Baden Baden and headed up the road to the campground which is about 5 miles further down the highway. Baden Baden is known for it’s “Curative Baths” and has the same type of ambiance that you might find in Palm Springs. The books say that there are more multi-millionaires in Baden Baden per square mile than there is in Palm Springs…isn’t that nice ??? Anyway, we pulled into this campground about 3. We weren’t aware that it was situated on a lake, and it looks like a very nice one at that. As I sit here in the van, it looks like I may have pulled right onto the grass at Green Lake and found a location to park about 30 feet back from the shore. There are lots of trees situated on the park like grounds, that circle the lake. It is a nice gradual slope down to the water all the way around, and it has either very small gravel or sand beach. Out in the lake are two small islands, with one of them having a waterfall spewing out into the lake, and both are fully covered with trees. About 30 percent of the lake is for swimmers only and then on the other side of the islands you can have boats and windsurfers. We had a “partial cloudy” day to travel, which was nice for that, but when we got here, it would have been nice to have some of that hot sunny weather, we have had. Unfortunately, it is raining right now, so our hope is for it to rain it’s self out tonight and sun for tomorrow. There are no buses or tram to get us into town, so we will have to take “Bumble Bee” in for the day. As long as we can find parking, it will be ok. We have traveled almost due west of where we were in Tubingen, and are at the start of the “Black Forest” of Germany. The Black Forest runs from here south and a little north of Switzerland. We may see some of it, but our thoughts are to head into France pretty soon. Gad, have you had one of those little pesky flies lately ? I just killed one and I’ve got another that is driving me crazy…I’m off to the “kill”…

19 July ’05, Tuesday.
Yesterday was mostly tied up with laundry, re-packing our “closets” (suit-cases), and just over-all cleaning and picking up. Today, well we woke up from a nights thunderstorm and heavy rain, and found that we were practically sitting in a lake. That was alright because the outlook looked much better (for a little while anyway), because the sun was shining and the sky was a bright blue. After having bacon and eggs on the patio (just outside of our sliding door), I washed the dishes and we headed into town. Now, I didn’t see all the clouds that were forming when we were leaving, but thank god we had taken our rain gear…it poured (for a short while anyway). We were just about at the internet café, so we didn’t get too wet. After spending just over an hour there, we took a walk through town. With this being a college town, there are lots of inexpensive restaurants to choose from, so we made our choice and enjoyed a Turkish meal. In looking for tonights dinner, which is always a challenge, we found some fresh fish to barbeque. Later in the campground, I had a chance to visit with a fellow traveler from The Netherlands. We had met about a year ago in Amsterdam…so we think anyway ( we know we’ve met, but where we aren’t sure). We had a long talk, and as Louise has gone through some of our traveling books and maps, we offered some of them for his collection. He must have liked them, as a little later he came by with a nice gift of fresh blueberries for us…one of the perks from being on the road. Louise and I have both been getting a lot of reading time since we’ve been here. Right now I believe it’s her 3rd book she’s in. It has been a long time since either of us has just sat down and enjoyed a long read… Tomorrow, we head out…to Baden-Baden and the “Black Forest” of Hansel and Gretel fame

17 July ’05, Sunday. Tubingen Germany
80 degrees, mostly SHADDY CAMPSITE, quiet, and we’ve already had a morning walk into this beautiful riverside town of Tubingen. You might even say “we are very comfortable”… we look it and we feel it…lounge chairs in their place and filled, table holding a nice cool drink, umbrella up (although it isn’t needed), and we are watching and listening to the birds…jealous ??? On our walk this morning, we found a very pretty town that was still sleeping…it could have something to do with it being Sunday. As we walked the streets, we saw more and more people arriving and the small restaurant/coffee houses putting out their tables getting ready for the days tourists. We also found out that this is a college town and that they have a number of concerts here as well. Fact is, they just finished one last night and are setting up for another round to start tonight. These are pretty much open concerts that take place in the streets of the old town, and will continue through the summer. I’m glad we have this “slow down” time so that I can catch up with this journal. I wont blame anyone or anyplace, but I did get behind. This morning we did find one of the internet cafes and I will get there this evening or tomorrow morning to finish all the up-loading to get caught up. Well, it’s 5pm and it’s time to have a nice cool beer… Tomorrow…ha-ha, hell, I don’t know

15 –16 July ’05, Friday-Saturday. Rhine Falls
I know I was awake, showered and ready to make coffee by 6:30am this morning, and it felt good. The sun hadn’t been up for long, it was still cool, and it was quiet. This day was going to be a busy one for the Chouinards… Not much longer, and I was hearing some rustling from inside their motorhome and I knew that they knew just how quickly they were going to jump into this final morning. It is never easy, and it is stressful, although I think Mikleane was handling it pretty well. They had to have the coach back in Wolhusen by 9:30 and it was about 12 miles outside of Lucerne. On top of that, they had to go through the “final check-out” and then with luggage in hand make it over to the train station for the start of their trip to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. We said our final goodbye’s and they were heading out of the front gate of the campground. I’m sure they are going to be missing the camping, but going on to Paris and then back home and all that they have left of the summer…we’ll miss them as we miss everyone at home. Louise and I finished packing up ourselves and were on the road just after 9am ourselves. We had a wonderful time in Switzerland, and we would highly recommend it for a vacation for everyone. The only real positive of leaving and getting out of the country, was it is VERY EXPENSIVE. One of the exceptions of being expensive, is the price of “petrol” (gas). We did find it to be about $1.80 US less than Germany per gallon. Other than that… Well, we left Lucerne and back-tracked for awhile. We went up past Zurich and Winterthur, and then due north heading to Stuttgart Germany. On the way, we came upon (just by chance) a waterfall that we had heard about from a couple we met about 4 weeks ago. Just 3km south of Schaffhausen is Rhine Falls. This just happens to be the largest waterfall in all of Europe, although it only drops 23 meters (80 feet prox). The amount of water flow and the vantage points all around it make it really something to see. There is no doubt, you can get right at the most powerful point of the fall, and it makes you wonder “just what the hell are you doing there that close !!!”. We were out on a platform that is cantilevered out to the most powerful point of the fall, and it is REALLY close. The location is also pretty and unique. There was an old church and Closter that has now been taken over by a hostel and other “tourist” retail shops and restaurants. We were happy to have stumbled onto this and hope we got some good pictures. We arrived in Stuttgart about 3 in the afternoon and found the campground. The campground was located just inside the city and right next to a huge stadium and the river Neckar. As we pulled up to the gates of the campground, we noticed a lot of police action right in front. There were a number of young people that the police seemed to be searching, but what the heck, we pulled in anyway. As we got out of the van and approached the reception desk, the lady behind it said “We do have room for your van, but I want you to know that there is going to be a 3 day concert going on across the street and there are going to be a lot of the “”young people”” here at the campground…there will be a lot of loud music, drinking and having fun…are you sure you want to stay here with us ???” What the heck…we stayed. As it was, there were a lot of “young people” with their tents, some music, drinking, and a few sick people in the morning, but it wasn’t all that bad for one night anyway. But did we want to make it all the way through 3 nights, I don’t think so…besides, it was too hot in this campground and we wanted a little shade for the weekend. We checked out and headed south about 40km (25 miles) into Tubingen.

14 July 05, Thursday.
Our drive out of the valley was just as it was when we drove in the first day…stunning !
Fact is, we even made a stop along side the river about 20 minutes after we started out, just to see and feel the cold water from the glaciers one more time. As you pull out of the canyon, you have 2 very large and beautiful lakes directly in front of you in Interlaken. The color of the lakes is that slightly dull green/blue that also comes from the glaciers. We followed the eastern lake all the way to the end and then turned north and headed over a steep pass that would take us to Lucerne (about 60 miles away). Unfortunately, even with all the beauty that was around us, we all had something that was on our mind, and that was that our visit and travels with Mikleane, Rick, Lil-Lou, and Drew was drawing to a close. Our “Camping Partners” only had one more night to “camp” in “Dragonfly”, and I was to make my last “2 pot” morning coffee. There is no doubt, they fit into this “camping” gig like pros, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them camping again. The weather in Lucerne had turned hot again, and when we arrived about noon, we were all ready to get in the shade and stay there. The only problem, was we hadn’t had lunch yet and everyone had a place they wanted to go too. Fortunately for me, I was able to stay around the camp with Louise, and the rest headed out for Lucerne for the last time and to find that something special for lunch. For us staying behind, we volunteered to go grocery shopping for our lastnights dinner, which turned out to be spaghetti. After dinner and washing of dishes, we just sat around, with the tables lit with candles, and enjoyed reviewing the last 2 weeks and all that we had tasted, tried, explored, fed, and seen. Just about no one went to bed early, but come 11, and the table was dark, all were in bed and ready for that early wake-up call. Tomorrow….came too fast !!!

13 July ’05, Wednesday.
The people that run the bus service from Stechelberg are really getting to know us. This morning we were off for the cog-wheeled tram in Lauterbrunnen that will take us to Wengen again. Now this time, we will stay on the tram and it will take us from 1274 meters at Wengen to the world famous Jungfraujoch – “Top of Europe” at 3454 meters (about 11,333 feet). The last leg of the tram ride takes us just under an hour, and it is more than 50 percent through tunnels. Fortunately we had a bright and sunny day to make this last and final day in the Swiss Alps really memorable. When we arrived in Wengen, we were met by a huge throng of tourists, that had set their sites on the same departure time as we had. As much as we tried to align ourselves with the best position to get the best seats (or any seat) on the train, we weren’t quick enough. Lucky enough, Rick, Louise, and I were the only one’s out of our family that had to stand. We started our steep climb almost immediately our of the station in Wengen. Now, standing, we really noticed the grade…we felt like we were pushing up hill with one foot the whole way. When the conductor came by checking our tickets (and by the way, this part of the excursion package we had purchased, would only cover half of the price…otherwise, we had to add another $120 SF), he must have felt a little sorry for us standing…he gave us one free drink ticket each. The tunnel area is over 10 km long and took over 16 years to complete. It officially opened in 1912, and is still using some of the original equipment to get you up there. Once we entered the tunnel, we had 3 stops…the first 2 were to let us out for a stretch and an opportunity to take some great photos. I didn’t mention, the train clicks along at a snails pace the whole way up and down. The 3rd stop we finally arrived at the Jungfraujoch terminal. Now this terminal is also in the tunnel, and we found that we were walking through a number of tunnels once we arrived. Even the elevators were from one tunnel to another. Once we reached the 3rd floor, we were at a level that we could walk out onto a deck overlooking the Swiss Alps at their finest. The first things that we noticed, were we had a shortness of breath because of the altitude, and it was cold, until the sun hit you and then you had to watch for immediate sunburn. Out on the glacier we had the opportunity to do a number of things, such as ski, ride a dog sled, hike over the glacier, climb the ice, slide on a saucer, and ride a rope slide down a long slope. Lil-Lou, Drew, and I opted for a slide down the glacier on the saucer, and then they jumped on the rope slide for their finale. There was one moment that I think all of us will remember, and especially Drew, when he let his saucer get away from him…it was a quick moment, but when it started it just kept on going and going and gone…. I would imagine that it might have made it down by the time we left 2 days later, but who knows… At the top of Jungfraujoch, is a large multi-storied building, which 3 floors are above ground and 3 below. On 2 of the upper floors are restaurants, so we just had to have lunch. Then onto the “Ice Palace” to see the ice sculptures, and then…we were exhausted…head down hill…we were done in… We all wanted to fall asleep on the train ride back, but luck would have it and nobody did. When we arrived back at Wengen, we headed over to one of our favorite bakeries and then to one of the large cable cars for a ride up to the top of another mountain, Mannichen (7317 ft). From there, we headed out for an hour and a half hike along the side of a mountain to Kleine Scheidegg. Just like this entry, we were having a long and full day and it still isn’t over. At Kleine Scheidegg we jumped aboard another tram and headed all the way back to Lauterbrunnen, grabbed our favorite bus and he took us to the large cable car going up to Gimmelwald. When we arrived there, we headed for one of our favorite Hostel’s where we could enjoy a good beer and over look another part of the Alps from above. Gimmelwald is one of Rick Steves favorite places and we all could see why…fact is, we ended up having dinner along with that beer…. Tomorrow…Drive down the longest valley in the world and head out for Lucerne again