Black Forest Sunday 26 June 2011

After a nice breakfast we are away by 09:00 and soon on the motorway heading towards Luxembourg.
I would normally like to stay in Reims, France on a journey like this but that proved unworkable when we were booking the holday so had to settle for Liege. There is nothing wrong with the hotel except for its location which adds about an hour to my journey today.
Never mind we are here and can still have a reasonably easy day.
At 10:00 drinks are served! Colin and his harem of Pat, Wendy and Brenda manage to satiate our thirst with a round of drinks which is much appreciated.
We have our first stop on the motorway in Luxembourg about 2 hours after setting off and by now it is very hot and sunny.
From here I drive to Metz and ignore the sat nav telling me to take the A4 motorway to Strasbourg! I go towards Nancy and St Die wanting to stop for lunch in one of the pretty Alsace villages.
This I soon realise is a very optimistic shout! It would be 14:00 before I reach anywhere and that is too late for lunch.
The compromise is to have lunch in a small quiet service area and then press on.
I am annoyed with myself as I have lots of maps and information on the Black Forest and the Alsace but in my haste on Friday I have left it all in the office!
So I went the way I thought would be best but with hindsight (and a decent map!!) I should have gone to Strasbourg and dropped down to the Black Forest.
We went through the tunnel at St Die and from there it was all single lane road. The ride was lovely as the sun is still shining brightly in a clear blue sky and each village we drive through has some beautiful floral decorations lining the streets.
All of this part of France was once part of Germany and many of the towns and villages have very Germanic looking names.
The border is now the Rhine and we are soon at this mighty river. Just as we are about to cross it there is a very large barge waiting high above the road in a lock, so we stop to watch the whole lock process of bringing a boat from one water level to another but on a very grand scale. Fascinating.
On our way once again we are soon entering the Black Forest and I am trusting the sat nav to take me to the hotels door!
We spend about an hour driving through the forest and the ride is gorgeous, it was well worth coming this way!
At one point on a steep road three cars have stopped coming in the other direction and the occupants are out of their vehicles and looking a bit frantic. One young lady looks at me trying to warn me or stop me. I am not sure what they want so carry on and as we round the next bend a fire is taking hold on the dry grass at the side of the road. I can understand her concern now but there is very little I would be able to do. I am sure they will be able to call the fire brigade on their mobile phones.
I can just see tomorrows headlines in the local paper - English bus seen fleeing forest fire!!
We arrive at the hotel at 17:20 and it is boiling hot. We are staying at the Hotel Rebstock in Schonach a small village close to the well known town of Triburg.
I quickly unload folk and luggage and park the bus opposite the hotel.
The cases are taken to the rooms by the hotel staff and one case in particular is very heavy. I point this out to the young man helping with the luggage and tell him it is very heavy. I keep taking cases out and this one case is always left on the side! Eventually he has no choice but to give it a go and looks at me daggers as if it is my case! Perhaps he does think it is my case! Anyway with a grimace and a grunt said case disappears. And no it wasn't mine!
I wash the million flies off the windscreen and make my way to the hotel.
The rooms here are big and have lots of dark wood which is typical of the area. They are also nice and cool without the need for air conditioning.
Within half an hour I am unpacked, showered and sitting on the terrace with a cold beer in my hand! Handsome!
The people who own the hotel have been very pleased to see us and have come up to introduce themselves - Anne Marie and her husband Albert.
Before dinner I am introduced to Gerd who is Anne Marie's brother in law and who will take us on a short walk to a cuckoo clock making business.
He speaks good English thanks to two years spent in Hatton Garden making watches. All of his life he has been a watch/clock maker and seems a very nice man. We arrange to meet at 10:00 in the morning for our short walk and visit.
I have only been here a short while and have a nice feeling about this place already, an instinct I always trust. Probably all go tits up now but there you go!!
Dinner is a buffet with soup, salad and a choice of main courses and all very good.
The beer is nice as well (when isn't it) and is a local brew called Furstenburg, brewed from the waters at the source of the Danube.
After dinner I am feeling very tired so decide an early night is the best option.