Where's Bertie? He's still at the Aire in Bergues.
Weather: Mainly sunny (cloud building this afternoon) and hot.
I formed our plan (using the term loosely) for this trip a few months ago. The main objective was to visit a few places in Germany where Mick lived and visited as a child. The sub-theme was another parkrun tour, taking in 8 different events.
The spanner that was thrown into this plan is that Bertie is still leaking and needs to go and visit his dealer again (turns out he had more than one leak; the one in the wardrobe has gone but we still have water in the garage). The appointment they've given us is in week 5 of our trip, and will require us to drive back to Belgium. It probably doesn't make sense then to go back to Germany, but it's not a decision we'll make until we've attended that appointment and have a plan to get Bertie fixed.
That gives us only four weekends in Germany, so a revised 'plan' has been hatched.
The intention as we drove up to Bergues in the dark last night was that we would drive through France, Belgium and the Netherlands today, into Germany. Then, at bedtime, Mick put forward the idea of just staying put today and recovering from a busy week before hitting the road tomorrow. Hence, we're still here.
A looooong lie-in, a lazy breakfast, a visit to Lidl on foot for a small shop (1 - a height barrier prevents us taking Bertie; 2 - groceries are cheaper in Germany, so may as well wait until we get there to stock up properly), lunch, and a walk around the town and some of its walls has filled most of the day, plus a chat with one of our neighbours who came over to say hello.
The only other news is that we discovered on the way here last night that Bertie's fridge is currently only 2-way as the option to run it from his engine has died again. I poked around in its electronics this morning, and concluded a new circuit board is going to be required (it already had one replacement, under warranty in 2018). We'll probably take the easy route of turning the fridge off when driving and sorting it when we get home. I doubt we'll be doing any journeys long enough for food to spoil.
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Later: I usually write these blog posts just before teatime. It's seldom that anything of interest happens after that. Today was an exception. There we were just starting on the mountain of dish washing when the French chap in the motorhome opposite (who has been sitting outside all day barbecuing, eating, drinking or a mixture of all three), popped over to tell us that we have a very nice motorhome and to give Mick a half-bottle of wine. This surely is the motorhoming equivalent of Conrad getting unsolicited cups of tea when out walking?!
A completely random gift from a chap who didn't stop to chat, but it gets Mick's seal of approval.
We've been to Bergues a few times, but sometimes only as a quick night-stop. Today we walked into the main square of the town and I remembered none of it (my blog archive proves that I have been there before), until we came across this chap. The snap on the left was taken on 5 June 2017; on the right was taken today.
Notable buildings of which I have no recollection.
Weather: Mainly sunny (cloud building this afternoon) and hot.
I formed our plan (using the term loosely) for this trip a few months ago. The main objective was to visit a few places in Germany where Mick lived and visited as a child. The sub-theme was another parkrun tour, taking in 8 different events.
The route of the trip was to be based on being in the numerically marked locations each Saturday. As with previous tours, mid-weeks would be spent anywhere that looks interesting/has somewhere good to park on a sensible route between those locations.
The spanner that was thrown into this plan is that Bertie is still leaking and needs to go and visit his dealer again (turns out he had more than one leak; the one in the wardrobe has gone but we still have water in the garage). The appointment they've given us is in week 5 of our trip, and will require us to drive back to Belgium. It probably doesn't make sense then to go back to Germany, but it's not a decision we'll make until we've attended that appointment and have a plan to get Bertie fixed.
That gives us only four weekends in Germany, so a revised 'plan' has been hatched.
The intention as we drove up to Bergues in the dark last night was that we would drive through France, Belgium and the Netherlands today, into Germany. Then, at bedtime, Mick put forward the idea of just staying put today and recovering from a busy week before hitting the road tomorrow. Hence, we're still here.
A looooong lie-in, a lazy breakfast, a visit to Lidl on foot for a small shop (1 - a height barrier prevents us taking Bertie; 2 - groceries are cheaper in Germany, so may as well wait until we get there to stock up properly), lunch, and a walk around the town and some of its walls has filled most of the day, plus a chat with one of our neighbours who came over to say hello.
The only other news is that we discovered on the way here last night that Bertie's fridge is currently only 2-way as the option to run it from his engine has died again. I poked around in its electronics this morning, and concluded a new circuit board is going to be required (it already had one replacement, under warranty in 2018). We'll probably take the easy route of turning the fridge off when driving and sorting it when we get home. I doubt we'll be doing any journeys long enough for food to spoil.
Later: I usually write these blog posts just before teatime. It's seldom that anything of interest happens after that. Today was an exception. There we were just starting on the mountain of dish washing when the French chap in the motorhome opposite (who has been sitting outside all day barbecuing, eating, drinking or a mixture of all three), popped over to tell us that we have a very nice motorhome and to give Mick a half-bottle of wine. This surely is the motorhoming equivalent of Conrad getting unsolicited cups of tea when out walking?!
Good to see you on the trail again and with objectives. I've been pegged down a bit with a heavy cold and cough (Covid negative) which persists - if not better in the next couple of days I will attempt to get GP advice. I'm keen to get started on my own latest project detailed on my last post. I reckon there will be more driving than walking for the first few.
ReplyDeleteHope you're on the mend now.
DeleteI saw your new project announcement before we left home (got part way through leaving a comment at that point, but got distracted when Mick reminded me I was suposed to be doing something else at that very moment) and, looking at the map, I realised it would involve a lot of driving. Worthwhile, however, if it gives a set of objectives combined with the exploration of areas with which you are not so familiar.