Adventures With Harvey

Romantic Rhine and Meandering Moselle!

It’s a little like trying to decide which is one’s favourite child. Of course, one knows that one ought never to have such favourites, however when one has several of a good thing, with similar characteristics, comparisons are inevitable.

Such is the case with the Rhine and Loire River regions. We have now done a pretty decent explore of both areas and really loved them both… but which one wins? Is it one-up for Germany or a slam-dunk for France? You’ll hear a few thoughts as you read today’s musings – and of course we would be interested in the opinions of you, our beloved readers 😊

It seems that the major European nations have been fighting one another, on and off, for many hundreds of years, and in the last 150 years this seems to have applied to the French and Germans more than most. What we didn’t previously know is that Germany really wasn’t a country as such until after their victory over the French in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. Prior to that there were a handful of independent territories but the joining together of their forces to defeat the French effectively created the nation of Germany. On the banks of the Rhine is a little town call Rüdesheim am Rhein which is visited by over 3 million people per year and up on the hill is the statue of Germania, she was built to commemorate that victory and the founding of Germany as a nation. Like many towns in the area, there is a sesselbahn up the hill which provides spectacular views over the river and surrounding area, and means you’re not worn out for the remainder of the day after a long hill climb!

Following our stop at the statue there was a lovely walk through the forest which stopped at several other lookouts and monuments along the way. Then at the other end they have kindly put in a chair-lift to return you to the bottom… where a ferry is ready to pootle you back along the Rhine to your starting point. Altogether one of our best days exploring so far in Germany and we could definitely see why it was such a popular destination!

Last blog we had some lovely feedback from several friends who had previously visited the area. One attraction that we almost certainly would have overlooked was Siegfried’s Mechanisches Musikkabinett museum in the town (mechanical musical instruments of all things). Neither of us previously knew that such a thing existed however it’s true, in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, clever people were making machines that would replicate everything from a single instrument to an entire orchestra. It’s hard to explain just how incredible these machines are however there are some video clips below, so you’ll see what we’re talking about.

On a small island in the middle of the river we passed by Binger Mäuseturm (Mouse Tower), so named because according to legend there was a famine in the 11^th century where the local bishop refused to share the food in his stores. In retribution for his meanness the local population locked him in the tower where he was reputedly eaten alive by mice.

One feature of the Rhine and Moselle valleys are the number of castles. Our drive between Boppard and Rüdesheim followed the river for around 45km and the number of castles was eye-popping. It seemed like every corner you went around brought another cute little village with an (often ruined) castle on top of the nearby hill! Although the Loire has around 100 Chateaux, I reckon we’ve spotted at least that many over the last week so I’m guessing that’s only a small subset of the actual total number! Many are derelict and can’t be visited and most others that are open require a guided tour which is often only in German. One exception to this was our visit to Marksburg Castle which enabled comparison with those we’d seen in France – how would this place stand up next to Chenonceau or Chambord?

The answer is you can’t compare apples with oranges. Most of the castles we’ve seen here (including Marksburg) are up high on nooks or crags that would be very difficult to access, in other words, they seem to be built with defence and fortification in mind. The French châteaux, on the other hand, are often built on flat ground and seem to have been primarily constructed to prove how wealthy and important their owner was.

For your author the highlight of Marksburg was the room containing 14 waxwork soldiers in full battle dress, starting from 600BC and finishing when suits of armour were no longer a useful defence against the likes of muskets etc. We’ve been to a fair few museums on this trip however nothing to show the progression of armour, weaponry and paraphernalia such as this. Just excellent! Anita was similarly fascinated by the medieval garden which still grew the herbs and plants from that era, and by the wood panelled bedroom which was the only room in the castle which was insulated and heated. The castle was beautiful, the view from top was spectacular as you would expect, and overall we were well impressed with our first German castle!

Some other general impressions for you. First, the Rhine seems to have much steeper banks than the Loire, it’s almost like here in Germany the river has carved a deep chasm in the countryside where in France it seemed to be much more like a flood plane. Also there is a heap of river traffic on the German rivers, both commercial craft and cruise ships - we don't recall seeing much traffic on the Loire at all. Next… vending machines. Yes, in this part of the world you can buy almost anything with cash from a road-side machine. You may recall from Belgium we’ve already procured strawberries (with potatoes also available from the same machine), and just down the road from our driveway in Schilde was a bread vending machine. Now you can add sausages (plus other cured meats and tins of what looked like sauerkraut and spam-type meat which was delicious on a platter). Then at this camp site we found you can also procure wine, although a European driver’s licence is needed to prove age. In addition, here at our Stellplatz we have 2 visitors per day from different vendors – around 8am the baker turns up selling rolls, loaves, and croissants out of his van and in the evenings the ice-cream man pitches up 😊.

Boppard is one of our new favourite towns – not dissimilar to Russell in some respects in that it’s very picturesque, quaint and with a beautiful waterfront (although river rather than ocean). After exploring the town and strolling the river bank, the highlight of our overnight stop there was visiting a little local wine bar where we spent a lovely hour or 2 sharing a table with a local couple. Except it was no ordinary couple – these two were 87 and 84 years old and had been married for 60 years. What a treat to hear their stories! These two were an absolute delight and keen to practice their English which hadn’t had much use since high school!

Although it’s still lovely and warm during the day, your author and his lovely travelling companion feel like the weather has turned more autumnal in the last week or so – some leaves are turning pretty colours and the evenings are getting shorter and cooler.

A couple of days ago we found the most convivial place to park up and have spent two nights here. In Germany the designated motorhome parking areas are called Stellplatz and they typically cost only €5-12 per night. This one is right on the banks of the Moselle, is nice and quiet (unlike the previous place that was right by a very busy railway track) with friendly fellow-travelers. Two train stops down the track from here is the town of Cochem which was another very pretty riverside town where our reward for trudging up-hill and down-dale was indulging in a large piece of cake and special coffees 😊.

A rather unique attraction in this town is a cold war bunker but not the type you might think. As the iron curtain began to divide Europe there was considerable paranoia in the West about the possibility of nuclear war and what consequences may therefore follow. The West German government of the day felt that an attack from East Germany would likely include the old-school equivalent of a cyber-attack. Yes, they were worried about their currency – would those naughty communists flood the economy with counterfeit or even poisoned bank notes, all of which would have the effect of paralysing the countries economy. So, the central bank of the day bought a nondescript house in a small village in the Rhine (Cochem), far away from any potential trouble in the big cities. Next, they dug an enormous bunker into the hillside complete with housing and facilities for up to 70 people as well as air filtration, decontamination chambers and the like. But the real raison d’être for this Bundesbank Bunker? To store 15 billion deutschmarks, enough to replace the entire West German currency if required, which they had contingencies to undertake within a 14-day period. The 70 staff needed for the operation would be housed in this bunker which was in operation from 1962 to 1988 but was (fortunately for all concerned) never needed.

This brings an end to today’s missive – thanks for sticking with us and your faithful correspondent and co hope you’re all still enjoying our stories. Earlier today we did a count-up and this is in fact the 29^th edition of this publication…. we always knew 18 months away would be a marathon not a sprint!

Lots of love as always

The travelling Woodies

hello from the travelling Woodies! a short river boat cruise on the Rhine

Koblenz, on the right is the massive statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I and on the left is the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress which we reached by Seilbahn (cable car)

xthe confluence of the Rhine and Moselle rivers has been of strategic importance since before the Romans were in charge

fountain in Koblenz (and because Anita says I'm not in enough photos :-)

Marksburg Castle

suits of armour at Marksburg #1

suits of armour at Marksburg #2

suits of armour at Marksburg #3

view from Marksburg Castle

on the left is the way a fully laden river boat should look. due to the low river level we have seen very few looking like this (the skipper must either be very skillful or very brave or both). on the right is an empty boat, most of them look much more like this.

our bronze mimic is back :-)

Roman ruins at Boppard

the Boppard waterfront was a picture today

aye aye capt'n

banks of the Rhine looking towards the town of Lorelei

every which way you look there is a cute little village with a castle on the hill

there are loads of car ferries across the Rhine, many very small with space for only a handful of cars (and certainly not big enough for a Harvey). this one was between Rüdesheim am Rhein and Bingen where we stayed