Germany 17 - Bernkastel -Keus/ ABMHTT/ more cakes, more gateways /ending up at another river one side in one country and the other in another

---

"when we accept life as it is, we can respond appropriately to the way we are experiencing it, rather than just reacting out of fear and aversion " Ajahn Sumedho



My son visited Bernkastel Keus many years ago with his friend and family. They took a friend with them every holiday for company for their boy and this particular year it was my sons turn . He sent a postcard to my mum and she kept it. We found it after she died . The picture was of the half timbered buildings of Bernkastel Kues. I wondered what he thought of this town on the Moselle . Would a 14 year old be impressed? Probably not .

We were still in the wine growing region with the vines clinging to the hillsides. We were tootling along. No great hurry to get anywhere as we had booked our return trip to the UK with Eurotunnel. No trouble changing the date or the day. It would though cost over £100 administration fee and change of time. No way . We opted for same day but earlier in the morning. Not an issue as we normally stay at La Bien Assise in Guines, camp up, have a swim and a gourmet last night meal on the last night. The campsites gates are open all night so no problem getting to the train early. However La Bien is not good and is closed now for the season. We needed somewhere else . How about Gravelines aire ? Sounded fine and the extra we had to pay dropped to a more reasonable £20 .

Parking in Bernkastel Kues was easy. Massive car park almost completely empty. Sadly the town does not allow motorhomes to stay overnight even though there was plenty of room alongside the river promenade. We parked up , made a cup of coffee and watched the same old river boats floating by before depositing the ant like crowds in the town for a spot of sightseeing. I went over to the machine and noticed that an hour was free. The charge after that was fairly minimal and we only wanted a couple of hours. I tried the first 50 cents which got stuck . I poked another coin in and failed to dislodge it . I shook the machine . Out popped the free ticket for an hour . We were good until 10.33. I tried to push a stick inside the hole to move the coin but yet again failed miserably. Walking back to the van I spotted a sign. Campers can only park between 10 and 4 pm . Ooooops we were there too early which probably explained why the machine refused my money. We could only stay 6 hours but we had the feeling that there wasnt as much to Bernakastel as there was at nearby Cochem. No castle on the hill overlooking the town. Not so many alleys or shops .

Well here goes we thought . In for a penny- we have an hour , we may be early but we are going to risk walking into town with one eye on the clock. The promenade was pretty and again full of flowers of all colours. Such spectacular displays. We crossed the bridge built between 1872 and 1874. There were the gable timber framed houses of all wonky shapes. They were all painted that attractive red colour . There were alleyways and narrow lanes but not so many people. There were shops full of goodies of the food variety and knick knacks and tat. The bread shops fascinated me . Loaves of all shapes and sizes and colours. Some familiar - baguettes and round cobs , others covered in seeds and plaited shapes . The displays were beautiful. They really drew your eye in and they screamed "Buy Me , Buy Me" Something that I did and I added the cakes to the list as well.

The market square was colourful with a Rathaus built in 1608 , a wobbly Spitzhauzen, , St Michaels Fountain , Bears Fountain and Doctors Fountain. As we walked we realised that the holiday was actually coming together just as it was coming to an end . Could we continually drive down the Moselle and call into these villages we wondered? One or two were interesting , three or more would have been too much of the same. It was another case of ABMHTT - another bloody Moselle Half Timbered town.

We headed back to Gabby . No ticket on her windscreen so we were safe to have a quick cup of coffee and a cake before we moved on. More roads with road works, more hillsides with grapes being harvested. More red wooden half timbered buildings.

We headed off to the town of Echternacherbruck on the river Sauer. The intention had been to park up at the local camping and walk from Germany across the bridge to the nearby Luxembourgish town of Ecternacher. The road to the campsite was one way and fairly narrow. It was large and sprawling with all grass pitches . Not the best in the pouring rain. Some pitches - the non ACSI ones were next to the river . Two campervans were parked there and there was miles of space. Plenty of room for us although because we were only paying ACSI prices we were put on the smaller pitches in the second row back. Next to one other van. We could see the bridge over which we had intended to walk . There was a friendly lady Doris or was it Doreen in reception , free WIFI , outdoor washing sinks , a closed swimming pool and excellent showers. Plenty of hot water - we had them all to ourselves. They had plenty of coat hooks for clothes so no chance of getting all our clothes wet on the floor. All in all a good campsite.

Sadly we never got across the bridge - perhaps one day we will. Tomorrow we will head for our last stop of the tour.

---