France, Belgium & Germany - Friends Hopping Tour 2008

Just came back from a weekend in Kent and have to say I'm really touched by the encouraging feedback you all left. Seems that I have disregarded the 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt not assume"... :o

Thank you! :kissy2

Working on the next installment as we speak - just have to feed Possu in between...
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Third photo: why are you spreading butter on big slices of corned beef? :D
Cheeky! If you had joined us on the Pink Way around Britain 2 years ago you could have had a taste of my famous homemade German bread first hand... :D

Can we have some more pictures of your sister :D;)
Will see what I can do. I'm sure I have a few more of her - together with her partner who is 6' 8" tall and about 20 stones... :eyebrow
 
Fantastic report Pumpy

I fancy staying in Schloss Waldeck, but is it too posh for GS'ers ? Looks like a DJ sort of place.
:D
 
Will see what I can do. I'm sure I have a few more of her - together with her partner who is 6' 8" tall and about 20 stones...
You just had to go and spoil it didn't you? :tears

I'm just glad someone else asked. Must admit I had thought about asking myself. :augie
 
Great write up Ela.... done to your usual standards...excellent. You went through some beautiful places.:thumb
 
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Can you still buy those cars, I'm really quite taken with that.
 
I fancy staying in Schloss Waldeck, but is it too posh for GS'ers ? Looks like a DJ sort of place.

I'm sure you are welcome in or on whatever vehicle as long as you are willing to pay their rates. :cool:

You just had to go and spoil it didn't you?

Well, I'm a bit protective of my little sister - always been... :liv

Can you still buy those cars, I'm really quite taken with that.
They come up occasionally at public auctions or on eBay - however, I just found this rather cautious guide to buying an Isetta...
 
Can you still buy those cars, I'm really quite taken with that.

If you do get one, bear in mind they don't have a reverse gear. Allegedly you pick up the rear of it and trundle it around :D

I was at college with a guy who had an Isetta, drove home pissed one night (well, you could do that sort of thing in 1968 :D) and straight into his garage. Parked it right up against the end wall, forgot that the car door opened directly outwards, couldn't bale out and had to spend the night in the thing until his Dad found him next morning. Well, that was his story anyway :aidan
 
On Monday the GS had a little rest and I went hiking with my friends in one of the oldest and largest beech groves in Germany. Beeches once covered the whole of central Europe and the few patches left are now turned into national parks. The federal state of Hesse is sometimes also called 'Buchonia' - the land of beeches ('Buche' is German for beech tree).

Although I really love hiking, as it is the most intensive way to experience a region, I won't bore you with descriptions of the beautiful countryside; just post a few pictures that may be of general (and the motorcyclist's) interest... :)

Did you know that the fairy tale of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' originates from a legend about a countess of Waldeck - who was a blood relative of Henry II of England, btw - and child labour in the local copper mines? It's quite a surprising and interesting read.
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The path we chose for our walk is called the 'Urwaldsteig' which means 'primeval forest track' and describes what the National Park is all about: turning the forest back into its original state for future generations.
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You can find amazing things along the path -

Wildlife (for size comparison: the green circle on the left is part of a clover-leaf)
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Food
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Road-sign eating trees
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Not only beeches but also beaches
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... and some nice little trails...
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The owl stands for 'national park' and 'nature protection area' where the use of motor propelled vehicles is absolutely 'verboten' - and if you ignore it you will go straight to hell...
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However, how would you interpret the combination above? ;)

The view when we came out of the woods
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Back to man-made landscape
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Play with the light
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Well-deserved dinner... Yes, I like my food (pictures) :mmmm
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And finally we reached the dam of the Edersee where I hadn't been able to park the previous day
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The dam was one of the three (Eder, Möhne & Sorpe) that were destroyed on 17 May 1943 as part of Operation Chastise by special bouncing bombs. You probably all know the film 'Dam Busters' that chronicled the attack.
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Today the setting is fortunately a lot more peaceful... ;)
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Talking of peaceful, it has gone very quiet around here - so 'Gute Nacht' everybody.

To be continued... :)
 
Enjoying your write up Pumpy, would be nice to see your route on a map like the one you did for "The Belgian Choc Route".:thumb2 The links are interesting too.
 
Ela
please will you stop writing these reports?

It is really interesting and is making me feel unsettled. I want to go on a bike trip to Europe NOW!

Seroiusly - thanks. I can enjoy the delights of travelling abroad without moving away from the computer. It can keep me happy until i get chance to do something similar myself.
 
Lovely pics, good to see some nce weather, conditions even I could have tolerated. I keep meaning to plan a trip to Germany, as last time it was rather wet :eek:.

Is that your sister we shall see in due course?
 
Really nice.

Can't quite work out what it is, but there's something very personal about your write-up that makes it a pleasure to read.:thumb2

You have definitely got a fan club going:clap Thanks for putting it all together.
 
Enjoyable reading

Pumpy,

A great write up with cracking photos. Three of us are off to Europe on Friday morning for two weeks and then up to the East Mid get together…when we get back..
Hurry up Friday.

TJ:thumb2
 


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