Chapter 1 - Kanu-Wanderer Saarbruecken

Saturday 29th May - Sunday 6th June 

Whilst my year abroad itself wasn't quite over (I still had one days worth of work to do), Mum, Dad my sister Stacey came over from the UK to join me in sunny (it actually was that day!) Saarbruecken. They'd caught the ferry at midnight from Dover - Dunkerque (note the French spelling, I'm writing about a French place, whilst sitting in a French bar, it would be almost treacherous to spell it with two 'k's!). They'd driven with the caravan from Dunkerque in almost one sitting, stopping only for toilet, coffee and fuel breaks! Not bad going (although I'd driven almost the same route a few weeks earlier with only one toilet break - so perhaps not so well done!). When they arrived, I had had to carry my stuff across Saarbruecken on the bus network to the caravan site, which was situated on the north side of the city. (For more information about this, you can read it in one of the final entries of my previous blog (Musings from Saarbruecken, which can be found here. - I will stop plugging my last blog soon, honest!)). 

Nevertheless, after a fair amount of bus travel, and suitcase lugging, we both arrived at the caravan site within about 15 minutes of each other (needless to say, I arrived first!). I'm going to write a short description of the site and add my comments now, so if that doesn't interest you just skip on to the next section! The site itself was a small site, similar in size to a Caravan Club Certificated Location (which is limited to five caravans at any one time) although this site was not limited to five vans. It had all the required features; electrics, WC, showers, washing machine, tumble drier, washing up facilities, bar/restaurant, and ample parking. On top of that, it also had relatively good public transport links (a bus stop about 10 minutes walk away, and a train station about 25 minutes away). The caravan site itself was barriered at night providing extra security for the vans, although the car park was open. The ablution facilities were restricted for users of the caravan site, rather than open to the members of the canoe/hiking clubs as well. The major downside of this site was that you had to pay for the amount of electricity that you used (which, admittedly was 16 Amp), which was charged at quite a high rate (almost a Euro per kW/h (Unit)).

So, back to the week itself. The weekend was a chance for my sister to really get an insight into Germany, for her first ever visit here! This meant that we visited some places that I’d already been before, either on my own or with my parents, and indeed some places that were completely new to me! The way I’ll do this throughout this blog is probably in chronological order, so as to keep a logical flow to it, and keep it more like a diary entry (albeit written some five weeks afterwards!)

Saturday saw a trip to Koblenz for us all on the train, taking advantage of Deutsche Bahn’s Saarland-Pfalz Ticket (which entitles up to 5 people to travel on all public transport in Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz for about 35€). We left Saarbruecken aboard our double-decker train (a new thing for my sister, but the novelty has yet to wear off on me too!) bound for Koblenz. The journey itself took about two and a half hours along the banks of the Saar (until about Trier), and then the Mosel (until Koblenz). The double decker train allows you to really benefit from the riverside panoramas. Koblenz itself is the town, or perhaps a city, who knows? (well, Wikipedia will, but I can’t be bothered to check!), where the Mosel flows into the Father Rhine; the longest river in Germany, but more about that next time! The headland where the rivers join is called the German corner, and on that corner stands a statue of a bloke on a horse. He is in fact one of the former German emperors (Kaiser), although I forget which one he was! After a day spent enjoying the old town in Koblenz and the convenience of the bus network around Koblenz we headed for the train station for our double-decker train journey back to Saarbruecken taking in the river views again all the way back!

On Monday, unfortunately, I had to go to work, which for those of you who haven’t read my previous blog, was as an English Language Assistant in two secondary schools. There were two main things which made this day at work different to others; 1) my sister came to work with me for reasons I’ll explain in a moment, 2) it was my last day as a language assistant after nine months imparting and sometimes inflicting my knowledge, culture and language on poor defenceless schoolchildren! The main reason that Stacey came to work with me on this day was to help me move out of the flat which I had been inhabiting for the year. More about the actual moving out process can be found in my last blog (for which the link can be found above)(I know I said I’d stop plugging my last blog, but I just can’t help myself!). After we’d actually finished moving all the stuff from my flat to the car, we wandered into Saarbruecken so that I could show my sister around the city where I’d been living! It was also the day of final farewells to the other assistants; waving Harriet off at the train station on her way to sunny Marseille, and my turn to say farewell to the others as I would be out and about for the rest of the week, thus missing the others’ departures!

Tuesday was an international day, although more about that later! We’d decided that we’d take my sister to see the most famous image of Saarland, the Saarschleife (Bend in the Saar). This is an almost 180 degree bend in the river, which will, in [a lot of] time, form an oxboe lake. There are two real ways to tackle this bend in the Saar. The first way, which we also tackled first, were walking around the bend on the river bank. There is a clear, well-used footpath on both sides of the river from Mettlach around the bend to a bar, which is connected to by a ferry if you pick the wrong side! (NB: The restaurant is closed on Tuesdays!) The second way to enjoy the bend in the Saar is from the viewpoint at a place called the Cloeuf in nearby Orschulz. From here you can get a fantastic view across the river, with a massive sense of achievement if you’ve already walked around the bottom level! To briefly jump back to Mettlach, if I may,(which I may, as it’s my blog, and I’ll jump back if I want to!). Mettlach is the home of Villeroy and Boch, who are a famous porcelain manufacturers, making ornate and delicate tea-cups, vases, and urinals/toilet bowls. If you’re in Germany have a look, the chances are were you’re about to leave your mark will have come from deepest darkest Saarland! After spending the morning musing over the beauty of nature at the Saar, we headed off to another river, the Mosel, which also marks the national border with Luxembourg. Perl itself isn’t actually that interesting, indeed, I’d been there once before on the bus on a Sunday and found very little there that was exciting enough not to take the first bus back! What’s more exciting is the border crossing. By walking across a road bridge over the river you find yourself in Luxembourg, which, in itself is quite exciting, but you end up in Schengen. Home of the Schengen agreement which made the above named border crossing so easy! Now, as we had the parrots with us, we decided it would be a good idea to take a photograph proving that they’d been to Luxembourg. This started a series of photographs which have been taken whenever we’ve crossed a national border with them! (Just as an aside here, I will upload all my photographs from this trip (of which there are over 800) as soon as I get home and have the chance; unfortunately, I sent the lead which connects my camera to my computer home with my sister and can’t do it here!)

Wednesday saw a trip to Sarreguemines take place, which is a town which is just on the German-French border, at the end of the tram tracks, although we went there by car primarily for economical reasons; the tram was very expensive! Sarreguemines is quite a pretty town, and is reasonably typical of the towns in the Alsace area of France, which all have a very heavy German influence. Which, given their history as a disputed territory, is hardly surprising really. The town lies on the Saar (or Sarre in French) and has a quaint ‘old town’, which is worth a look (despite being filled with boutiques and other expensive shops; there are several cafes just waiting for you to buy a coffee or beer there. The main sights in Sarreguemines consist of the Palais de Justice (courthouse) which is an impressive building with heavy German architectural influences, the River itself, which has a pleasant picnic area beside it, and the Casino on the bank of the Saar is quite pretty too. Another place worth a look is the public gardens, which I’d managed to miss throughout my time in Saarbruecken! They’re quite small, but there is a menagerie of animals, a small lake, a children’s play area and also a nice selection of greenery for those  of you who like plants, there’s something for everyone. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re in the area!

Thursday was an active day for everyone, with a long walk round two-thirds of the Gipfeltour-Litermont hiking trail, which in total is about 10km long and very hilly. The trail does require a lot of effort, and can seem to be never-ending in its ascents, but believe me the views from the top are definitely worth the effort! The walk takes you through many different sceneries and environments; although the majority of it is shaded woodland. It’s quite well signposted (well we didn’t get lost anyway!). The best time to do it is in the sun, with the woodland it’s not too hot and the views out are far superior when there’s no low cloud cover! Once at the top and taking in the view out across the southern area of Saarland, it’s time to begin the long journey back down. The complete route takes you on a long trip through some fields and some more woodland and eventually brings you down at a conveniently placed bar and restaurant; right next to where you set off….someone’s thought this through you might argue; a beer before you go and then several more when you get back to take the edge off the pain your feet and legs are suffering. After a short recovery and a few cold drinks we headed off to Saarlouis, which is a town (surprisingly on the Saar) which was used a fortress in Napoleonic times. The town itself is quite pretty, and there’s plenty of shops, cafes and things going on to keep everyone from getting bored. The old fortress part of the town is undergoing restoration and excavation at the moment, but it is still possible to walk around that area of the town and take it all in.

Friday was a quiet day. In the morning we headed back to Sarreguemines for the weekly market there; there really is nothing like a French market – a real one, not one of those pretend ones you get in Bath! After enjoying it for a couple of hours, and a couple of drinks too, we headed back to the banks of the Saar for some lunch. Well, we would have done, had I remembered to put it in the car that morning…I should make mention of the fact that I had in fact made it and packed it all into the bags to be put in the car, but then I had forgotten to put the bag in the car. This was a mistake, which you will be pleased to know, I haven’t made since! Because of my oversight, we returned to the caravan for lunch, where we enjoyed some food from the site, before using the afternoon to take the awning down and stroll along the river Saar from the caravan site towards Voelklingen. We got about 2km, stopped for a couple of drinks and headed back to the caravan for an outdoor tea!

Saturday was the day on which I visited Saarbruecken for the last time. It was a bit of a sad occasion for me, but one which promised lots of exciting things to come over the coming weeks. The main reason though it was a sad occasion for me was that there was a market going on, which meant we had a wander round it and ended up being stopped about the parrots some more times. For lunch we headed over to the Deutsch-Franzoesischer Garten (German-French Garden) which lies in Saarbruecken near to the border with France. The garden’s story originates after World War Two, at which point the local menfolk decided that instead of killing each other, which, I imagine, becomes quite tiresome after a while. The garden itself is not brilliantly impressive; don’t get me wrong it’s nice, but it’s not that special; it lacks a certain something! It does, however, have a lake which is worth taking in and during the summer, on the hour, the fountains start to dance and create different effects, which is quite impressive. There is also a chairlift, from which one can overlook the garden (quite useful, if you walked down and can’t be bothered to walk back up!), and a small train which runs around the garden allowing you take it all in over a 15 minute journey before continuing around at your own leisure.

Sunday was the day we moved our caravan. Before doing so though we headed out to a Vide-Grenier over the border in France. A Vide-Grenier is effectively a French car boot sale. We bought a sewing machine there for my sister before returning to the caravan to head off to our next site at Ruedesheim-am-Rhein. I ought to mention ‘in passing’ that this was the day my sister and mum went back to the UK in mum’s little car with all of my stuff. They will be rejoining the fun and games in a few weeks time, when we finally reach La Rochelle. The caravan trip itself was nothing special, until we got to our next site…when we’d arrived a little early! More about that next time!