France to Switzerland

11 June, Friday


And so we woke up, about the fiftieth time, to get up. The rain and the trees kept us from sleeping straight through the night.
TIP: Free camping in a forest – great! Bad idea – if there is any chance of rain.
Truly, we had no idea that it would rain. The weather was honestly fine. Unfortunately you cannot control everything. Our first free camp was an experience we will never forget!

Tiredly, we managed to get Ruby with no hassles out of the muddy, leafy forest floor and back on to the road.

We ate eggies, fresh sunflower bread, with cheese and tomato at a car par k/aires (free parking rest spot).



Arrived in Strasbourg for a quick visit. We avoided toll-roads and motorways on the TomTom and passed factories and the industrial area first. This almost gave us the wrong impression. We found a parking on the outskirts of the central area as we found it was chaos to try and park closer– upon reaching the old town and were completely surprised! It is a truly beautiful city which can be describe as a baby Paris. Old narrow streets pop out into beautiful squares with coffee shops and restaurants surrounding them. I would say the let down about this city is it is clearly geared for the American tourist. Bus loads of your clichéd teenage tourist surrounded the very beautiful cathedral – also a Notre Dame. We wondered just off from the cathedral and easily got lost in the university area. This was great! Students out and about for lunch grabbing the cheapest thing they can find and sitting somewhere to eat it. This really set a lively scene. We strolled off to an area called Little France. A residential neighbourhood with 3 canals dividing the streets. Well worth a walk. After that we decided to head on out as we still needed get to Switzerland before the evening.



TIP: Bought a “vignette” from a roadside petrol station. It is a disc that Switzerland wants you to display on your car. It costs 31 Euro's but covers you for a whole year – nothing available for less.

We found a camp site outside Basel - Campingplatz Waldhourt. It was fine but expensive for what you got. Un-mowed lawns and and very average everything else. Seemed like most of the other campers stayed there permanently as our neighbour proceeded to take out his own lawnmower and mow his own lawn. Definitely a first I think. We were tired and did not want to try find anywhere else. Got a beer each and settled down for the evening.