Well we are currently in the Big Apple and loving this city! We are a wee bit behind on our blog and plan to get up to speed soon but with so many great things to do in this city, it may be a few more days coming!
Empire state of mind has been a song we played before arriving in NY to get us psyched and have heard it plenty of times being played in the city since we came here…seems everyone else thinks it’s a great song to capture the je ne sais quoi of this exciting metropolis!
Like a dog straining against its leash as it is lead closer to the end of its “walkies”, we were very much pulling ourselves away mentally from the reality that us and the old Eriba would soon be parting ways. Our two months trundling along the roads of Europe was such a wonderful adventure and we were extremely reluctant to admit to ourselves that like all good things, it must come to an end. It got to the point that we would scry (our made up word to describe the act of screaming and crying at the same time) aloud and in mock desperation, “Wohnwagen!”(along the lines of the “WILSON!!!” moment for Tom Hanks character in Castaway).
When we crossed over the border from France into Germany, there really was no more denying that we truely were homeward bound, so to speak. But stuff it, nothing like bald-faced denial when confronted with unpalatable truths! Our planned two night stay in the Mosel Valley very easily and readily got stretched out to five nights. We thus set ourselves up for what we expected to be two days of epic driving, al la route to Croatia. But we didn’t care, quite frankly. Deny, deny, deny!
Admittedly our decision was aided and abetted by some insider knowledge imparted by our new found friend, Colin. The German/Pommy we met at our campground in Erden. Colin assured us over a few quiet ones that the Mosel Valley was really the last standout tourist destination on our return path to Graepel, so obviously, we owed it to ourselves to set up camp and dig in our heels in Erden! Erden incidently means “earth” in German. So therefore, a perfect place for digging in!
And dig in we did. We pretty much whiled away the majority of our time in and around the immediate surrounds of our little campground at Erden. It was such a lovely and quiet little spot, with luscious green grass that was long and soft and entirely inviting underfoot. The camp was well located right next to the Mosel River, and it had what I came to decide was some of the most picturesque views of vineyards along this seemingly never ending valley of vines. The staff were also friendly and I think they were quite taken with the novelty of having some Aussies staying with them. One day as we sat having lunch at the restaurant the owner had me on the phone to her daughter for a yarn, as her daughter had spent some months in Australia in 2010!
There was also Colin who had a caravan at Erden and has been coming to the Mosel for years. Colin spoke English with a Pommy accent but had grown up predominantly in Germany. It was a bit of a novelty I guess for us to have met Colin as the vast majority of our last six months has been spent living in countries where English is not the first language spoken, so you never know to what degree you can communicate with the people you meet. Thus we hit it off with Colin, and we both missed him when he left a day earlier than us.
Our time in Erden turned out to be a very fitting and relaxing end to our caravan capers. Although we were content to hang out mostly in Erden, we did go for a very enjoyable bike ride along the valley to the town of Bernkastel-Kues. The Germans really embrace bike riding and there are bike paths extensively throughout the country. Mosel was a great example of how this German past time has been made such a great experience. Not content with just one bike path, there was usually paths on both sides of the road and on occasions a third just for good measure! It all added up to just a top way to get around and take in what I assume is a unique example of vineyards on sheer slopes. I had what I refer to a serious case of perma-grin during said bike ride.
The valley apparently extends from source to mouth for 546 km (thanks Wikipedia). I guess we drove through about 200 odd kilometres of that. If you take into account that the cliffs of the valley are then covered in vineyards, you start to get a picture of just how vast and impressive a sight it is. Some of the cliff faces (like those opposite our campground) are very steep and you’d have to pay me a lot of money to want to work under those conditions! I spent one morning photographing in awe the workers across the way, toiling on the precipice of the opposite bank. Clearly they do not suffer vertigo like this little scardie cat!
Bernkastel-Kues is a bonafide tourist destination, with good reason I might add. It is a totally charming town and an excellent example of the highly appealing architecture of the valley. The buildings are a very pleasing combination of wood, colourful but tasteful paint jobs and a lovely example of (what I think) are dark brown layered slate buildings. Couple that with the ever present vines growing on slopes and throw in an ancient castle on a hill that you can hike up to, and hey presto! You have a winning town visit (minus the extremely dodgey coffee experience in the castle – lucky the views compensated!).
In short it may not be regular on the Aussie tourist trail but seriously, it was a great find and I rated it as our final Wohnwagen long stay moment.
Though we both love a drop of quality champagne, visiting the area that it comes from wasn’t high on our list of places to visit when we started our wohnwagen journey around Europe. It was only when we realised that ‘completing the loop’ by heading back to Graepel via France and western Germany was the best option that we put it on the agenda – and even then it was only an add-on after our must-do stop in Burgundy. I’m glad to have visited it, and can see that the serious enthusiast with cash to burn could certainly get a lot out of staying there, but for a casual tourist I would only recommend it if you’re in the area and have time to kill.
We stayed in the heart of the wine-producing region, Epernay, in the comfortable and relaxed campsite on the edge of town. The countryside immediately surrounding the town is covered with vines, but after Burgundy it was surprising how little of the larger area around it is devoted to wine. The town is prosperous and some parts, such as the prestigious Avenue de Champagne where a number of grand wine houses are headquartered, reek of wealth. But it was interesting to drive around and see that just a kilometre or two away are rather depressing tenement-style apartment buildings, and overall Epernay itself left me with the impression it is a town of mixed prosperity.
Of course we did indulge in some wine-related tourism, primarily by doing a cellar tour of one of the larger houses, Mercier. This modern and high-tech facility has always been at the cutting edge of technology (as the commentary made clear repeatedly during the one hour tour), and it was entertaining to hear the stories of the company’s past while driving on a laser-guided train through several kilometres of underground cellars dug into the chalk beneath the Avenue de Champagne. It culminated with a tasting of several of their wines, but they didn’t impress us much and we certainly wouldn’t spend any of our hard-earned on buying a bottle. Mercier is one of the larger Champagne houses and now is owned by the drinks conglomerate LVMH; a case of quality marketing triumphing over quality product? That could be the story of Champagne in general, for despite discovering a couple of excellent local wines we also found a few duds, including some labels that have a high reputation and command equally high prices. Like Burgundy and Bordeaux, Champagne has treasures to be found but also dogs to be avoided, and without a trusty guide and/or oodles of time and money you’ll never know which is which.
In any case, our fondest memories of Champagne have nothing to do with wine. Our visit coincided with what was supposed to be one of the most spectacular meteor showers for many years, and on two nights we spent time on a blanket under the stars staring up at the sky in the hope of seeing some shooting stars (we did!). Epernay was where we tried the famous “Royale with cheese” at McDonalds (inspired by the movie Pulp Fiction, if you didn’t know) while using their free wifi. We convinced ourselves that it was the wifi that brought us back several times, honest! Epernay was where we had several torrid tournaments of Pass The Pigs, a simple yet highly addictive travel game that Kristen won with infuriating regularity. And it was where Kristen finally started to document (via photos) some of the roundabouts of France, which reached a creative highpoint in Epernay for some reason (eg. the one styled like an Olympic kayaking course, or the one with snooker balls and cues elegantly on display).
Epernay was a welcome rest point on our long journey back to northern Germany, but it was not the highlight I expected. Nevertheless we dragged our stay here to three nights as we were becoming increasingly reluctant to face the facts: our time in the wohnwagen was fast coming to an end…
Wonder if you can pick up my
Accent on the phone
When I call across the country
When I call across the world
I — see you in my kitchen
I can picture you now
As you toast to your small town
When you drink the happy hour
I’m in London still
I’m in London still
I’m in London still
I took the tube over to Camden
To wander around
I bought some funky records
With that old Motown sound
And I miss you like my left arm
That’s been lost in a war
Today I dream of home and not of London anymore
I’m in London still
I’m in London still
Yeah I’m in London still
You know it’s okay
I’m kinda happy here for now
I think I’ve finally grown up
And got myself a love of now
And if I ever come home
And I, I think I will
I hope you’re gonna wanna hang at my place on Sunday still
Oh yeah I hope you will
Cause I’m in London still
You know we got it sorted, yeah
We really got it down
To a fine art on Sunday
In a sleepy Sunday town
I wonder what I’m missing
I think of songs I’ve never heard
I’m dreaming of your voices
And I’m dreaming of your hurt
I’m in London still
I’m in London still
I’m in London still
Oh I’m in London still
la-la-la-la-la London still
I’m in London
It began with a gift. Back in the late 1990s James gifted me a wine appreciation course for Christmas, prompted by my budding interest in food and wine. Good fortune saw that the course was run by Sharon Wild, then as now a very enthusiastic wine educator. That educational experience was exciting and illuminating, and as Sharon Wild has a particular passion for the wines of the world (not just from Australia) it opened my mind to endless possibilities. It has inspired a lifelong obsession for great food, wine and restaurants, and led me to dozens of wine regions around Australia, New Zealand and France.
Kristen shares this obsession, and in fact it was our common interest in food, wine and travel that saw us take our first holiday together just a few weeks after meeting each other. In late 2009 we hopped in the car and spent more than a week touring some of the great regional restaurants and wine regions of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, and we came back from it knowing we would certainly do more touring of that kind!
So when we decided to return to Graepel in northern Germany via France, we made sure we would see Burgundy on the way. I didn’t get to visit this famous region in 2003 when I first went to France, and have long harboured a desire to see it. I’ve savoured a few wonderful Burgundian wines over the years, both red and white, but only at restaurants in Australia and only with the advice of a sommelier. I’ve always thought that learning about the intricacies of Burgundy (and it’s a very complex field for a relatively small area!) would best be started, at least, with a first-hand appreciation of its landscape. We ended up staying at a campsite in Merseault, a town known for its chardonnays for centuries, and we both agree that it was the most-special place we pitched the caravan. Throw in superb wines and excellent local foods, and for me our four days in Merseault are equal with Plitvice Lakes, Bled and our time in Aups as the best stops during our entire two months on the road.
The campsite, La Grappe d’Or, is so perfectly situated that it must be one of the best places to stay in Burgundy – full stop. Located about a kilometre north-west of the village of Merseault, it is on a slight hill with all the pitches terraced so that each has at least a partial view of the vineyards between the campsite and the town. Ours was a particularly special view, with a wide expanse of vineyards visible and the beautiful roofline of the town clear in the distance. It is a great example of how camping can sometimes offer the best travel experiences, regardless of price! The pitch itself was very large and spacious, and we spent plenty of time at our outdoor table soaking in the vista. With a glass or two of local wine, of course!
However we did do a lot of exploration too. Greater Burgundy is quite large, encompassing outlying areas near Auxerre, Chablis and Macon. But the most famous part is the Cote d’Or, centred on a narrow strip that runs north-south between Dijon and Chagny, with the ancient town of Beaune in the middle. The area from Dijon to Beaune is known as the Cote de Nuits, and that from Beaune to Chagny as the Cote de Beaune. Merseault is in the middle of the Cote de Beaune, so it is that area we got to know best. Some of the highlights of our time in Burgundy:
Four days was enough to sample the area, and also all we were able to give it this time. But returning to Burgundy – especially to that special campsite on the edge of Merseault – is one of the things I look forward to doing when we come back to Europe!
Happy Trails 