The Mosel and Rhine Rivers

We went back to the mechanic to have the new exhaust installed on our camper. But the new part was different and didn’t fit so they gave us two choices. We could leave with the old muffler temporarily fixed or wait another 6 days for the correct part to arrive from Italy. We chose to not wait around for the new part and left with it fixed for now. Back at the campground Mum researched towing insurance. Just in case we get stuck on a mountain pass in the alps.


The next day we left the campground and drove down the Mosel river. The scenery was beautiful, the valley on either side of the river was covered in steep rows of grapevines. At another campground on the riverbank we went for a walk up the steep slopes behind our camper through the grape vines. Along the way we indulged in some sour grapes, not yet ripe enough for picking. At the top we found a cute chapel, small cemetery, a large wooden cross and a great view of the valley. The town looked like a model trainset as a train went past every 20 minutes and large boats went down the river. From the Mosel we went through Koblenz at the top of the Rhine and followed he Rhine down.. The Rhine is noticeably faster and bigger and there are lots more boats that we watched as we ate our lunch.. There were lots of castles on the side of the valley. Thomas made new ‘NZ’ signs for the windows so other campers don’t think we’re British because of the license plates. People often treat us very differently when they find out we’re from NZ. We stopped at Lorely and climbed the steps to the top of the hill. On top was a mermaid statue. The mermaid used to lure sailors to the top of the hill. The views from the top we stunning. We continued down the Rhine headed for a place for the night. As we drove past people setting up fireworks we found out there was going to be fireworks that night and celebration in Oberwesel, a town across the river. We decided to stay to watch them so we took the camper on the ferry across to Oberwesel. The town was full. We found a park and had a quick dinner then “hit” the town. We walked along the waterfront and around to a small point. As darkness fell music started on the other side of the river where we saw the set up fireworks earlier. Then a fleet of light up tourist full boats came around the bend and up the river. They looked like ghost boats. The boats parked on either side of the set up fireworks. As we waited we ate gourmet biscuits given to us by a lady from the camp ground before the Mosel river. Then a cannon fired a few times and the fireworks started. At first Madeleine was scared because she had been hit by fireworks in an accident last year. The fireworks were probably the best display we have ever seen and we have seen a lot of good fireworks. They were choreographed to music. Big ones very high in the night sky burst in a shower of gold or purple sparks like flower. White ones shot in unison from the ground and towards the end, a spinning wheel on a crane shot them in a spinning circle. After they finally finished (which was a while because it was a long show) we walked back to the camper past a lot of empty wines bottles and people celebrating.

France to Germany with a broken Muffler!

While driving along in Brittany about to cross the Seine river mouth we started hearing bad noises from under thethe cab and we sounded like a Mustang Camaro. Dad went under the the cab and discovered the Muffler and Exhaust pipe were falling off. So he tied it up with some clothes line and we carried on.
That was three weeks ago and since then we've been up the Loire valley and to Paris. While driving across North-Eastern france we started hearing the bad noises again under the cab. We stopped at a france passion very near the border of Germany. Us kids helped the Farmer's son milk the cows in our jandals.
It was lots of fun until a cow pooped and stuff spletted everywhere. We meet the rest of the farmer's family the next day while buying some of their cheese. We found a place to fix the muffler in Germany. We went around a special round-about that had three exits, one to Germany, one to Luxebourg and one back into France. We went round a couple of times. We went into Luxembourg and bought some Tax-free Diesel.  We drove into Germany past vineyards on steep hillsides and over bridges on the Moselle river. We went to the Garage in Germany's oldest town Triel. We read books while we got an assessment and sorted a replacement.  We have waited three days for a replacement from Italy and planning to go back tomorrow to fix in up.

Paris

We drove to the Bois De Boulogne Forest in Western Paris, it is not easy driving a camper in Paris. We parked in the woods area where at night prostitutes work in blocked up vans. We walked to the Eiffel Tower. We had a picnic lunch on the other side of the river Seine with a great view of the tower in the middle of Paris. It stood out as it was surrounded by no Skyscrapers. As we walked under it we were surrounded by people from Africa and India who were walking around selling mini Eiffel towers and Paris souvenirs. We saw a long line for tickets but it was for the lift. We took the stairs and were some of the only people on the stairs. The climb to the first floor had a lot of steps and we had great views through the steel frame that got better as we climbed higher. It was quite weird being in something that was a steel skeleton rather than a solid concrete block. On the 2nd floor we had a 360degree view of Paris with the river running through it. We could see the woods where we were parked, the Arc de Triomphe, the Museum de Louvre and a little Statue of Liberty. The climb down was easy and we were glad we weren’t in the lift because and they went past we saw them crammed with unhappy looking people. Johanna, William and Thomas bought mini Eiffel Towers and had fun bartering them down to a good price. We walked along the river Seine past a memorial for Princess Diana over the tunnel were she crashed. We continued to the Place de la concord where Louie XVI and Marie-Antoinette got there heads chopped off. We had a rest and some much needed lollies, everybody’s legs ached from all the walking. Then we walked down the beautiful avenue of the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe, a war memorial arch in the middle of a large roundabout with 12 exits. While we were there there was a war ceremony happening so we couldn’t go under the arch. We managed to walk back before it was dark and we drove back to our spot on the river Seine were we slept as we were all tired from lot’s of walking.


The next day we drove back to the Bois de Boulogne and parked in then same spot. We walked back down the Champs de Elysees with shopping boutiques, flash cars, jewellers and a couple of busy restaurants. We had another French bread picnic in the Jarden des Tuileries and walked along the River Seine to Notre Dame Catherdral. The were lots of Gargoyles on the two bell towers. We went inside and it was packed with tourists. There was a service going on inside and there were lot’s of priests and bishops wearing red and white robes. We had more French bread for dinner outside the Lourve. At 6 o’clock we entered the glass pyramid in the courtyard of the old palace buildings. Once we had tickets we went straight to the gallery where the Mona Lisa was. Our first thoughts were it was a lot smaller than we expected. It was the only painting protected by glass and a few guards. It had a massive crowd around it and it was had to a clear photo. No matter where we walked Mona was always watching us. We tried to explore the rest of the Museum but there was far too much to see in 3 hours. We went through a few exhibits of Egyptian artefacts and mummies, thousands of years old. Johanna tripped up and smacked her knee on some steps so she couldn’t continue. Mum stayed with her and got some ice in a glove from a café. The rest of us split up and wanted to see certain things around the place. While trying to reach the Australasian and African gallery we ended up seeing most of the rooms. The rooms of the old palace were similar to Versailles and were worth a visit even without the artwork in them. We had enough after an hour or so but couldn’t walk the 6km back to our Camper in the dark. We took the metro back to the camper and slept safely in the woods with some other campers. Unfortunately we didn’t see the whole tower lit up at night but some of us walked back to the Eiffel Tower the next day. The street vendors disappeared when the cops walked by because they’re not allowed to sell there if they’re illegal residents.

We drove out of Paris and across North-Eastern France to an Aire and had a good shower. We had an awesome time in Paris!

Versailles Palace and Musical Gardens

We left the countryside and the Loire Valley and `drove towards Paris. We walked up to the golden gates outside of Versailles Palace and waited in a long line to buy tickets. We picked up some Audio guides and walked through the state apartments of the Kings and Queens before the French Revolution. Every ceiling was painted with little angels and scenes of Greek gods. The most magnificent ceiling was that of the chapel on side of the Palace. All the apartments were decorated with marble, tapestries, statues and painting in big golden frames. The King’s bed chamber was entirely decorated in red and gold and he slept in a massive bed. We saw the room where Marie-Antoinette tried to escape before she was taken to Paris to be Guillotined with Louie XVI in the French Revolution. One of the greatest rooms was the Hall of Mirrors full of large chandeliers and a great view of the huge garden in front of the palace.


We drove to a suburb on the Seine River 30 km out of Paris.

The next day we were back again, this time to explore the hundreds of acres of the estate and musical gardens (that weren’t playing music that day). We parked along the road, packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed it by the grand canal with a view of the palace. We wandered towards the palace past almost always nude white Greek sculptures. From the palace we could see perfect flower beds, groves of trees, the grand canal and a water fountain fit for a King, even when it wasn’t going. We walked out to Marie-Antoinette’s Estate then back along the grand canal. We stopped and sat by the canal soaking up the warm sunshine and watching people rowing on the canal before taking the camper back to our spot on the river Seine for the night discussing how we were going to see Paris the next day.