Retired Pimms: European tour June

Europe blog June 2014 – 1

Getting prepared for travelling took us a while. We could do nothing but focus on Sarah and Elliot’s wedding for weeks prior to 25^th May. A lovely day and we were very proud of them both.

Here is Sarah Hargreaves with mum and Dad, and brother and sister.

And afterwards on June 1st we had Savannah’s christening to attend in Botley, with Justin and Victoria. Thanks for a lovely day to the Holts.

The next day we went into London to see Rachel’s new loft apartment by the Old Kent Road, and near Burgess park. She is sharing with Jasmine and another girl; two fine artists and a obs and gynae registrar. We had a meal with her over a glass of wine, and collected her portrait.

I bought a Moto Guzzi V7 classic to replace the Yamaha 250 as our touring bike. The Guzzi is a 750 and has plenty of power and torque, and I fitted a luggage rack and tail pack, as well as pannier racks to take 30 litre pannier bags for our shopping trips.

It fits into the garage compartment of the motorhome without removing mirrors or windscreen, as it is just the right size, and weight.

Before we left we fitted a new silentnight memory foam mattress, and stored the old one in the house, and with the van packed, we went to weight the van at the recycling depot on the Basingstoke road.

Trade vehicles taking waste to the recycling ar charged by weight, and the weighbridge will weigh a motorhome free of charge. Our van weighs 3980 kg, so a fraction under 4 tons. Exactly the same as on our last trip, and within the vehicle tolerance. After that we checked the tyre pressures and then set off.

Our first night stop was near Bruge in Belgium. We had intended a day to explore the old town, but we have seen it before in the sunshine and it was raining, and cold, so we set off the next morning and made our way into Germany.

Before leaving Belgium I was accosted by a German man at a filling station where we had stopped to refuel. He explained that he had no money to pay for his fuel as his bank card had been blocked or stopped, and he was getting back to Germany. He showed me his business card, and when I explained that I was very sorry but had no money (a lie of course) he offered me his gold ring in exchange for €30. With Carol shaking her head in the van I reluctantly traded; after all I might one day be in a similar position and need a good Samaritan too.

So now I have a chunky gold ring I don’t need or want.

We have stopped at a small village called Heidenburg, about 400 metres above the Mosel river and with lovely views. The site is quite small but with everything we need, and fresh bread delivered daily.

We took the bike out and had a ride down to the river, stopping for lunch at a viewpoint, and a beer overlooking the town of Leiwen.

Carol says the Guzzi is much more comfortable for her, with a larger seat and she is able to lean against the rucksack and tail bag on the rear carrier.