Departing our boat early morning to the Passau railway station to wait for our train to Frankfurt was a bit sad; we’d had a fantastic week of cycling and sights, met new friends and enjoyed wonderful experiences. Now sitting on a train for almost 5 hours, intermittently wheezing and coughing to the annoyance of our neighbours wasn’t the best way to move on with our adventure. Finally made it to our overnight stopover in Frankfurt then another short train ride next the morning to pick up our Peugeot Eurolease and get on our own itinerary. We were booked for a couple of days in a small Black Forest village, (Schonwald im Schwartzwald) which turned out to be very tranquil and restful. We drove down to the nearby village of Triberg, to enjoy the sights of numerous Cuckoo Clock shops and museums. Still wheezing breathlessly, I did mange a wander with Chris through local trails near our hotel, enjoying this beautiful area. It was a good transition from the timetabled order of the cruise days to just doing our own thing. The weather was significantly cooler now, sitting in the mid-teens so we were scrambling to find whatever warmer clothes we could, but made for easier sleeping conditions.

After enjoying the tranquility of the Black Forest, we headed westward into France. Taking advice from Instagram posts about places to visit sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. I’d seen photos of the village of Beaune online and it looked gorgeous, plus there were a couple of other villages in the vicinity of our next stop that seemed worth the trip. Sadly, to actually view the best part of Beaune (the amazing roof of the medieval hospice) involved a €12 each entry fee, just to see the amazing old building and roof. Sorry, that’s a hard no! We managed a glimpse of the famous roof from a spot around the corner and moved on.

Our accommodation for the next two nights was a comfortable apartment, with pool, but the temperatures in mid teens weren’t conducive to a dip. Next day, we set out on a much longer than expected excursion to explore more of the Côte d’Or region near Dijon. First wine tasting to sample Cremant, very similar to other famous sparkling wine styles and a nice start to the day in Rully. Then, an hour plus down the road to Semur-en-Auxios, a pretty village to enjoy a delicious lunch in a very busy restaurant. We are learning that France shuts down between 12-2pm(or later) so good time to sightsee, not so much for shopping. (Works for us!) Then the bonus side trip to Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, we could have spent much longer here, but it was getting later and we were meeting friends on our way home. It was a long day out but a good introduction to France that we will build on more over the next days and weeks. We love the opportunity to meet up with virtual friends in real life – Vanessa and Ian are housesitting legends, promoting the lifestyle and enabling interactions with other likeminded people. I’ve followed their adventures and projects over the last almost 10 years so it was great to finally meet them in person at their delightful location in the beautiful Burgundy region of France and have good conversations over food and drink.

Heading south towards Spain, our halfway stop was Beaucaire, a small village on the Rhône river with a busy marina, between Avignon and Arles, chosen because of its location and the accommodation that looked lovely online, it didn’t disappoint. A small fully equipped apartment gave us another two day rest. We were able to get two laundry loads washed and dried; the temperatures here were in the high 20’s which was a welcome treat to get back into summer clothing. On our full day, we wandered into the old town centre, very French with a castle, narrow streets and a weekday market selling everything from fruit and veg, to clothing, to bolts of fabric and beds too. It was good to leave the car parked for the day and wander. Chris braved the pool at the gite, I was a little wary as I’m still wheezy, but laying in the shady warmth by the pool to while away the afternoon was very pleasant. We found a delightful family run restaurant in the old town to return to that night for a wonderful 3-course dinner under the magnificent trees of the town square. We are looking forward to finally arriving in Spain and seeing the Mediterranean coast again