Aachen, the Mossel and more Casemates

Friday 30 August 2024 

After my epic adventure to Luxembourg (here) we went to Brandenburg castle on the Friday.  There wasn't a lot to see but we had a good walk around with some wonderful views.

Saturday 31 August 2024

On Saturday we went to Aachen, Germany.  I'd wanted to visit the cathedral there after as it was recommended to me when I was in Liege in 2022.  The Belgium Church of St John the Evangelist church, an 8 sided building, was modelled on the octagonal design of Aachen Cathedral, so it was a must see.  

It was soooo beautiful!  The ceilings are all tiled in blue and gold.  It didn't start as a cathedral but as a palace/temple.  The central rotunda (well octagon) was probably built in about 10 years starting in 798 (+/- 5 years).  It is the final resting place of Charlemagne (or most of him), the coronation church of the Roman-German kings until 1531 and as the pilgrimage church on the occasion of the Aachen Pilgrimage, which takes place every seven years. It was the first place in Germany to be inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1978. 

I liked this water fountain, the Spatzenbrunnen, a 1978 water fountain on the east side of Munsterplatz.  I really thought it was a lot older than that!

This fountain was also interesting.  It's the Kreislauf des Geldes, the money cycle.  

There was another interesting fountain nearby.  If there had been a 'trail of all fountains in Aachen' I'd have signed up.  On our return journey we found the tripoint of Germany, The Netherlands and Belgiums so I popped along (more here).

Sunday 01 September 2024

Today we took JC's parents out for lunch - actually I think they took us out, but we drove them! We headed for Bernkastel-Kues but found they had a wine festival on, and the town was only accessible by shuttle bus.  So we moved on and ended up just further north at in Brauhaus Kloster having a lovely sunny lunch watching the local paragliders jump.

Monday 02 September 2024

Today we visited the Bock Casements in Luxembourg City.  Like the Pétrusse Casements in Luxembourg City, they are a subterranean defence system of kms of tunnels.  They were initially carved in the 17th century, under Spanish rule, and twice extended.  Apart from the wonderful views, it's hard to imagine what it would have been like living in these underground fortifications protecting the city.

 

Slow ride to Luxembourg

Wednesday 28 August/Thursday 29 Aug 2024

JC drove to Luxembourg mid August and, as I often do, I planned to join him for a week and then we'd drive back.  This time, however, I decided to travel the slow way, eschewing a flight and opting for a ferry.  I was also trying to avoid using a car.  So the plan was bus to Honiton - train to Portsmouth - walk to ferry - overnight ferry to Caen - bus to Caen station - train to Paris - walk across Paris - train to Metz - train to Bettembourg - walk to JC's parents front door.  Here's how it went...

My experience of travelling by train in the UK is one third planning and two thirds luck.  The long and the short of it is that the trains were pretty topsy turvy and I got lucky by catching a delayed train (so set off on an earlier one than planned) meaning that the other delays/cancellations which happened on route didn't adversely affect my arrival time in Portsmouth.

So I had plenty of time to walk to the ferry terminal and spotted my first England Coast Path sign.  I had time to enjoy a glass of wine in a maritime/naval historic pub I found.

I was very excited to be on a ferry again.  I haven’t yet tired of stepping afloat and casting off.  Portsmouth slipped past in a blaze of lights and I kept an eye out for the Mary Rose buoy where we’d scattered Mum’s ashes last month.

I had a reserved seat in a room of about 40 others.  It wasn’t that full so we all stretched out on at least two seats each.  The chairs, astonishingly, didn’t recline!  It’s like flying short haul on a boat designed for overnight trips.  I couldn’t get comfy so, like many others, slept on the floor.  However, because I was a foot passenger, I didn’t have a sleeping bag or blanket which most others did.  It was a chilly night.

We were resoundly woken at 0615 (0515 UK time) by a loud tannoy - which even I heard without my hearing aids - and Brittany Ferries flicking on the bright lights.  Day was just breaking as we walked off the ferry in Caen.

I somehow missed the signs for the shuttle bus and walked towards the terminal entrance eventually encountering a locked gate.  After a minute or two a security guard appeared and although my French is poor, I clearly got the impression I shouldn’t be there.  He found someone to escort me into the terminal building and I was in.  Hello France indeed.

At 0700 there are few options for coffee in Caen but, as expected, the ferry terminal was up and running so had my first coffee of the day there.  I loitered to the bus stop and for €1.80 caught a bus to Caen SNCF station.  As I had a flexible ticket I caught an earlier train than planned and am looking surprisingly unruffled considering my lack of sleep ;-)

The line criss-crossed the Seine as it neared Paris.  I arrived into Gare St Lazare then meandered over to Gare de l’Est.

Paris was hot and my back was sore from sitting too much and rucksac carrying so, even though I was tempted to pop down to see the Louvre, it wasn’t worth the extra few km it would have cost me.

Lunch was salad at the station then onto train number 4 of the trip, Paris to Metz.  Not such a fancy train compared to the SNCF one, but shortly after leaving we were moved into first class as the air con had failed in our carriage.  Arrived into Metz easily and caught my final train to Bettembourg.  A short stroll to JC's parent's house and ta dah - done!

The timings were (all times local)

Wed 28 Aug

1430: left home

1440-1500: bus to Honiton

1510-1820: train to Portsmouth changing at Salisbury

1820-1850: walk to Ferry terminal

1850-2100: stooge around (pub, coffee shop etc)

2100-0645: ferry to Caen

Thu 29 Aug

0645-0810: stooge around (morning coffee and crossword)

0810-0850: bus to Caen station

0905-1100: train to Paris Gare St Lazare

1100-1200: walk to Gare de l'Est

1200-1340: hang around Gare de l'Est (lunch and book)

1340-1505: train to Metz

1530-1610: train to Bettembourg

1610-1630: walk to house

25 hours door to door :-)

Seaton Wetlands

Bearing in mind I live so close to this, it's amazing I've never been to visit the wonderful Seaton Wetlands.  JC is away and I needed a Bank Holiday distraction - this was perfect.  It even had a kiddies trail where you use the map to find where the hidden letters were.  No-one minded I didn't have a kid with me ;-)

I started with Black Hole Marsh, the Island Hide, then walked to the Discovery Hut.  This was not only next to the Seaton Tramway, but at a dual length of railway where the trams crossed.  I hadn't realised that the trams' colour signifies which timetable it is - but then I've not yet ridden on it.  This little tramline tractor was funny - it was following along behind the pink tram.  Keeping the rails clean perhaps?

After this I walked across Colyford Common to the Hide there, and around a reed path.  I don't think I walked every path at the wetlands, but I gave it a good shot.  Lots of flora and fauna to enjoy.  There was a  50/50 mix of either families with kamakeze kids on push bikes or photographers with serious zoom lenses. I fell into neither bracket but just enjoyed pottering around (and finding the letters of course).  

There was also a cafe - hurrah - so I sat in the sun with my coffee and a book.  I then found a leaflet which showed more areas of wetland to walk explore, and a path down into Seaton town centre.   So off I trotted, first to Borrow Pit then to Seaton Marshes Hide.

Then I walked down into Seaton and found myself a quirky cafe with gluten free panini on the menu and a super sunny garden.  A quick jaunt to check the sea was still there (very windy!) and back to the car.  

All in a lovely 12.6 km ramble.

Barbie Barbie!

Saturday 17 August 2024

Caitlin had asked for tickets to the Design Museum's Barbie exhibition for her July birthday.  And what sort of mother was I to turn her down?  Wonderfully, it worked out that Riona could also join us: she came down early to London as she and Caitlin are attending a Swifty concert on Monday.

So off to see Barbies we did, via the Natural History Museum.

Confession time, I had a Sindy as a kid, not Barbie.  I suspect I had a Sindy as it was British made, not American produced - in the same way Dad adhered to buying British Leyland cars as long as he could.  We didn't have much spare money so my Mum made me all my Sindy clothes which was kind of cute as we ended up with matching dressing gowns.  

I was always of the impression that Barbie was a blonde haired impossibly-figured doll.  It turns out she evolved with the times and has had work wear and even an astronaut suit for the past few decades.  I should pay more attention.

Oooh, Barbie box!

I then had a quick 10 minutes in other parts of the Design Museum. I am always drawn to map things (sigh) and typography.  And I found both.  Don't you just love a well designed road sign?

Amazingly, not only was Riona in town, but Mark was on his way back from France via London to Cardiff.  So we caught up with him too - I haven't seen him for ages!  Had a super meal in the cute Mali Vegan Thai before going our separate ways.  Lovely day, thanks everyone x