Das Rhein

Dawn in the Alf stellplatz proved to be somewhat overcast and chilly, a damp squib. Undeterred the birds put on a dawn chorus as if the the sun had arisen in a blaze of glory. Well before breakfast people were up and about tending the steep vineyards that surrounded us. It would be nice to say that in deference to a centuries old viniculture, the descendents of the Mosel peasants sallied forth with tiny brushes to dust aphids from the fragile buds of the reisling vines to ensure their health and purity. However, some decades ago, some bright spark thought, "bugger that for a game of soldiers, I know a bloke with a chopper".

Resorting to mechanical help is hardly surprising given the terrain, Just around the corner in  the nearby village of Bremms one vineyard is planted on a 68% slope - the steepest in the world, vertiginous is the norm. We speculated how they harvested them - tank-tracked quad bikes? by hand, absailing? There is only one way to find out - come back next autumn and drive through Germany on our way to the Peloponnese.

Vertiginous vines above Trabach

The bad news, the weather has not cheered-up, 12 degrees, overcast and breezy - exactly the miserable Spring weather that is so familiar to us living in Buxton. The good news, no-one has rolled up this morning to collect the 8.50 euros which was the alleged fee for the stellplatz according to the Camperstops book. Yippee! Not only a free night, but a bonus one, not quite as good news as a bogof wine deal at Auchun, but in the words of the venerable prophet Tesco..."every little helps".

We decided to drive to the Koblenz area, and stay a few kilometers south of the city in the ASCI

 campsite near Lahnstien. For some reason the satnav directed us more or less through the centre of Koblenz, which by the look of it is essentially a modern city with a few older survivals. I suspect it it was seriously damaged in WW2. Our Lonely Planet Guidebook, which usually emotes over places in a slightly hip, but gushing transatlantic style, is a bit flat about Koblenz. It includes among the four places  listed as 'good places to eat', an Irish pub and a branch of Aldi! Quite clearly, not a foodie heaven. So now we are not sure about visiting it; there is a cable car apparently that gives you a great view over the confluence of the rivers Rhein and Moselle, but Gill suffers from vertigo, so that's not really an option.

It was nice driving down das Rhein valley, castles by the side of the road in the forested hills above the huge river, which really does live up the adjective 'mighty', which so often is attached to it. Cue Wagner, soaring strings and blasting trumpets, a busty soprano giving it some welly in front of wobbly, expressionist-style backdrop - don't we all just love die heimat.... We actually saw a little more of the valley that we bargained for as we needed to find a Lidl. The eastern bank of the river is the lesser populated, so we had to drive quite a few kilometers before we found one, passing rather lovely looking places, inaccessible on the opposite bank, like Boppard.

The 'mighty' Rhine

Schloss in the forest (sod that, where's the Lidl?)

Eventually we found the campsite at Lahnsein, down a very narrow lane. The facilities are distinctly basic, though we are pitched right beside the river Lahn, which would be idyllic, but the road on the opposite bank is busy, and noisy even at night. We had planned to use the cycle path towards Bad Emms (great name!), but looking at it on google maps it seems to hug the road. We think we'll call it a day so far as the Rhine goes, especially as the weather is still overcast, and head west towards Kyllberg.