https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbolzheim
We stayed in Herbolzheim, a village just outside the black Forest in the very south west of Germany, near the French and Swiss borders. We met up with Roz and Nick and the two (grand) children, as well as Helen (Nick’s mum).
Our pitch in the Terrasencampingplatz Herbolzheim site.
Black Forest Open Air Museum (23rd August)
Helen, Janet and I visited the folk museum. It was a lovely hot day, which we started with a good lunch!
The buildings were spread over a lovely site, and the local history was fascinating. The thing that Helen and I really wanted to find out, however, was the story behind the Bollenhut.
We wondered if it might be to do with the cherries in Black Forest Gateau, but it turns out that someone long ago fancied making some red pom poms and then wondered what to do with them. They justified the activity by putting 13 in a cross shape on a straw hat and calling it a local folk tradition.
Blacksmith at work:
Canoeing on the Upper Rhine (24th August)
On a very hot day, 7 intrepid canoeists set off down the Upper Rhine in 2 canoes. We launched just north of Basel. Could we keep the boats afloat, and the children also out of the water? Yes we could, as the river is surprisingly narrow and shallow at this point. The river is also the border between Germany and France – it turns out that there is a parallel channel on the French side that takes about 85% of the water, and is used in power stations!
Walking Der Felsenpfad (Rock Path) (Sunday 25th August)
Janet and I took a bit of time away from the family to go walking in the Black Forest. Specifically a 5km rough forest track looking at rock formations (!). Actually was quite a hard climb some of the time, with the gentle sound of motorbikes roaring through the roads in the valley below. There was a notable lack of birdsong in the pine forest. The rocks were interesting, especially one cave that has been lived in in the past.
Titisee, Black Forest (Monday 26th August)
The plan was to rent bikes down by the Rhine – but the bike shop we went to said that no-one hires bikes any more, only E-bikes, and that they needed charging! And also they had no suitable kit for the children.
So we abandoned that and drove into the hills to see Lake Titisee. Was a pleasant enough place for tourists, so we ate our picnic, took an electric boat out on the water, and ate Kaffe and Kuchen (coffee and cake) in the cafe.
Of course we had to try Black Forest Gateau, which was delicious.
The next day was a quiet one, spent with the children. Our aim was to be super organised for an early departure as we had a long journey in store to get to Austria. This didn’t work out quite as planned, as we had a narrow escape with the German police. We had forgotten to pay our campsite fees and the owner alerted the police. Luckily he remembered that he had seen us with young children, checked the names on the reservations, and found Rosalind still there as they had arranged a late departure. Only when she paid did he stand the police down! (How many of you are wondering why he didn’t just call us?!!!) Thanks Roz – this probably won’t be the last time you have to bail out your parents!
Janet and Steve's TRavel Blog 