From the mountains to the sea

This post is dedicated, with heartfelt thanks, to all of our kind hosts who looked after us so well in Germany.

On the road to the Alps - in the Allgaeu

The German Alps

The Austrian Alps

Alpenhut: delicious strudel

Our great German tour has run its course and, after nearly two months of couch-surfing the length and breadth of the Fatherland, we're back on board in Mortagne. The carpool method of transport really worked out well for us on this trip, making otherwise awkward connexions easy and, just as important, cheap.

The final and most extreme example provided our link from Munich to Mortagne, direct, door to door. This stroke of luck came in the form of a student on his way from Munich to Gijon, putting us right on his route and about 3/4 of the way along. So, for a 2/3 share of the petrol and road-toll costs, a share of the driving on a knackering non-stop 14-hour overnight drive, we got home. It has to be said, driving overnight is much more tiring than sailing overnight. Still, the drive would have been a good bit longer with daytime traffic, so it was worth the effort.

The snow-maned lions of Munich

Brr! Surfing a standing wave in Munich's Englischer Garten

We had a super time in Germany, but it's good to be back with the vessel and to find all well here after our absence. It feels like spring here after our time in the north, but actually there's a good month of winter still to come.

Blue sky over mud

Winter reed beds

It seems we timed our trip well for several reasons. The weather was apparently awful. Days and days, stretching to weeks, of rain. The land is soggy. The shower/toilet block got most of the way through its refurbishment while we were away too and the dredging of the harbour is well under way.

There isn't normally a pond here 

The 'Sturgeon' - Mortagne's dredger in repose

The great shower/loo refurbishment is not without its drawbacks unfortunately. In true French fashion, the workman vanished about 2/3 of the way through the job. Okay, the one shower that's working is good but: we had to hang the door before we could use it, there's no place to put your clothes, the water goes absolutely everywhere (including out into the street), the hot and cold taps are the wrong way around and, finally, there's dirt everywhere. Mustn't grumble - we managed.

The tarp's back up - ready for the rain still to come