Bienvenue en France
On our way to France we stopped at a hiking point in Northern Black Forest. We hiked a few kilometers up to Teufelsmühle which has a pretty nice view point.
Us at the viewpoint.
We planned on having our introduction interviews of ourselves up here with this great view. But unfortunately, there was a lot of wind that day which is why the sound quality was really bad. That’s why we went back down and continued our journey to the Vosges national forest in France. It is a nice, hilly place where it wasn’t too easy to find a good spot for sleeping. But in the end we found a nice one next to a stream (and unfortunately train tracks what was not ideal for the night but definitely okay).
The feeling of starting the big adventure did not come up immediately. The take-off more or less lasted for two weeks which is why the real beginning of the journey felt like another road-trip together, I guess. But yes, finally we started and now, that I’m sitting here on a bench, watching French fishermen on the lake, the sun reflecting on the water – it feels amazing. Now, our life on the road really started.
We realized pretty fast that it takes a lot of time to get your everyday life duties done, when you do not have your regular and structured surrounding. Cooking takes longer than usual, so does doing laundry, getting ready for bed or at first, find a place to sleep. So, there’s not too much time left for all the things we planned for the tour. But we are at the very beginning of everything so far: We are still figuring out how to structure our days and how to find sleeping spots (the app iOverlander is a big help here!).
After the night and breakfast in Vosges we drove further North to Lac du Der-Chantecoq, South of Reims. This is where we are now. By luck we found an amazing spot where we stayed for over 24 hours. It seems to be a famous spot for fisherman what gives the place a special charme. It also has a freshwater access and a toilet – more than we wished for. This way we got a chance to do our laundry, refill our water tanks and sit near the lake while eating.
Fortunately the weather was good and the laundry had a chance to dry.
Why we were heading to this spot in the first place? We realized that it was time for washing ourselves and obviously, here’s a lake. Trying to get into the water, we realized it doesn’t work. Tim went first, his feet disappeared very fast in the ground, even before he reached the lake. It was so mody, there was no chance of getting into the lake for a swim and wash. Well, at least we are having a great view to enjoy here!
The lake.
You can follow our route here, as usual:
In case, you have any advice for finding free camping spots other than the named app, please feel free to leave a comment. Of course, you can leave a comment for everything else, too. We are glad to hear from you and about your thoughts!