On Saturday we continued south stopping for a quick look at one of the more imposing castles on route at Harburg.

The stellplatz we looked at in Donauwörth was full so we drove to the nearby town of Rain (and yes it did but the sun came out later!). Their stellplatz was very peaceful and although it’s only a small town they still have an impressive town hall (and town gardens).

We moved the next morning to the city of Augsburg. This is the third biggest city in Bavaria so we were not expecting a very rural stellplatz however this is the view out of our window – hope the sound of running water doesn’t keep us awake all night!

We walked around the city visiting the Schaezlerpalais, a baroque palace built in the 18th century, now a museum. It featured the most incredible guilded, mirrored ballroom. The town centre also contained a few well decorated buildings as well.

After stopping for the german custom of coffee and cake mid-afternoon, we ended up at the Fuggerei. This fascinating place claims to be the oldest social housing project in the world – it was created by wealthly local Jacob Fugger in 1521 and is still going strong 500 years later with around 150 current residents!

On Friday afternoon we continued south to a stellplatz in the delightfully named town of Dinkelsbühl. A very short walk into the old town took us past a sign that proves Germans do have a sense of humour! We stopped at a restaurant where we had some excellent local Bavarian dishes. Mine included a gigantic portion of ham with potato dumplings………

The old town is again surrounded by walls and towers. Inside are mainly 17th century buildings seemly built to the same design but painted in different colours. Outside the walls are parks with lakes reflecting the buildings. It was all so photogenic I didn’t know where to point the camera!

After Weikersheim we continued south and stopped at a Stellplatz in Rothenburg for the night. This walled town is set high above the River Tauber and at first sight is almost too quaint to be true – imagine if Walt Disney had built a german town! The place is full of cobbled streets and surrounded by many tall towers protecting the town walls.

The food on display was very interesting – from butcher’s windows full of every variation of german sausage to the local delicacy of Schneeballen – strips of pastry squashed into a ball and then deep fried. I tried but I’m not sure I’d go back for more!

On Thursday morning we headed south along the Romantic Road, a route running from Würzburg to Füssen near the southern border of Germany designed to include some of the most attractive towns (often medieval) in the country.

Our first stop on the route was Weikersheim to visit it’s spendid renaissance palace which is surrounded by magnificent gardens often compared to Versailles. The Knight’s Hall in the palace was particularly impressive with its painted ceiling, decorated walls and fireplace.

After a reasonably early departure from Ypres we drove the 50 mins to Ghent, a former city-state in the Middle Ages, now a university town packed with interesting medieval architecture.

We left the motorhome at the city’s only overnight parking spot (looked very secure!) and caught a bus into the city centre. Our tour started, of course, with a good lunch overlooking the river – Ghent now has a reputation for quality veggie food, the two dishes we tried certainly seemed to support that.

We then followed a self-guided walking tour which took in many of the impressive buildings around the city.

Got to the Eurotunnel terminal no problems and they managed to fit us on an earlier train. After a smooth 35 minute ride we arrived in Calais, drove next door to Cité Europe and spent an hour or so in the supermarket to fill up the van with all the food we were not allowed to bring in from the UK!

We drove east for just over an hour, crossing the Belgium border and arriving in the town of Ypres (or Ieper, depending on your language preference). We had booked a pitch at Camping Jeugdstadion, a site within easy walking distance along the old city walls and the river to the town centre. In the central square is the Cloth Hall, a huge gothic building used as a cloth market dating back to 1304.

The main attraction for most in the town is the Menen Gate, a massive British War Memorial built to remember those lost in the Great War, inscribed with over 54000 names of soliders who were unable to be given a proper funeral. Every night at 8pm ever since the end of the Great War (with a gap only during the 2nd World War) a Last Post ceremony has been held. It seems to be well attended by the public and very moving with wreath laying from various visitors (from Australia and New Zealand in this instance) and three bugles sounding the Last Post.

We are off to Europe at last – but first a stop at the Pig restaurant near Canterbury for a very impressive lunch to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary (38!). The building has the air of an old stately home set in large grounds with its own kitchen gardens. Highly recommended.

We are now safely tucked up in the Motorhome section of the Canterbury P&R just up the road and will be heading for the Eurotunnel terminal first thing in the morning.