Today we took the ferry to the island of Senja and the Senja scenic route
Great place to park on the hill above Mefjordvær
Let’s go up there
There
They look good (cornus suecica – Swedish bunchberry)
Mefjord
The view from the top
It was a bit rainy when we woke up today
Some atmosphere for breakfast
The Tromsonians are fond of their church
This is the only church that I have visited with a nuclear bunker in the basement
The church organ
The architect’s plain glass blinded the congregation so an artist was called in to help with a lead glass window. This sent the architect into a sulk and he never set foot in the place again. He plainly hadn’t seen the light!
Some fun Norwegian advertising
The Polaria aquarium
Will you look at those whiskers!
Fabulous filter-feeders
Gerhild has made a new friend
Back to nature after big-city life in Tromsø
Today we saw our first elk, grazing in a meadow next to the road. Hurray! 🫎
We drove for about half an hour up into the mountains behind Overgård.
Nature’s art
Kim’s artistic socks poking out the back of the camper
A shy river that won’t tell us what it’s name is
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Pink!
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We’ll stay for the night here.
Today we walked in glorious sunshine from the campsite up the hill to the Hengen waterfall
Nice spot to enjoy the view and rest a bit
The mountains across the valley
Norwegian pine
Norwegian pine tree bark in the sunshine
There’s a lot of water about
Another Norwegian waterfall
You have to imagine the incredible roaring sound from this falling water
A Norwegian cloud
Nice to wake up in the forest.
Today we walked around the peninsula where we had parked.
There’s a sandy beach all around the peninsula while we walked along the edge of the forest, looking down.
Snow-capped mountains everywhere you look
We are in a nature reserve with interesting birds everywhere. Loads of sand martens had made themselves at home in this sandy bank
A sand marten
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On our way to Skibotn and Olderelv Camping
After a rainy start up the hills, we drove down to sunny Alta (https://www.altamuseum.no/en/) to see some rock art.
Is this Norwegian rock art, no it‘s Swedish knitting by Anna Bauer. The knitting style called „chicken strikken“ originated in the 1970s in Denmark. The idea was to knit using your own imagination and to combine symbols and patterns into colourful garments. When Anna Bauer discovered chicken strikken, she loved it. “I think it’s time to set knitting free again! Embrace the unknown, let go of firm land and get out on the slippery ice!” Anna Bauer.
As a dedicated odd-socker Kim was delighted to read that Anna Bauer prefers odd mittens.
The real rock art was outside of course, spread along a beautiful fjord-side walk in a birch forest.
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The experts now think that the rocks near the sea were originally coated in a red layer of iron oxide like this and the figures chipped into the surface were light grey.
Great view out over the fjord.
It’s the end of May and here the trees are just coming into leaf. Lovely!
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Get a look at Alta’s church, not to mention the irreverent swinger!
On our way to Storslett, where we found a fantastic car park to spend the night in a forest next to the fjord.
Atmospheric drive through the mountains
Did you know that reindeer are the only fully emancipated deer where the girls get to wear antlers too.
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Groovy geology
My old geography teacher would have loved this
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11:00 arrived at the very top of Europe!
Today we drove further north to Stabbursdalen lodge
These reindeer are still dressed for snowy weather
What’s she doing?
Taking a panoramic picture
Kim is looking pleased with himself.
What‘re you looking at?
Nice walk around the coastal bird sanctuary
Today we drove through Finland and popped out on the other side in Norway.
A reindeer family enjoying the Finnish sunshine
Norwegian ice that hasn‘t got around to melting yet.
Doesn’t it look scrumptious?
Birch trees everywhere at the moment
Our very nice spot for the night
Bye bye lake, time to move on.
Hello lake, we’re here for the night.
Buzz off mosquito, I‘m having my picture taken.
Plenty of room for the camper.
Sunset today 22:48
Sunrise tomorrow 02:01
Today we visited Tomas Skimutis, an artist recommended by Per Helldorff
Tomas demonstrating one of his pieces
Gerhild‘s favourite bird-helicopter
Two bottles of high-octane fuel
Fabulous older work.
After a nice chat with Tomas, we went to a Swiss baker to buy four loaves of yummy bread (website translated).
Next stop was the Skulpturenpark Umedalen
Louise Bourgeois
Jaume Plensa
Katarina Kaikkonen, Finland, 160 men’s jackets. Great isn’t it.
Horsing around on a disused chimney
Gunilla Samberg – Räddningsplats (rescue room)
Nina Saunders, Denmark. The Whirlwind in the Thornbush.
Smart building, what’s it made of?
Hang on a minute, aren’t they…?
Yes, that’s right beer crates!
Shoes
Our spot for the night
Not a bad view
We‘ll drink to that
It‘s a beautiful campsite so we‘ll stay here for a day and bask in the sunshine.
After lunch we walked up the hill to enjoy the view.
There’s also a barbecue spot on the top. The Swedes even provide some wood. The only snag is that you have to cut it up yourself.
Wild orchids
So much nature in a 2 km walk
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A very fine walk
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Nature‘s abstract creation
Our campsite for two nights (snibbenscamping.se)
Today we popped in to Skulpturparken i Ängelsberg in a beautiful watery landscape. (Web site translated )
Not the Louvre, just an artist working in a Swedish forest
The philosopher‘s bench
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A topsy turvy world
Our spot to spend the night, next to the river Testeboån, the least exploited water course in Sweden.
Today we visited Pers mekaniske kabinett (web site – translated )
Anna and Per Helldorff
One of Per‘s amazing automata.
We ate some of Anna‘s delicious rhubarb crumble and her renowned nettle soup with nettles freshly harvested by Per the previous day.
Then we drove to Konst på Hög
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A well ventilated church
A herd of strange creatures wandering over the hill
What’s that?
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Our spot for the night
So green and warm. What more can you wish for?
Today we went for a walk in the beautiful forest where you can find the sculptures for Wanås Konst.
Yoko Ono‘s wishing trees
The amazing Snapphane oak tree
The colours!
Detail of a large work
More detail
The whole thing
Gerhild is on top of the world
Kim‘s pretty high too
The Wanås country home
The river next to our camp site – Storkens Ställplats
4 hour drive to our relaxing parking spot.
A dragon boat crew practising in the bay.
View of St. Pancras from flat
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Why is there a camel on the roof?
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Serpentine Gallery
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The Identikit Man (1961) by Derek Boshier (born 1937)
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Battersea power station
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Royal Opera House at lunchtime
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Yayoi Kusama at Tate Modern.
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When Forms Come Alive at the Hayward Gallery
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Photos by Edward Burtynsky at the Saatchi Gallery
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Rong Bao Is Me at Saatchi Gallery
Near the canal museum
Camden Lock
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Wir liefen heute einen schönen Weg entlang als wir eine laute Stimme hörten. „Mama, ich kann nichts mehr sehen“. Gerhild fragte sofort, ob wir helfen könnten und die Mama sagte: „Wir sind die Familie Mais und wir brauchen dringend einen Friseur.“ Papa Mais fügte hinzu: „Der Bauer hat irgendetwas gesprüht und die Haare sind wie wild gewachsen.“ In seinem Rücksack fand Kim eine Nagelschere und fragte „Darf ich?“. Der Papa nickte, es machte Schnipp, Schnapp, Schnupp und Kim verpasste allen drei einen schönen Pagenschnitt. „Oh vielen Dank“ riefen sie alle, und wir liefen weiter, froh, dass sie wieder sehen konnten.
We were walking along a nice path today when we heard a loud voice. “Mom, I can’t see anything anymore”. Gerhild immediately asked if we could help and the mom said: “We are the Corn family and we urgently need a hairdresser.” Papa Corn added: “The farmer has sprayed something and our hair has grown like mad.” In his backpack, Kim found some nail scissors and asked, “May I?” The dad nodded and Kim gave all three a nice page cut. “Oh thank you very much,” they all shouted, and we continued on our walk, glad that they could see again.
Wir campen unter einem Apfelbaum. Die Äpfel sehen so lecker aus, da habe ich einen gepflückt und hineingebissen. Der Baum fing an zu wachsen und wurde immer größer bis ich merkte, dass ich immer kleiner wurde. „Das hast du davon“ sagte der Baum, „wenn du nicht vorher fragst.“ „Entschuldige”, sagte ich „deine Äpfel sehen aber so toll aus.“ „Hmpf“ sagte der Baum. „Nimm einen Biss von diesem kleinen Apfel, dann wird alles wieder gut.“ „Oh danke”, sagte ich und kletterte mühsam hoch zu dem kleinen Apfel. Der kleine Apfel schmeckte ein bisschen bitter, ich rutschte runter, fiel ins Gras und alles war wie gewohnt. Die Sonne schien, der Baum duftete und Gerhild fragte „Was machst du da im Gras?“
We are camping under an apple tree. The apples look so delicious, I picked one and took a bite. The tree began to grow and became bigger and bigger until I realised that it was me who was getting smaller and smaller. “That’s what happens,” said the tree, “if you don’t ask beforehand.” “I‘m sorry,” I said, “but your apples look so great.” “Hmpf” said the tree. Take a bite of this little apple, then everything will be fine again. “Oh thank you,” I said and laboriously climbed up to the little apple. The little apple tasted a bit bitter, I slipped down, fell into the grass and everything was back to normal. The sun was shining, the tree smelled good and Gerhild asked “What are you doing in the grass?”
Als wir heute in die Stadt Dijon gelaufen sind, fragten ein paar Tiere, ob sie mitkommen dürfen. „Wir kennen nur den Wald!“ Als wir ankamen, war es ohne Wald so hell, dass wir gleich Sonnenbrillen kaufen mussten. Die Fledermaus meinte sie kann trotzdem besser mit den Ohren sehen! Die Leute staunten sehr als sie uns sahen!
Als wir uns am Abend verabschiedet haben meinte der Hase: „Es war schön in der Stadt, aber es ist viel schöner im Wald.“ Alle nickten.
When we walked into Dijon today, a few animals asked if they could come along. “We only know the forest!” When we arrived, it was so bright without the trees that we had to buy sunglasses right away. The bat said she can still see better with her ears! People were very amazed when they saw us! As we said goodbye in the evening, the rabbit said: “It was beautiful in the city, but it is much more beautiful in the forest.” Everyone nodded.
After a visit to a Peugeot garage in Kassel to reset the fault once more (3rd time), we managed to get to Berlin without the dreaded message appearing, that we can only drive for another 450 km.
Today, Mr. and Mrs. Flexible decided to get up early and head in the direction of Berlin.
The sky over Lausanne early in the morning.
Late in the afternoon we arrived in Marburg (https://www.marburg-tourismus.de/camping-und-wohnmobile/pois)
Marburg was quite cold when arrived so we dived into this cosy restaurant to warm up.
Spider-Man just hanging about, outside the restaurant.
Marburg looks like a nice place.
The river Lahn in the evening.
The camper now greets us with Kein Neustart in 351 km
which is boring as it’s 471 km to get home… Time to find another Peugeot garage.
There is a regular street art festival in Grenoble. https://www.streetartfest.org/
Some are huge.
Some are not.
Can you believe your eyes?
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Even the youngsters have a go with a stick-up.
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Street art on corten steel!
Street art on a scruffy old wall.
How to make a harp from a boring chimney.
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My favourite.
Grenoble is surrounded by mountains.
Next Peugeot workshop SBLP AUTO Peugeot tells us we may drive back to Berlin and have the camper repaired there. It may take up to 3 weeks to get spare parts…
Move to Camping 3 Pucelles. (€23,44 ***)
Today was hot and stressful as we tried to find a Peugeot dealer with time to mend the camper. Our next free appointment is in one month…
The online Peugeot booking system.
The entrance to the 1st cave. (Saint Christopher’s Caves)
Mind your head!
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This way?
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Just produced by dripping water.
Good to come out into the sunshine.
Walking across the valley.
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Kim snapping the „pont romain“.
Until 1860, when the Duchy of Savoy was annexed to France, this bridge served as a border between the States of Savoy and the Kingdom of France.
Great to be in the forest again.
Friendly trees.
We lounged around most of the day and strolled around in the evening.
The river next to our campsite.
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25°C and a blue sky from dawn to dusk.
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Lunch is ready.
The trees are nicely wrapped up although it’s quite warm today.
Nice view of the Chartreuse national park.
Blue sky all day!
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Nasty yellow light lit up just before we arrived at the Arc en Ciel campsite. (€17,50 ****)
A charming French mechanic in the village fixed it promptly with his automatic diagnostic box. Let’s hope it stays fixed!
The river Ouche offers a quiet route into Dijon, if you ignore Gerhild’s loud new bag.
Nice leafy head in the old town.
Posh house.
Interesting puzzle for rue Musette.
In the Palais des beaux artes (free entry).
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Why are images of baby Jesus never childlike?
So what time is it?
Time to walk back to the campsite.
The sun was shining today, so we walked beside the lake and did a bit of reading.
In the river Ouche this morning.
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Kim is reading “A dead man walking” by J. D. Kirk.
Gerhild is still reading “Gute Nacht Tokio”.
Today we leave Reims and its cathedral.
Bye, bye.
OUCH! Paid €41,90 to drive for 2 hours on the motorway today. Have reprogrammed the Sat-Nag to stop that from happening again.
Checked in to Camping Du Lac Kir (€17,34)
Now we have left the Champagne region for Burgundy, so we had to try the local wine – quite fine.
The grand entrance steps down to the Vranken Pommery cellars, cut out of the limestone beneath Reims. The Romans started digging pits for building materials and Madame Pommery had tunnels dug between the pits. Cold and moist, just right for storing champagne.
116 steps down, which is about 30 m underground.
Mme Pommery employed a sculptor to brighten the place up for Victorian visitors.
Who knows where these bottles will end up?
The snazzy overhead conveyor system to carry the wicker baskets loaded with bottles.
Some modern art in one of the enormous pits to entertain 21st century visitors.
Mixing the old with the new.
A heart still beating 30 metres underground.
No, not snow, feathers!
Relaxed after a cool glass of Pommery champagne.
Today we drove across the hills where Champagne vines grow, looking down at the river Marne.
We parked next to the Salle des fêtes in Mailly-Champagne.
Here’s the walk.
The grapes have already been harvested.
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Great autumn colours.
Some fantastic work by David Lachavanne.
They used to make bricks here, so this is the Venus de Mailly.
After a peaceful night, we had a misty start in the forest today.
Looks a bit autumny out of the window.
Is there such a thing as a fog rainbow?
Now what is in there?
Mmmmmmm, that looks good!
Just as we were starting to relax. Gerhild complained that the kettle wasn’t working. An ultralight aircraft with 2 people on board had cut an overhead high-voltage line with a huge bang and then fell into the Marne river near our camp site (€25 ****). One of the victims was rescued by bystanders, then the fire brigade arrived really quickly with rescue divers. Relax, huh!
Today we did the shortest walk from Vent des Forêts Court Circuit.
Nice parking spot in the forest.
A magic tree to start off. Table des vents.
A non walkable circuit.
Gerhild’s favourite – Ad Agio for Swings.
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Great trees in this forest.
Kim is reading “The Man Who died Twice” by Richard Osman.
Gerhild’s reading “Gute Nacht Tokio” by Atsuhiro Yoshida.
We listened to an interesting podcast featuring Ferdinand von Schirach.
