We woke up under the wall of abandoned volcanic pumice stone excavation. We slept very well. Maybe thanks to wine or maybe to the silence around.
We drove off to the parking under the volcano Puy de Dôme. Then we walked up to the height of 1464 m. above sea level. The higher, the more clouds. It was incredibly windy and cold on the summit. We walked around the crater, not seeing the rest of volcanoes. There were just a few short moments when the wind blew the clouds away and we could see small fragments of the landscape. We started to go down. It was sometimes easier to run than walk on the steep slope.
Somewhere around the middle of the day the beautiful views and hills ended. Just fields and woods behind the window. I didn’t feel very well. I guess it was because of the strong wind and coldness. Just in case not to get sick, I took few pills of vitamin C and a shot of special beverage “for health”. The recipe comes from my grandmother. A measure of spirit, a measure of raspberry juice, honey and lemon. The taste is gorgeous!
In the darkness, we found a place to overnight by the lake in the city of Vesoul. There were few places just for campers. It is funny that usually, we pretend we are not a camper and we drive in, where those cars cannot. This time we pretended we are actually a camper. 🙂
In the morning we started the journey in Römerberg direction. We made a stop in the parking lot for a breakfast, where we met few Polish people, and then in McDonald’s to use the Internet. The good thing about France is, that normally it is not a problem to enter the restaurant or shop with a dog.
Jurek downloaded English-French offline dictionary. Probably we won’t make use of it. We needed English-Spanish one, at the tunnel in the Pyrenees. But it is a good idea for the future when you go to a foreign country – to have an available dictionary.
Römerberg was our next stop because it is home for Justyna, her husband Marcin and their son Kacper. Justyna is a friend from Ryn in Mazurian Lake District. We haven’t seen each other for a long time. Jurek didn’t get their address before, the telephone number was not working. We were looking for WiFi. Unsuccessfully. The petrol was about to finish. Driving around was pointless. Finally, we found a gas station and Jurek had an idea to dial the number without “0”. It worked and Justyna sent us the address so we could meet. Just a few hours later than planned…
Justyna served baked rabbit with potatoes for a dinner. I think I was eating the rabbit for the first time. Very tasty. 🙂 She baked also delicious cake for a dessert. We were chatting while drinking wine and beer. After that, we went to bed.
The following morning, Justyna and Marcin were going to work, Kacper to school and we drove to Heidelberg. There was a little traffic on the highway. Then we were looking for a parking lot near the castle. We were expecting it would be high on the hill, so we started to climb in the forest. We found wooden arbor near the top and we stopped to eat bananas. There was a beautiful view of the town, river and… the castle below us. So we went down. The castle was huge at a time. Now its enormous ruins stand above the city on the slope. After walking around, enjoying the picturesque view, we began to look for our parking. We found it just above the walls of the castle!
We came back around 4 p.m. We wanted to leave after a coffee, however, we were convinced to go for a dinner together. We drove to Speyer and walked around, waiting till the restaurant will be open after few hours break. We were extremely hungry when we sat to dine. Buffet cost 15 euro. There were two tables in the shape of the ship, full of food. Chicken, beef, crabs, mussels, sushi, fried bananas, aubergines, salads, sauces etc. There was also raw food in one part. One can take fish, duck or liver on the plate and give it to the cook in order to prepare it. After all of that, time for dessert came. Ice cream in four flavors, various fruit, and jelly. We received a shot of slivovitz with a bill. It was hard to get up from the table. Buffets are very popular in Denmark, but I’ve never seen one so rich and multifarious as that one.
Back at home we sat a while recalling old, good times and went to bed afterward. It was too late to go anywhere.
We didn’t plan to stay so long, but it was so nice (and delicious), that it was not hard to convince us. We are very grateful for a wonderful time!
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