Bullay (E - F)🇫🇷 🇱🇺 🇩🇪
Bullay (E - F)🇫🇷 🇱🇺 🇩🇪
Distance today : 160 miles
Total distance : 1525 miles
An easy day today, passing thru Luxembourg on our way to Germany, motorways most of the time.
We could have punched it to the bike rally in Cologne, Germany but that would have ment arriving a day early and without our host, Rob who was coming over from Kent in the UK. Rob has been going to this rally for over 20 years or more and I think its not been very often he's invited anybody else. So, we needed a comfortable stop over on the way.
The little town of Bullay on the river Mosel is twinned with the little town of Alf directly opposite on the other side of the river. I'd been past Bullay some years ago and remember the distinctive bridge crossing the river, a Dopplestock-Brücke, double decker bridge. It was Germanys first bridge of it's sort, built in 1875, destroyed burning WWII as it was a major military supple route then rebuilt as you see it today. It's only just wide enough for 2 cars. Quiet often you have to wait if a bus or a large caravan/campervan is crossing especially as there are no traffic lights or any sort of traffic management.
Bullay had a huge campsite right along side the river catering for campers,caravans/campervans and has several small chalets and wooden huts for rent.
The website will not let you book for only 1 night. You just have to turn up and chance it for a space. Unknown to us, the local wine festival was starting the next day and that was why the site was full to almost capacity with campervans. Luckily there was a wooden hut which was vacant and the guy on reception let us camp on the grassy area allocated to it. We had enough room for 4 or more tents if we had wanted it and took advantage of the unused tables and chairs in front of the hut.
When I said IF we had wanted it, we actually could have used the space....if only people talked to each other 🤣. Rob, eager to get away had caught an earlier train then looked to book a pitch and turn up at the same time as us. Seeing that the website wouldn't let you book for 1 night, he'd simply gone to the rally a day early and pitched up, knowing that the bike club had there club night on Thursdays so there would be a lot of them there. If only he had called us he could have fitted on our pitch. As it was he was treated as a guest of honour by the club, had all his beer bought for him, drank far too much and didn't get to his tent till about 3am.
Once the tents were up and showered it was time to walk along the river and find somewhere to eat and drink. We were now in Germany and that ment good food and lots of it. The plan was to just have a beer, reserve a table for later then move on for some different beer and return but a passing heavy shower confined us to the table so we just ordered more beer and settled in for the night. It wasn't long before we were ordering starters a SINGLE cheese board for me, olives for Paul. Main meal later had to be pork schnitzel in a rich mushroom gravey accompanied by lashings of potatoe salad. More beer followed then the owner came over with a couple of free Peach Schnapps. Paul chickened out so I had his.....couldn't let it go to waste.
By 8.30 it was time to move on and find another bar. Unfortunately a lot of places we had passed on the way into the town had now shut or were shutting for some reason so we he headed for the campsite bar. Sat at the bar with a couple of beers it's wasn't long before the serving lady was asking if we wanted more ? It turns out all the bars and restaurants shut at 9pm and more so as the wine festival started the next day the staff wanted an early night.
Not to worry, off to the rally tomorrow.
