Seltz
We had a free park picked out for today, but when we arrived three of the spots were occupied by cars. So in some haste John booked us into a camping car place a Sletz. Slets in on the French side of the boarder between France and Germany. The River Rhine being the boarder. The heat was intense and even though we were beside a lake swimming was prohibited. We could see a beach in the distance but it was part of a campsite, and by the time it was cool enough to go around and investigate, the camp site office was closed. We had to make do with a paddle/wash in the river.
We met an interesting couple called Ralph and Sylvia from Germany. Spent some time chatting to them. Turns out they lost their son at the age of 21, so we made a connection with them. They have been living on the road full time for 5 years. We exchanged emails and they said they would look us up when they come to ireland. We had a late start the following day and had a French pizza for brunch at the cafe at the entrance to the site.
Strasbourg.
We headed to a park just outside Strasbourg. Strange because it was on the German side but Strasbourg city was French. Apparently had changed hand a number of times over the years.
It was 10 or 15 min walk from the park to the tram (Green line D) which would take us straight into the centre of Strasbourg. We went early and had breakfast in town. John wanted to get an Orange sim card, so he brought a passport. Found an Orange shop but they didn’t do pay as you go so had to go to a Tobacco shop. Lorraine found a market and had a wander around. We visited the cathedral which was impressive but everything was very close to it, We then walked to the old town, built on the river and it was beautiful. The city was very busy. We went to the same cafe and ordered two drinks and watched the world go bay before getting the tram back. Different story this time. The police boarded the tram at the border and insisted on seeing ID. John had his passport but Lorraine had nothing. We got away with a warning this time. Later we had to do a journey on the tram just across the boarder to do some laundry. Same thing on return the police boarded the tram, but we had the passports this time but weren’t asked. A young lad at the laundry, spoke very good English and explained that they were after illegal immigrants. He also suggested our next stop.
