At breakfast we told Madame Marie-Paule Dolder about the good time we had yesterday and explained where we had been. We also mentioned how we had not found the last place (Le Stuthof Concentraton Camp) and she told us it was 30km inland from Barr. When we went down to pay she had out a map to explain in more detail. This was nice of her so we didn't tell hr we had decided not to retry the 60 km detour.

We headed for Colmar intending to drive down the Alsace to the south . However the weather was not great so we decided to go to Freiburg instead. We saw the former border site then stopped and looked at a dam on the Rhine. The dam had only about a 5 metre fall but because of the vast volume of water there were really turbulent rapids produced. There was also a lock for boats to allow them to navigate the dam.

Freiburg was basically shut so we had a roadside snack then set off through the Black Forest area. We saw steep roofs, a ski area on the grassy slopes, castles, lots of villages and Nordic walking tracks and drove through lots of tunnels and over viaducts. We went into Titisee but as we had used our coins to buy strawberry jam we didn’t have enough change to park. With 60 km to go we went onto an autobahn so the pace picked up. We had decided to go straight for Meerdburg and maybe go out later in the day as it was raining again.

Fuel prices have been interesting. We paid 1.139 euro for a litre of gazoil (diesel) at a small petrol station near Mittelbergheim . It was 1.269 in Germany and, as they don’t have toll roads, we expected it to be higher there. Today even in France the prices were more like the German ones. We pulled into a station with good prices but all their diesel had biofuel added and we had been told not to use it. In the end we paid 1.314 at a station off the motorway but have since realised they are the most expensive.

The challenge in Meersburg was to get to the apartment as the GPS was taking us through the pedestrianised centre. In the end I bought a guide to get change, we parked and walked. We found the café that we thought was at the bottom of our building and went in to find the agent waiting for us. She was delighted with our booking as it was their first from NZ. Once we were shown, the drive to the apartment entrance was easy. We have a 1 bedroom apartment with reasonable cooking facilities, nice bathroom and lots of space. We have to park the car about 600 m away but can bring it here for up to half an hour .

After parking the car we walked around the town and down to the lakeside. It is very nice here with a good variety of shops and cafes, with very reasonable prices. We were down by the lake when John (finally) was able to buy a NZ flag from a stallholder who said the NZ Italy score was 1 all. We thought the game was tomorrow, so we hurried back so JB could watch the second half. The last few minutes were tense. He owes the stall holder a drink as he said he would shout if NZ won or drew.

We had tea in the café attached to the building then went for a walk before returning for the evening. The view is totally different from last night as we are in the middle of the town. There was supposed to be internet in the café and in some apartments but we have had no luck so will enquire further tomorrow.