We are in the French Ardennes in the north-east of France staying for two nights in the largest mediaeval castle in Europe (35 000 sq.m.). Despite its 4 stars, the hotel is only OK, it’s main attraction being its location within the castle walls. There is nothing worth photographing in Sedan itself.
- Nous passons deux nuits dans les Ardennes françaises dans le plus grand château médiéval d’Europe (35000 m2). Malgré ses 4 étoiles, l’hotel Est très moyen, son plus grand attrait étant sa situation à l’intérieur du château. Il n’y a strictement rien d’autre à photographier à Sedan.
We cycled in the other direction today. The path followed the Lahn river so should have been flat but about halfway along the road acquired a lot of ups and downs again. Our destination was Bad Ems a spa town that seems to have run out of energy.
Two steep climbs began our cycling route today but fortunately we then followed the Lahn River to Limburg, another delightful German town. We’re staying in a cute little German house which is like a museum.
We’re gradually heading home to Blois. Today we drove to Laurenburg, our last 3-night stay in Germany, stopping off at Marburg An Der Lahn on the way, site of the first Gothic church in Germany. We don’t know what the horse connection is.
Today, because of the steep climbs on busy roads, we left our bikes on the back of the car and drove to three sites in the Harz mountain range: an early 20th century wooden church in Hahnenklee inspired by Norwegian stave churches, the surprising 16th century blue wooden church in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, the largest wooden church in Germany (seats 2400 people) and the delightful town of Wernigerode with its unusual town hall and many Renaissance houses.
The beautiful little town of Wolfenbüttel with its wonderful collection of half-timbered houses built around 1600 is in the Harz region in the centre of Germany. We were caught in a shower but fortunately it didn’t last too long.
