Go north, crazy travellers! But go south first...

Back in the time machine, we have just left Frankfurt on our camping adventure. From now on, we're living in a tent, experiencing campground living. And it's pretty sweet!

Our first campsite, you may recall, was in Strasbourg. A bit south, but Mark sang the praises of France's hypermarts, and was determined to stock on up terrines and cheap wine before we headed off for Scandinavia, land of the expensive everything. I agreed, because I've heard amazing things about Alsace, and because France!

So, in case you forgot, here's our first campsite:

Cheers, with big beers!

Mark's girlfriend, Catherine

Now, these hypermarts are supposed to be beacons of consumer bliss, visible from space, stocked with all the wine, cheese, and cheap household goods you could ever possibly want. I am, however, a citizen of the country that invented Super Walmart, so it's going to have to be pretty spectacular to impress me.

We searched for one of these places for two days. Our language skills and lack of internet access nearly thwarted us, but we did eventually find an Auchan. There are no photos. By the time we finally found it, I was sick of the whole thing - completely over it. It was Super Walmart, with better wine. We filled Catherine with wine (boxes and bottles!), terrines, meals in cans, and more wine. We still haven't finished all the food (the wine ran out weeks ago), so I think we might have overshopped (on some things...).

We did have a lovely evening in Strasbourg.

Mark, drinking white wine, proving that he is a girl.

 I wasn't able to get Mark inside this church, but that's probably just as well.

Look, Dave! A church!

One thing we have learned, though, is if you're after a drink, look for a cathedral. There will be many, many bars and restaurants nearby. Sometimes even in the church! (Insert inappropriate joke characterising members of the religious persuasion of your choice as drunkards here.)

The square around the Cathedral

Before we go any further, you should know that I have realised I am a terrible photographer. I never have any sort of picture-taking device at the ready when interesting things are happening, and nothing ever looks in my pictures the way it looked to my eyes. This made me sad for a bit, before I decided to enjoy being where I am and experience the moment that I'm living, and not worry about documenting it. I don't know what that will mean for your vicarious enjoyment of my travels, however. I apologise for all the pictures of Mark holding a glass of something and pointing at a building I will not be able to identify in retrospect.

Anyway. Onward! The next day, we started with a lovely breakfast at the campground.

Bread & butter, juice & coffee - that's breakfast!

From there, we took a drive through some of the villages of Alsace. Which were gorgeous! We started in Colmar, and followed the wine tour through to about Ribeauville.

I think this was Colmar?

For Dominique - a daily Tour de France update...

And of course, we drank some wine...

But it's white! Poor Mark...

And that was our whirlwind tour of Alsace! From here, we made our way to Bremen, where we camped for the night. (At least we're headed in the right direction now!)

Bremen campsite. Note the Auchan bags full of French booty...

Just outside the campsite we found a gorgeous little lake, where some locals were taking advantage of the lovely weather to have a bit of a swim.

Mark, of course, couldn't resist.

And as the sun sank slowly in the west, so concluded the first leg of our camping tour. Next up, Copenhagen and Oslo!