Part 1 (below): five countries on the first day
Part 3: an Austrian cruise with German and Swiss Zetties
In the middle of September, I had to make travel bookings for a three-day series of meetings in Grenoble, France. Normally I would fly to Lyon and drive to Grenoble, however a national blockade of petrol refineries by lorry drivers and farmers meant that pumps were dry throughout France. Lyons airport doesn't have a direct fuel pipeline and British Airways advised that their planes were being diverted. And even if I managed to land at Lyon, I wouldn't be able to get any petrol for a hire car.
So following my motto, "have Z3, will travel", I decided to drive—via Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.
The day before leaving, I was checking out the new features on the German Z3 Message Board at http://www.bmw-z3.de/ when I noticed a proposed cruise on the Sunday in the south-west of Germany close to the Swiss border. I left a message for Frank Schirk, one of the participants, who then phoned me to arrange a meeting place. Things were looking good!
Part 1: five countries on the first day
Intending to catch the 7am ferry from Dover to Calais I started from Friston, near Eastbourne, at 5am on Saturday morning. I only just managed to get to Dover in time--the petrol tank was empty so I stopped to fill up (and buy a 5-litre spare fuel tank) and then stopped again at Dover to top up the tank.
I didn't think much of the French blockade so I gave French passport control the benefit of a full volume rendition of Edgar Broughton Band's 'Out Demons, Out'. It fell on deaf ears as the control appeared to be unmanned. Although the ferry only took an hour, the one-hour time difference between British and European time zones meant I it was already 9am. I was hoping it was early enough that blockades would be minimal and to make sure I avoided the French autoroutes and drove on side roads until I got to the Belgian border.
The Belgian border gates haven't been lowered for a while!
I was driving towards Ypres and in the distance could see the low line of hills that formed the front lines for much of the First World War. I saw a signpost to the museum at Sanctuary Wood--at one time a hospital area behind the Allied lines--and decided to stop for a stretch and a coffee. Some of the trenches and shell holes are preserved, though most of the original trees were levelled.
Trenches were arranged in a zigzag to prevent enfilade fire
The remnant of one of Santuary Wood's pre-1918 trees
I set off again on the road from Ypres to Menin, but had been going for no more than a couple of minutes before I came across the small village of Geluveld.
As a child I played in Geluveld Park in Worcester which I was later told was named after a battle site of the Worcestershire Regiment. I decided to take a detour to one of the many Commonwealth Graves Commission sites which were at frequent intervals on both sides of the road, and came across vivid proof.
This was the start of a wild goose chase. My uncle Frank was named after Private Frank Cullis who was reported missing, presumed dead, after a battle in 1917. The names of those whose graves are unknown are recorded on the Menin Gate monument where each night Belgian buglers play the 'Last Post'. Uncle Frank wanted a photograph of the engraved name, so I came off the road again at Menin to look for the monument. After several blank looks when I asked, "Pour allez au Porte du Menin?", I finally realised that Menin Gate is actually in Ypres, which I had passed a long time before. I got back into the Z3 and headed for Brussels.
It was time to fill the tank. In the UK I tend to fill up with 95RON fuel as I rarely see 98RON and when I do it is terribly expensive. As 98RON is much cheaper in Belgium I decided to give Topazine a treat. My treat was a bag of Britain's most successful export, Fisherman's Friends, a hot lozenge sweet found in all continental petrol stations that helps keep you awake on a long drive.
I had been running at speeds up to 120 mph with the top down, comfortable in the calm environment provided by the clear winddeflector. Traffic was light and there were some long flat straight sections on the autoroute to Brussels so I thought I would see what difference the 98RON fuel made.
I put the softtop up and 'gave it welly'. Topazine's 2.8 engine continues to delight, and by the time I was running out of road the on-board computer was reporting that the 141 mph on the speedo was actually 137 mph. With more road space I reckon the 2.8 (auto) will exceed 140 mph on the OBC, probably running to an indicated 145 mph on the speedo.
I took the opportunity while passing Brussels to drop in on BMW dealer Van den Broeck who are located just off the ring road. The premises were smaller than I imagined, but the staff were friendly and gave me tons on brochures to carry away. I headed south-east for Luxemburg and Germany.
The Luxemburg border
The rolling hills of the Ardennes
Hardly blinked, and it's the German border
I took the wrong road out of Trier, heading south down the Saar river. Great scenary, but I still had a lot of miles to complete the day.
Vineyards on the steep slatey slopes--ideal for Reisling grapes
From Saarbrücken I took the cut-off across the Pfalzer Wald to Landau, and then suddenly there was a turquoise Z3 with a local Karlsruhe plate. We played tag for a while which passed time.
Red sky at night, shepherd's delight
The sun was setting as I started on the autobahn to Stuttgart, a good omen for the drive tomorrow with the German and Swiss owners. I stopped at Schwaben Quellen (Stuttgart SI Zentrum) for a couple of hours rest, relaxation and a meal, then hit the road again for Bodensee (Lake Constance), finally stopping at Lindau close to the German/Austrian/Swiss border. The total distance covered in the day was 805 miles plus another 35 miles on the ferry.
Continue with part 2: morning meet up at the Lindau BMW dealership