Corona made travel difficult, and we had been thinking of the Pyrenees for a while, so when Europe opened and we were fully vaccinated, it was just a matter of rolling. Here are travel letters from the first part of the trip.
Det er et stykke å kjøre hjemmefra, så vi tok Kiel-fergen for å spare 80 kjedelige mil. Tyske Autobahn i august kan være et kø-maTraveling from Norway you have to go trough Germany, and the German Autobahn in August can be a queue nightmare, but this year there was very little traffic, and we did not actually end up in a single queue through the country.
Originally we had planned to drive through the Moselle in the far west of Germany. A beautiful landscape with vineyards and castles on every hill. But just before we were to leave, the area was hit by floods with great destruction and many dead, so we chose a slightly more easterly route and crossed the border into France just west of Stuttgart.
In Germany and France, we focused on finding small campsites far from the Autobahn. Partly because these are nicer and cheaper than the big ones, and partly to see some of the areas we drive through. The first overnight stay in Germany was in Thuringen, near Eisenach.
A small town best known for the castle Wartburg where Martin Luther hid away in 1521 after being declared an outlaw. We visited the castle from the 12th century, but it was a bit disappointing. Very over-restored, where 1800s-1900s romance was dominant. But the detour through the beautiful hilly landscape was definitely worth it.
The Maginot Line
The first place to go in France was the Ouvrage Schoenenbourg, one of the fortresses in the Maginot Line, built in the 1930s as a defense against German attacks. It is probably one of the largest fortifications built in recent times. The Great Wall of China is reasonably longer, and in a way more impressive, but the Maginot Line stretches along the entire German-French-Italien border and consists of as many as 58 large fortifications and a number of smaller ones.
In principle, they could cover almost the entire border area with cannon fire. But the French must have had great faith that the Germans would respect Belgium’s neutrality in the event of war, so they did not build forts along the Belgian border. As is well known, the Germans did not care much about something as trivial as neutrality, so they simply drove around the Maginot Line through Belgium, attacking the forts in the back.
An incredible construction
Schoenenbourg was the fort that was most bombed during the attack on France, but it was not captured. They only surrendered when they were ordered of this by the French High Command. And no wonder the fort was not taken, it really is an incredible construction. We entered the fort through the ammunition gate. There ammunition was driven in with a narrow-gauge railway and into two lifts that took the load 30 meters down under the terrain. From there, tunnels went to 6 cannon positions, a total of 3.2 km of tunnels.
Provisions were also transported by small trains through the tunnels. There where rooms were for barracks, hospitals, generators, etc. In total, the fort was manned with over 600 men. All the tunnels are about 30 meters below ground level, so at each of the 6 cannon positions there were lifts that hoisted the ammunition up to ground level where the cannons were located.
Rotating turrets
The cannons themselves were quite small, 75 mm, but with armor-penetrating ammunition it holds against tanks. But the most unique thing about the cannons was the way they were hoisted above the ground when they were to be used. They were mounted inside a rotating tower, about 1.5 meters in diameter, and this tower could be raised and lowered above ground level. When lowered, they were protected by 3.5 meters of concrete and armor steel over the cannon itself.
It was not possible to see much of the cannon itself, but the lower part of the lifting mechanism was accessible.
Complex mechanics
There was no guide in Schoenenbourg, but good with informative signs in French, German and English.
A few years ago we were in another fort, Hackenberg, a little further north-west. There were guided tours and we were taken by train through the tunnels. In Schoenenbourg we had to walk a couple of kilometers altogether. In Hackenberg we also got a demonstration of the cannons, how they were raised and rotated. These were hydraulically driven, with a very complex mechanics, so I was thinking, typically French complex engineering. But it actually worked in practice.
Jura Mountains
From Schoenenbourg we set course for the Jura Mountains. This mountain range is the little sister of the Alps, with peaks up to 1700 meters. The area is scenic with a good deal of tourism, especially in winter. And we passed countless ski lifts and hotels. But now it was rather little traffic.
Free camping is not allowed in France, and it is not recommended, so the first night we were camping beside a small lake right at the entrance to the mountains. The next day we drove on through a very green landscape, with farms in green valleys, through dense forest, and over mountain locks, mostly at just under 1000 meters altitude. There are many small villages scattered throughout, where you can buy locally produced cheese and wine, and there are plenty of cozy little restaurants. Some places are more touristy than others, but they can be easily avoided.
Magical wild camping
Coincidences led us down into a narrow little valley, in search of an old bridge and a river to swim in. A narrow gravel road led us down to some cliffs where mountain climbers where having fun, and further an even narrower cart road along the river. There we found a small plain between the trees by a green turquoise river, perfect for magical wild camping. It was so far from people that we decided to stay overnight.
Our friend, Micke, took a swim in the river that was about 12 centigrade, and in the evening we relaxed in newly purchased hammocks and before we crawled to bed early.
The next day it started to rain just as we finished packing. Eventually it shrouded down and we set course for Provence, which we will tell about in the next travel letter.
This is the first article about our road trip to the Pyrenees.
The others are here: category/spain
