The HIVE Tour - Episode 46 - First steps around Le Mans

Thinking that I am at Le Mans puts a smile on my face. This French Acropolis of racing was known to me since I was a little kid and now I get the chance to see how it looks like in real. So I wake up and can't wait to walk this famous city. However, here's what I see as soon as I look down from my bunk bed:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 45 - 3 countries in 1 day for the 2nd time on this trip!

One of the first world problems of such a long trip is finding places to stay. While I'm not gonna imply it's not a 1st world one, trust me it's a time and nerve consuming pain in the ass if you don't want to see your budget going out of control. So as long as I remain a self financed HIVE powered traveller (hence this trip is aptly baptised) I have to check myriads of listings trying to find the most value for money ones, the most conveniently located, cancel unresponsive hosts etc.

I've made the mistake to spend less time in Croatia where things are beautiful but not necessarily overpriced if you stay away from the hot places so I arrived in the expensive North earlier than I had to. And while Germany while not being an exception still offers attractive slots of accommodation, France, Belgium and Holland do not.

After browsing places to rent for ages instead of working on my pictures and videos to deliver the best content possible I finally find a place near Dortmund from a lovely lady which is affordable as it is her new listing. Not the most convenient as I should drive all the way to Eindhoven after that but I can't waste more time on this instead of what I have to do which is publishing my content here.

The gods of travelling do their magic on the same night and as I wake up next morning I get an offer to sit a house in Le Mans (yep, the French Acropolis of racing) for the EXACT same dates. The pros of being a handy and trusty guy. First I'm like "YES!" and then I'm like "if only I had slept without booking first". However, even more luckily, the host has a very elastic cancellation policy so this won't cost me anything except the extra fuel to make it all the way to Le Mans (650ish km). I write a super polite letter to the lovely lady host, I get those 830 euros pending to come back to my account and get ready for a huge change of plans. From 200km NE going 650km SW instead.

It's a lovely morning here in Bad Münstereifel and... tell you what? Among the things I will miss is this amazing "sodastream". For those who might not know, it's a device allowing you to make your own soda at home. The quality depends on the quality of your water of course and this place in Germany has one of the best I have ever tried. (If only I knew what I'd face on that matter in Le Mans but more on it later). Busy loading the bike I forgot to picture it but you can look it up.

My view as I start rolling my bike out of the garage to make it all the way from Germany to France:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 44 - Effelsberg, largest radio telescope in EU!

My dear host here at the South part of Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany is care taking enough to have the dinning table half flooded by brochures about the attractions of the area. Among them I see one about the local telescope. I instantly decide to put it as a top priority since it is one of the two largest Radio Telescopes of the world with a diameter of 100 meters! I've never seen anything like this! Have you?

The only issue is the weather which remains questionable. On a cold misty morning that looks like the heart of winter in Athens rather than the heart of summer (early July) I take the short ride up to Effelsberg radio telescope and I leave my bike at its parking lot to have a first walk around:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 43 - Hilltop church SE of Bonn Germany

Weather up here SE of Bonn is still challenging and though it doesn't rain it feels like it can do so anytime so I feel pushed once again to grab any chance given for exploration. And this one doesn't look bad at all:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 42 - Goodbye Rheinland Pfatz, Hello Nordrhein Westfalen

My last day here at Medard has come, world's least known village/town maybe but I find bits of interest wherever I go. Besides, I am not a "Mykonos" or "Ibiza" guy. So now I walk parts of the area that I haven't yet and I must say that Germans have a taste when it comes to road warning signs:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 41 - One tower, one too many exceptional views! (Aussichtsturm Prinzenkopf, Germany)

In the previous episode I showed you around Klopp Castle and its wonderful view to river Rhein. Now I am leaving the castle behind to head West and visit other beauties of this region. After an hour plus ride, I get wowed to the view of the river Moselle and the town of Pünderich in the background:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 40 - Klopp Castle and (almost) vertical vineyards @ Bingen am Rhein

And the HIVE Tour just became 40! It's actually older if you also count the sub Episodes (more like 50) and time wise it's also close to the middle so yes, mid life crisis is a challenge at this moment 🙂

So I'm leaving behind Medard village to head for the beauties of Rheinland Pfatz region as proposed by my good Bavarian biker friend Andreas and after some riding here I am looking for some privacy to... pee:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 39 - Walking the least attractive German village (so far)

My first morning here in Medard has just begun and that's what I see as soon as I open my eyes, in other words bedroom view:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 38 - Very Murhpy's Law on my goodbye to Essen and hello to Rheinland Pfalz

I pack my things here in beutifull Wittelsberg and get ready to leave this scenic region of Essen in Germany to move South West in Rheinland Pfalz. The weather is expected to be rainy (if not VERY rainy) so I keep my camera in my bag and wear my rain gear. I hate it but better dry than wet. I'm also low on fuel so I mark the closest fuel station on the map and set my route accordingly.

I want to say at this point that I found less gas stations in Germany than I expected. Though my bike has a very long range ( the pros of a large tank and a very efficient engine) there were a couple of times that I reached my limits as I tend to empty my tank before I fill it up.

I am on the same block with that fuel station here in Fronhausen where I face... this:

The Hive Tour - Episode 37 - Last day at Wittelsberg Essen Germany

What a sweet area this is but my time is running out here. So I take the chance for a last walk around in the woods as there's plenty of such choices. Today I pick this one walking South leaving the village of Wittelsberg behind me:

The Hive Tour - Episode 36 - Touring the beauties of Marburg

I have the luck to be staying just a few km away from Marburg which is the nearest city. Not a big city with a population of 80.000 people but big enough to worth the effort. I'm more than happy to find out that they have parking spots for motorcycles just outside the Philips University which is hosted in the following building:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 35 - One more palace in the heart of Germany

It's an overcast day here in the heart of Germany and as long as it's not raining I find it a great chance to explore the surroundings. You see, this is not just my longest trip (time wise at least so far) but also my coldest summer ever so whenever the weather doesn't really suck I feel obliged to "carpe diem".

So, here I am in my lovely neighbourhood for another walk around:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 34 - First walk around Wittelsberg @ Essen Germany

I wake up at this cute little village named Wittelsberg in the center of Germany on this not precisely warm summer morning but a bright day and a cute neighbourhood easily make up for this:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 33 - Goodbye Bavaria, hello Essen

What a rich area that is at Bayreuth and beyond. Just a week and brought me (and you) almost 10 posts! All good things come to an end though and now it's time to leave my beloved Bavaria behind to head West. Once again my friend Andreas leads my route via his recommendations and I'm more than happy to deviate in order to visit Pottenstein. With rock formations like this I love it instantly:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 32 - A 5km walk up to Bayreuth to visit its garden and palace

As my days here at St Johannis East of Bayreuth are not infinite I take the chance today to visit the city's center even though that's 5km away from the place I stay. However, it's a rather pleasant walk as it's a very pedestrian and cycle friendly route as you can see:

 

The Hive Tour - Episode 31 - NE Bavaria & NW Czech in one day

Knowing the right people is priceless and I couldn't have a better contact for my Bavarian days than my dear friend Andreas. I'm close to the end of my days here in Bayreuth and I will try to do as many places he has proposed around here as possible since who knows when I'll be back. Quite a challenge though as the whole area is an eye candy with endless sightseeing.

Number one on my way is Fichtel mountains. It's a nice ride up to there but the place is not exactly what I was expecting. Don't get me wrong, nothing bad about it, it's just that I thought I could ride part of it and then go back to my route for the rest while here you have to park your vehicle and continue on foot. And that's what I do:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 30d - The palace of palaces: Eremitage @ Bayreuth

Quite the walk around Bayreuth's Eremitage isn't it? 3 parts so far and not done yet. In the previous (sub) Episode I covered the pool of this complex and now it's time to continue my walk North East in the woods.

If nothing else these beautiful trees are tall:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 30c - The palace of palaces: Eremitage @ Bayreuth

So far I have showed you around the Old and New Palace of the Eremitage here East of Bayreuth in Germany. I've shared the stunning beauty of both so now it's time for a little mysticism. North of the New Palace a few steps down is the "Dragon's hole":

The HIVE Tour - Episode 30b - The palace of palaces: Eremitage @ Bayreuth

In the previous (sub) Episode I left you in front of the New Palace here at the Eremitage of Bayreuth. Impressive as it is and as you might have already saw, the same goes for the statues surrounding it:

 

The HIVE Tour - Episode 30a - The palace of palaces: Eremitage @ Bayreuth

It's 12th of June but it's almost 12C as well here at NE Bavaria which is far from summer morning temperatures a Mediterranean like me is used to but whenever I leave Hellas behind I am prepared to not be surprised by the weather. By the time I finish my breakfast and leave my place behind it's a little warmer but not by much:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 29 - Taking my first steps East of Bayreuth Germany

The place I am walking at the moment is definitely among the best ones. What a lovely neighbourhood is this! And how Greek its name sounds "Sankt Johannis". I am told they even have the same custom as we do in Hellas when celebrating this Saint by jumping the fire. Small world isn't it?

There used to be a time that kids around here were evolving their talent in football but seems like it's been a while since the last time they did so: