Day four – Rastatt to Saint Louis
| Distance today – 318 km | Journey time – 7h 45m |
| Total trip distance – 1,495 km | Total journey time – 21h 40m |
Today was to be the first ‘proper’ big driving day, as we headed through the Black Forest from Rastatt in Germany, along the winding forest roads, eventually arriving in Basel on the Swiss side from where we’d make a stop to see Jo’s sister, Kate, for dinner, then onto Saint Louis in France for our next overnight stop.
Breakfast in our self-service hotel was less self-service than the faceless check-in, as someone bothered to show themselves and provide a really nice continental breakfast with a huge plate of scrambled eggs to share. Then they took payment for the room and disappeared.
Then out to pack the car (again). The trees are really turning in this part of the world, and the car and surrounding road was covered. A street sweeper passed…twice…but made little impact as the leaves were wet and stuck to the ground.
With the complicated route pre-programmed into Google Maps (albeit following the B500 for most of the route) we set off. Problem. The B500 was closed for a 10km stretch around 1/4 of the way into our route. Google Maps did try to re-route, but I didn’t fancy some of the changes so we made our own way to beyond the road closure. Problem. The roads were quite cloudy – we couldn’t see a great deal, and the rain was coming down hard. Jo drove first, getting us to beyond the blockage, but enjoyed being able to drive slowly for the reasons stated.
During the day we didn’t take a lot of pictures of the route as it was pretty foul outside, if indeed you could see anything at all through the cloud. So instead, here’s a short video of the things we saw (or didn’t) – including the route blockage – and a couple of photos from the dry!! I can assure you most of the route was very pretty despite the weather!
We stopped for lunch briefly in a small town (name escapes me, it was a bit dull!) and had Black Forest cake (of course).
Then, up the hill from this town we stopped to have a look over the valley, and saw a sign for a waterfall. We put all our waterproofs on, after digging them out from the boot, then walked towards it…and saw a man in a little hut taking €8 from each passing tourist for the pleasure of looking at what we assumed was HIS waterfall. Sod that and sod him. We turned around and went back up to the car, and left.
Actually, before we left we saw two older gentlemen taking photos of something in the trees – realised they were birding (yawn), then saw a couple of red squirrels! The view from the car park wasn’t bad too.
We drove on a bit more, and saw some fantastic views, as the rain was stopping and the cloud lifting.
It was at this point we realised we had a problem. The car was making a nasty rattling noise from the exhaust exit. I had a good look and listen, and figured it was something loose in the area around the exhaust valve. This valve is pure vanity – it opens when you enable Sport (or Sport Plus) mode to make the car sound angrier/better/noisier. Nevertheless, we thought a quick trip to a Porsche garage would be worthwhile. One was only 20km away, on the route we were taking. A stop there didn’t help. It was only a small VAG Group service centre in a provincial town, and the technician who kindly looked at it didn’t speak English, so we all struggled a bit with understanding each other. He seemed to think it was “OK”.
We crossed the border into Switzerland – each time we cross a border the car reminds us of the speed limits. Very kind.
We stopped at another Porsche dealer, in Basel, again on the route. But this one was a sales dealer only, with amongst other things a lovely GT3 RS and 718 Spyder RS for sale, though he was reluctant to lend me the Spyder. He suggested we visit the other dealer in Basel. On arrival, this was obviously a proper main dealer (phew) who looked after us after demanding papers (proof of registration, which we had with us), and tried to fill us with coffee regularly. Eventually 3 technicians put the car on a ramp, and together we looked for the issue – the agreed with me, that it was the valve, but this needed a part they don’t have, so we proceeded to use cable ties and a piece of rubber hose to wedge the valve so it couldn’t rattle. Solved for now….not sure how long it will last though!!
Being a main dealer they had a very nice selection of cars for sale – a GT4 RS, a 718 Spyder RS with the Weissach pack, and an Oak Green GT3 Touring. One day.
With the nasty rattle dulled, at least for now, we pushed on through Basel rush hour traffic and decided, given the time, that we’d go straight to Kate’s rather than the hotel. She chose the dinner venue, a traditional restaurant nearby – superb food, but way too much of it and I had to hoover Jo’s cordon bleu.
Then onto the hotel, back in France. Today we crossed 2 borders (Germany to Switzerland, then Switzerland to France). This was chosen to help us get to our first stop the following day, but we arrived late and in the dark so we have no idea what the town looks like!
The walk to the room amused me slightly. First floor, then a long way through stripey corridors, the pattern of the walls reminding me of the film “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”. Then we arrived at the door of the room. I’ll let you draw your own conclusion as to what was in my head at this point.
Our cell was very nice indeed. In the loft space, access to the shower for short people was fine, otherwise slightly dangerous. Otherwise another very nice hotel room. We’ll see what the rest of the hotel is like tomorrow….
