For my 39th birthday I arranged a road trip to Stuttgart over a long weekend in early May. I planned to drive with my bike from Bristol in the UK all the way to Stuttgart in Germany, via an overnight stay in Calais, France.
Many exciting firsts were anticipated: First time on the EuroTunnel Car Train, first time driving in Europe and first time in Germany. All alone, me against the world. With my b’cycle.
To prepare for this adventure I took my 2004 Ford Fiesta to a trusted mechanical expert for a full service. I also took my bicycle to Bristol Bikesmiths for a full service and detail (this was about 2x years overdue). After many pre-Brexit £’s were expended I now had two modes of transport that rode the road like butter.
Leg 1: Bristol to Folkestone (2nd May)
I left the office at the end of the working day at 4pm. I was fully packed: 1x rucksack, 1x b’cycle, 1x mobile phone, 1x wallet and 1x passport. I was ready to face the entirety of the fearsome European continent. 1x Remoaner all on his lonesome, able to cross open borders freely (except ironically, his own as he would later find out).
My EuroTunnel Car Train was booked for 21:50 which gave me a good 5 hours and 50 minutes to make my train. After some traffic around Reading the journey was pretty easy going (for a Thursday evening in rush hour).
I had a snack in a dreary motorway services at about 8pm and was at the EuroTunnel check-in before 9pm. Perfect. I was pretty weary and looking forward to my very budget Calais hotel room.
The service was remarkably smooth. You’re called about half-an-hour before your departure time, you drive on to the train, park and leave it in gear. Wait for the announcements and about 40 minutes later you’re driving off in France! Bonjour!
Finally the moment I had been waiting for: Driving on the right. Immediately I was presented with a small roundabout and I duly followed it, anti-clockwise. The strange sensation of it!
My very budget hotel was not 5 minutes from the Terminal so I parked in the hotel car park; which happened to be chock-full of Gendarmerie. Luckily my little English Ford Fiesta was very legal and very cool. So I had nothing to worry about.
I dashed into my very budget hotel, found it devoid of staff and eventually worked out I had to key numbers into a machine to get myself a code for my room. So modérne.
The tiny room was clean and comfortable. I was quickly asleep.
Leg 2: Calais to Stuttgart (3rd May)
I had a lie-in. Despite the ~8 hours of driving ahead of me, I was not back in my lil’ Fiesta until 11am. But I was looking forward to the drive, and stopping off at French Services and Parking along the way.
I drove within the speed limit for the first 30 minutes or so. Nervous about my first time on French Motorways. Eventually I got comfortable and, having been passed by a plethora of fancy Ferrari’s I took off for my first Motorway Services. Somewhere near Arras (probably) I stopped for a croque monsieur, having not eaten since 8pm the previous evening it was well received. And a nice coffee too. The weather was fine and warm so I bought water from le shoppe.
I carried on to Stuttgart, stopping regularly for breaks and generally loving the French roads. The views were spectacular, the roads smooth but expensive (there were tolls at each end of each motorway). The motorways weren’t busy at all and I didn’t experience any delays until I was across the border. Germany at rush hour was a lot like England.
Stuttgart!
It was nearly 8pm by the time I parked up in a suburb just west of Stuttgart: Millöckerstraße, Botnang. I was to leave my car here for the next 3 days and b’cycle about the place. I popped my front wheel in, lightened my backpack a bit (I left some clean clothes in the boot of my car, I would have to come back at some point to retrieve them), and set off up the hill for Hotel Astoria, Hospitalstraße.
Then there was a lovely winding cycle into the city. The initial climb gave way to a downhill run on the narrow streets, side-walled with a parked assortment of various German marques. Remembering of course to stick to the right side of the road. After ~8 hours of driving on the right, I was pretty OK with cycling it.
I locked my bike up on some street paraphernalia outside Hotel Astoria, checked in and immediately explored the Stuttgart evening. Chilly as it was that weekend; Belgium had snow!
Saturday was explored on foot and I got the hang of the U-Bahn to get me about the place. Sunday was not-at-all energetic following a late night. Including dancing until the early hours…
Monday was my last day in the city so I finally explored about the place on my magnificent b’cycle.
My first port of call was the Funicular (Südheimer Platz (Seilbahn)) in the South of the city. A quick 3.8km ride in which I absent mindedly thought I was in the right-hand lane of a dual carriage way and almost came a’cropper moving to the left of bus into oncoming traffic. Silly, must stay concentrated. The funicular was empty and I had a jolly good trip to the top (sans B’cycle which I left locked up outside the station).
At the top of the funicular was a cemetery which I explored and then walked back down the hill to my bike.
Next port of call was the Public Library a ride which took me along the busiest streets in the city. How far I have come, wrong side of the road, busy roads, and cycling to my heart’s content.
Here I took in the impressive building and made my way up to the roof to enjoy the views. I had a coffee in the cafe on the top floor.
After that, a short cycle north to the Zoo and Botanical gardens. A splendid place where I muddled my way through a buffet in the Zoo cafe and enjoyed a hearty meal. Then I looked at various animals, birds and plants. Thoroughly enjoyable on a sunny German Monday afternoon.
My final sight-seeing visit of the day was a magnificent double-helix observation tower up on a hill on the city outskirts: Killesberg Tower, Thomastraße
And that was the end of my final day. I cycled my bike back to the car so I could catch the S-Bahn in the morning. I had a banana and Nutella Crêpe for my final meal on the Monday evening and retired early to bed. For I was to be up early to drive all the way home in one go.
At 7am I was on the S-Bahn back to Millöckerstraße, filled up the car with petrol and I was on my way home. The road back to Calais was wonderful again. I enjoyed some sweeping roads, having been directed a different way home by Google than from whence I came.
At Calais I was interrogated by UK Border Patrol. Apparently a chap making a road trip all the way to Germany on his own is highly suspicious. After a good 20 minutes of grilling about my life, my journey and my weekend he said “well done” as if I had passed some awful test and I was free to go. I was happy to stay in France if my country didn’t want me any more! #BollocksToBrexit
I dashed for the Terminal, enjoyed a salad and a yogurt and a stretch. I was back on English soil by 7pm to complete the final 3x hour leg home. I stopped for a burger.
Eventually I was back at around 10:30pm with a very hurty hamsting. Apparently sitting in a car seat for most of the day is a road to ruin. I fell into my bed and a deep slumber, content that I had experienced an adventure.
B'Cycle Rob Blog 