From Luxembourg to Beaune in Burgundy/France and one day in Beaune

After a quiet night on the campsite and a play on the playground after breakfast, we set off straight south. We cross the border to France soon and cruise through very rural french countryside. No big, ugly power lines are disturbing the view over the slightly hilly, green landscape. We decide to drive through Dijon and head a bit further southwest to the small town Beaune which is in the middle of the Burgundy wine region.

The next day we set off with our bikes and Liam in the Chariot to discover Beaune which has a pretty old town surrounded by an old town wall. We visit the oldest wine cellars in an old convent built in 1239 and founded by Francis from Assisi and the Wine Museum where we could read all about the art ofAfter a lazy afternoon at the campsite we ride for a quick shop to a nearby supermarket to stock-up on food for our dinner in the warm evening sun.
Life is good!

Liam being busy at the campsite

The oldest wine cellar in Beaune

The Wine Museum in Beaune

Liam snacking before dinner

Köln - Bonn - Luxembourg

Coming to Köln was not what we had in mind to start off with, but after studying the map it seemed quite obvious to go just south from Kiel and to stop by in Köln-Dellbrück.
Coming to Chris and Til’s house in Köln is already almost like coming home and I’m very happy to see them. They are delighted to see Liam walk and Til gives him a tour around their garden before we go out for dinner.
We want to take it easy the next day and not drive too far, so I call my friend Cornelia in Bonn to see whether they have time to see us. They have a birthday to celebrate in the afternoon, but seem very happy to welcome us anyway.
After we arrive in the late morning, Cornelia and I set off for a quick shop in my favourite drugstore and Richard, her husband Roland and the children go for a walk by the Rhein.
In the afternoon, we are visiting the ‚Haus der Geschichte’ (House of History), a museum which tells the history of Germany since World War II. Its really interesting and well made and even Liam had fun walking around there.
After a nice and yummy breakfast with the whole family, we set off to find our way through the Eifel to Luxembourg. First we get a bit lost in Bonn trying to find another gas bottle and matching adapters to make sure our gas supply isn’t running out anytime soon. But eventually we get everything we need, find our way and arrive on our first campsite near Luxembourg City.

In Bonn with Cornelia and family

At our picnic on the way

Our campsite in Luxembourg

Our first three days on the road and 1400km.

We leave Stockholm on Monday morning and drive south, heading for our first target, the bridge to Denmark near Malmö. It’s sunny and we’re only an hour and a half later then planned leaving. The camper cruises well at around 110 km/h and we make good progress. Liam is a dream in his new reclining car seat. He has a great view out of the side window and to the front. When he needs some company or a drink, we can easily jump into the back and sit next to him for a while. After a long drive, we pull off the motorway at Lund, almost reaching our planned destination for the day. Its dark and we want to have a short stop and so we spend out first night in the camper on a quiet side street. It’s still quite cold outside and we need to use the heater in the night. The next day we get up early and get back on the road. We drive over the bridge to Denmark in the morning mist.


The bridge seems to disappear into the sea and mist as we reach the highest point. Soon we’re in Denmark swinging south again over the islands and bridges towards the car ferry at Rodby. We arrive in sunny weather and stop for a Danish pastry and a picnic by the harbour before boarding the ferry. As we park at the back of the lower car deck, Liam is surprised and pleased to see a German ICE train roll onto the ferry and park right next to our Camper.


After the short 30 min. crossing we drive off at Puttgarden and arrive in Germany. Then just a short 100km drive to Kiel, where we stop to stay with Anika and Daniel and their two girls Klara and Neele. They are pleased to see us and we are able to park right outside their house. We spend the next day with them and visit an open air museum with Anika and Neele.


It’s cold in the wind, but warm in sunny spots in the shade of the old houses. Liam thinks the animals are cool and recognises most of the farm animals they have running around. We set off on Thursday morning and again drive South, with the satnav set for Cologne. It’s another 500km, which we make in good time. We make a short stop for lunch and a game of football with Liam. Spring has arrived in Germany, the grass is green and there is blossom on a small cherry tree. We manage to arrive at Chris and Til’s house in Köln-Dellbrueck by just after five.

Taking a nap

Liam and Teddy take a nap in the camper as we drive through Denmark. Our first day, meal and night went well. Even Liam slept fine in the top bunk bed:-)

Campervan packed

Now we have collected the campervan. Here it is outside our flat in Solna. Its basically packed, just have to put the bikes on the back in the morning.

No.2 on its way

So it’s official. Our second baby is on its way and Caroline is now 15 weeks pregnant :)
We’re very pleased about this. We had our first view of little No.2 at Södersjukhuset on Friday. The ultrasound was booked three weeks earlier then usual, because our trip in the campervan starts on Monday and we’ll be away on week 18. The doctor explained we may not see all she wanted to because of the early date, but she was very good and managed to make the necessary head diameter and bone length measurements. This confirmed the 15 weeks +2 days status of the pregnancy. That should make this another October baby! The little baby was moving around and often had its hand up by its face during the scan. We could see the heart beating clearly and some of the major organs. The profile picture is quite cool and shows a very clear outline of the face. We have another scan booked for July, so we’ll get a good chance of seeing if it’s a boy or a girl at that scan.

Only a week to go!

Its only a week to go now, before we set off on a 2 month trip around Europe. We've hired a campervan for the trip. One with lots of space for us and Liam. We just have to get into gear now and get all the things on our list done before we run out of time. We also have to do some packing and sort out all the things we want to take with us.
Our plan is to drive south via Denmark, Holland, France and Spain, then back via France, Itally and Germany. Well anyway thats the basic plan... but all plans can be changed on the way if needed. Thats the whole point of a driving holiday.

Easter preparations

It's Easter Sunday tomorrow and of course we need some proper Easter eggs.
So we boiled some eggs, coloured them and finally decorated them in different ways. Liam got to paint his first Easter egg and helped Daddy painting his'.
Now we are all set up for a nice Easter breakfast tomorrow!

Happy Easter everybody :)

Easter bears

On Good Friday we went to Skansen to have a look whether the bears had already finished their winter sleep. And yes, they had! The three youngsters were playing with each other and their mum and were obviously enjoying that the sun was out. Liam had fun walking around and looking at all the animals.
My personal highlight of the day: we found some snow bells on the way. Even in Sweden spring is finally on its way!

Visit to Mariefred

Liam and I made a day trip to Mariefred to visit our German friends Miriam and little Tim. The sun was out and so we took the chance to take a little walk in their garden to check out how the snow melting was going on. The boys found some puddles which were great fun to play in.

Shanghai view

In Shanghai again for business. This place is a never ending city with almost 30 million people living in the city. It's hard to understand just how it all works. Anyway I'm here for a week and missing Caroline and Liam already.

Boys Fika

It’s Saturday and Liam and I went out to get some fresh air and pick up some shopping. We took the bus to Odenplan, got some things for Caroline who was having a rest at home, then did a quick shop in the super market. We decided to walk to Nortull and stop at a café for a snack. We picked a drink and a big bun to share. Liam was very pleased with the big bench seat and sat patiently while I poured his fruit drink into a glass. I gave him the glass with a straw, which he hadn’t yet mastered, but he seemed to know just what to do and managed to drink with the straw straight away. He also found it quite amusing and laughed out loud several times. He’s so cute when he sits and drinks his drink and tells me about the things he can see around him, even if he only has a limited number of words to use at the moment.

Liam walks with pram

This is a short clip of Liam walking with his new toy pram. He's having a great time discovering the flat on his feet now that he's started to walk.

Liam loved Dalí

Just got back from a visit with Liam to the Salvador Dalí exhibition Moderna Museet. He must have loved it... because for the first time, he did'nt fall asleep at a museum :)

Hotdog

During a post Christmas break visit to IKEA, Liam had a taste of his first Hotdog, and he seemed to like it. There was no chance I was going to help him out with it. He took control and ate it up himself. We got the new things on the roof of the car, even though it was -18 C in the car park.