Sometimes the best trips don’t come from months of planning, but from a fairly simple thought:

“Wait a minute… I’m on vacation.” 😊

To be more precise: seven days of remaining vacation, seven days of compensatory time off and therefore three weeks off after Easter. That alone would be dangerous enough. But when the weather also looks surprisingly good, things start to rattle quietly in your head. Tentatively at first. Then louder and louder.

The original plan was completely harmless: a few days in the Harz Mountains. A few bends, a bit of forest, coffee somewhere, done.

But as it happens, as soon as you think “resin”, a little voice in the back of your head asks:

“Why not go a little further?”

So we looked, calculated, discarded and reconsidered. The Alps? Still pretty snowy in April and in places more suitable for snow chains than motorcycle boots. Bohemian Switzerland? Also appealing. Or maybe back to France?

And suddenly there they were again: the Vosges.

Exactly the Vosges, where we broke down last year with electrical problems. A chapter that you could actually tick off. Or you could say to yourself: traumas need to be overcome. So we’re rolling towards France again. Hopefully this time without spontaneous stops at the side of the road, without troubleshooting with question marks on our faces and without the feeling that the old lady has decided to write her own travel plan. 😄

Although… of course you can’t completely rule anything out with her.

So if we get stranded somewhere in France again, it’s just: “The start of work has been postponed indefinitely. The IT uncle is still stuck in France.” Would that really be so bad? Well, yes. You’d have to think about it in peace and quiet over a coffee. ☕

We’ll be setting off on Saturday, April 18. Our destination this time is mainly the Jura Mountains – mostly France, a little bit of Switzerland, and of course the Black Forest is not to be missed on the way there. The plan is roughly as follows: first south through the Black Forest, then over to France, take in a bit of Switzerland and later return via the Vosges.

In other words, everything that a proper little Pawtrail road trip on two wheels needs: bends, mountains, beautiful landscapes, changes of country, Black Forest asphalt, French flair, Swiss precision and a little bit of residual thrill from the “I hope everything holds up this time” department.

The old lady is ready. 🏍️
The vacation is here. ⛰️
The weather means well. ☀️
And I’m really looking forward to it. 🙂

What could possibly go wrong?