Germany 2007, Day Thirteen, Luxembourg

Day thirteen 15th June

Was in no rush to leave but our electrics were unplugged by the owner, I think he wanted us to go. Went over to pay, €38.26 total, €19.13 per night, this was supposedly with a 10% discount from my CCI card. On the way back from paying I had a word with two English women who had had their electrics unplugged as well. They were touring Germany as they no longer go to France, since their van was broken into there, while they were sleeping.

Off we go to Luxembourg and then Belgium.

Back on the E52/B28 the opposite way to how we came in to Kehl, over the Rhine into France where the road name changes to the N4. From the N4 onto the A35 round Strasbourg to the A4 then all the way to the A31 north into Luxembourg, where the road name changes to the A3. The A3 goes to the A6 to the N13 and N6 to the site opposite the petrol station on the outskirts of the village.

On the A31 approaching Luxembourg we were very low on diesel but I was determined to get there for cheap fuel, once on the A3 in Luxembourg it seemed ages before we got to a station and it was the same price as France anyway. I know we were on the motorway, so I only wanted to top up to get us to the campsite, but the queues were huge. It was a big station where you pay on the way out and the pumps couldn't be reset until the person who used the pump before you paid, it caused much confusion.

The Campsite in Steinfort, picked from the ACSI book is within walking distance of Belgium, and just off the A6 from Luxembourg or the A4 from Belgium. Steinfort is a pleasant enough village, the campsite on the other hand is not pleasant and this is a warning not to go there. The owners are very friendly but the site is like a hillbilly camp or new age travellers encampment, with some very scary looking people and animals living there. On our return to England, even though the owners were friendly, I felt I had to report this site to ACSI, suggesting they send an inspector ASAP, and got this reply from them.

"Thanks for your e-mail. We observe this camp site serieously, because we got more complains about Steinfort. We will inform our inspector."

I have never before felt the need to do this (not with a campsite anyway, I did report a hotel in Rome not long ago but that was an unbelievable place, like living with someone's deaf Gran for a few days, not a like a hotel at all ) but as there were other complaints, I am now glad that I did report this site.

The new write-up in the ACSI book has been altered to say

A well used overnight camp site next to the A25 on the Belgian-Luxembourg border. Some permanent pitches give the site an untidy appearance. The toilet facilities are old, but are clean.

Not a great result, as to me it was the people on these permanent pitches that put me off the place.

Steinfort Campsite Steinfort 72 rue de Luxembourg, 8440 Steinfort Web Site

There is a very narrow entrance to the site but it is one-way, on arrival we are asked to park up and report back to reception. We parked up and had a walk around the site, there were better pitches in the next field, one next to another van from the UK, so we went back and moved. It was during this time we noticed how strange the site was, mostly statics and mobile homes many of them with weird and wonderful additions (sheds, wooden awnings, lean-tos etc,) one was a caravan inside a tongue and groove built shell. you could see the van inside through the window. Some had awnings patched together with duck tape and in front of us was a very small, two man tent inside a double gazebo.

On a site we were on in Feb this year they were destroying large static mobile homes that must have been about twenty years younger the ones being used on this site.

We went back to reception to check in for one night, €14.00 for the night with €1.00 refund to pay for the showers at  €0.50. Popped in to the bar for a drink on the way back to the van, eventually got to the bar through the thick smoke and strange people sat at the bar, had to sit outside with our drinks, as we didn't have enough tattoos and or piercings to stay inside with the others. We had though we may eat in there later but changed our minds, we also decided it would be a good idea to lockup securely and get off the site.

First stop was at the garage, they had a good selection of food and booze, so we would pop back later, and the diesel still wasn't any cheaper. We walked right through the village and found a booze warehouse at the fare end, had a good look round and made plans to return with the van tomorrow. 

Popped into the first bar we came across, the decor was like stepping back into the seventies but with old people, the next place was better and we sat outside with a couple of Leffes.  Had some fun with the passing rush-hour traffic, as they had to stop at the traffic lights, I would offer them my drink and they would make gestures, some bad but most good. 

We eventually had to move on when there appeared to be no ladies toilets. Stopped back at the garage for bread, something for tea, sweets (chocolate) and beer, it came to about €45.00, I questioned this, turns out I was paying for someone's petrol, nice try.

Back at the site, it had filled up quite a lot but there was nobody from the other tourers about, we had our food and decided to have an early night, securely locked in.

Watching out the window things just got weirder, a man took his ferret for a walk, then a woman walked passed followed by half a dozen cats. At the van adjacent to us, cars would pull up, the owner of the caravan would come out talk to the occupants of the car and then the car would then drive off, perhaps he was the fountain of all knowledge, maybe he was selling drugs?

Just after it got dark we heard voices and there were flashing blue and red lights, I thought, drugs bust but it wasn't, it was fire rescue. Nothing on fire, from what I can work out (the Welsh couple next to us talked to the ferret man and got some info) some sort of animal had attacked the cat lady and escaped from her caravan. The fire rescue people had nets, cages, padded suits and helmets with full face visors and I think they caught whatever it was after about half an hour.

We put extra locks on, put on the alarm we hadn't felt the need to use up until then and we made up and slept on the lower bed, rather than unpack the over cab bed, so we could get away bright and early.