Germany, Winter Tyres

It took only fifty-five minutes to fly the short distance and land at Kahlrsrue-Baden Airpark at nine-thirty in the evening and after quickly clearing immigration and customs we were soon at the Hertz desk to pick up our hire car. Following our snow experience last year and the protracted and painful debate about winter tyres, this year I had ordered them in advance so without a discussion with the clerk on duty about whether these were really necessary, on this occasion I just paid the exorbitant additional charge of €55 and very quickly we had taken possession of a royal blue Ford Fiesta and the car hire company winter tyres sting was complete.

I say ‘sting’ because this is an additional charge trick that Ryanair themselves would be proud of because at €13.45 a day I calculate that if they are on the car for a third of the year that is an extra €1,600 or €400 a tyre and I cannot believe that they can be that much more expensive than a regular tyre. And of course they are not because I have checked and they can be bought for as little as €40 each. The reason that this year I had given in so easily was that last year we experienced four days of blizzard conditions, sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall.

Since May 2006 German motorists have been required by law to use the most appropriate tyres for the weather conditions and that driving on snow covered roads is permitted only if a car is equipped with winter tyres. Motorists are obliged to make sure they have correct tyres to suit the winter weather conditions because if a vehicle becomes stuck because the tyres are unsuitable drivers are liable to an on the spot fine, and further more if the vehicle causes an obstruction or aggravation to other traffic, the fine may be doubled.

Winter tyres use a tread rubber compound and block pattern specifically designed to retain flexibility in low temperatures and give good braking and traction performance on snow and ice covered roads so I thought it would be a good idea to have them fitted again this time.

Unfortunately we had no real need of the winter tyres tonight because the roads were dry and the temperature was hovering around 5º centigrade so there was no danger of sliding on ice of running into snow drifts.

Driving to the Rammersweier Hoff hotel on the outskirts of the city of Offenburg should have been really straight-forward, after all we had been there before so should have known the way, but additionally on this occasion we had the support of a Nuvi-Garmin satnav so we were confident that we could be there and in the bar with a jug of wine and a glass of cold Pils lager easily within an hour.

Things went well at first and we followed the instructions of the lady navigator and although I had lost all sense of direction in the dark I had no reason to suspect that there was trouble ahead. This came when we reached the entrance to the A5 motorway and it was closed with two large no entry signs that really couldn’t be mistaken for anything else. Still taking instructions from the little black box I foolishly ignored these and drove through only to find that I had put us in a dangerous situation going the wrong way against oncoming traffic. I quickly turned the car around and the lady became confused.

I followed the diversion sign and clearly she must have wondered what on earth I was doing and kept trying to persuade me to turn around and return to the closed motorway junction. After fifteen minutes we were in a real tangle, going around in circle, becoming more and more confused and completely unaware of where we are. We found ourselves lost on the back roads driving through small villages and searching for clues from the occasional unhelpful road signs and ignoring the instructions to turn around and go back. Even the traditional paper map didn’t help because although Kim has improved recently as a navigator she was off duty tonight so we just had to keep going and trusting in our natural sense of direction.

Eventually, after several detours and a heated argument with the satnav lady, we reached the motorway and then the right exit and then after only one more mistaken wrong turning which we quickly corrected found the Rammersweier Hoff hotel without any difficulty at all. It was nearly eleven o’clock and the forty-kilometre journey had taken us nearly two hours! Fortunately the bar was still open so after inspecting our room and throwing down the bags we were able to unwind for an hour with that jug of wine and a couple of German lagers.

Black Forest, Over the Mountains to Schiltach

We had selected the Rammersweier Hoff hotel (http://www.rammersweier-hof.de/) because it was inexpensive and because of its location about half way between the main cities of Baden-Baden and Freiburg and on the western edge of the forest in the Rhine Valley. Also because last year when we had to cancel at the last minute they were really good about it and didn’t charge a cancellation fee even though they were entitled to. It also had excellent guest reviews and these were entirely correct. It was a homely place and very traditional with Teutonic décor and a collection of Black Forest ornaments. In the morning we had breakfast in the brightly coloured restaurant and there was a good selection of hot and cold food so we filled ourselves up on the basis that this would last us through until evening meal.

We hadn’t made any firm plans because we were waiting to see what the weather would bring and this morning it was dull and overcast so we decided to drive into the forest and visit some traditional towns and villages. We drove out of Offenburg through a string of places all squeezed into the narrow strip of flat land of the Rhine Valley on the German side of the river. We were right on the edge of the forest and to our left thickly wooded hills with a sprinkling of snow rose up dramatically towards the mountains beyond.

As we drove through Gengenbach, Haslach and Hausach there was a bit of snow in the wind but not a great deal of it and we began to wonder again about being ripped off for the winter tyres. It was a bit grey and dull and driving conditions presented no real challenges at all. We were heading for the tourist town of Triberg but really wanted some excitement so in need of snow and scenery we turned off the main road and into the mountains and started to go up.

The car climbed steeply and negotiated a succession of hair pin bends first through deciduous trees surrounded by the remains of last year’s autumn leaf fall and then into dense conifer forest and as it did so we quite quickly found ourselves above the snow line. Suddenly the Black Forest was completely transformed into the White Forest. There had been a substantial fall of snow a day or so before and the conifer trees were heavily laden with crisp white snow fixed in place by a stiff frost and it was as though we had been transported into a Christmas card world of snow and ice, frozen lakes and winter sports.

After a short distance we found the snow we had been chasing. Rather too much snow as it happened because from out of nowhere there came a blizzard that wiped out the road and left only the snow marker poles at the sides of the road to guide us. The little car kept climbing, through twisting bends and sharp turns, climbing to a thousand metres where the fresh snow was building up all the time on the road and it was about now that I had to concede that I was glad of the winter tyres because the conditions here would have tested the driving skills of the World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb. The car was sliding and skidding and we passed some vehicles that had given up and ground to a halt and Kim’s contribution was by now restricted to the very unhelpful ‘I’m frightened, I’m very frightened, I’m very, very frightened’.

Finally we reached the top of the climb and we started to descend and conditions began to ease except that going downhill was still rather precarious and I was reluctant to use the brakes in case we skidded on the wet snow. Eventually we reached the town of Schonach where the heavy snowfall seemed to have surprised a lot of people and there was a lot of traffic disruption on the main street. About half way through there was a lorry that even with snow chains had run out of traction and was slipping and sliding and causing mayhem. Unwittingly I added to this because as I passed I brought another smaller lorry to a stop and then he couldn’t get going again. The driver wasn’t too pleased and flashed me some hand signals that can’t be found in the official German Highway Code.

Only a few Kilometres from Schonach we reached our first destination, the Black Forest tourist town of Triberg and in a region that has more than its fair share of tourist attractions, there is none that compares to this small town in the middle of the Schwarzwald because it has just about everything, the tallest waterfall in Germany, souvenir shops with the largest collection of Black Forest-related souvenirs and wood products for sale, and the world’s biggest cuckoo clock. Nearly every restaurant and café offers ‘authentic‘ Black Forest Cake, and tour groups arrive here by the busload.

Luckily for us it wasn’t too busy today and a lot of the car parks were under too much snow to be useable but the snow ploughs had kept the road open, there was lots of path clearing activity and a short stay car park in the main square was just about open so we literally slid in found a vacant spot and parked the car.