Moselle River (Near Nancy), France
Today, we vacated our pitch at Jungfrau Camping Site and checked out about 10am. It was dry and sunny as we decamped, but we were still in the shade, so unfortunately the awning had to be packed away damp.
I think we both felt a little bit sad leaving Switzerland – we’d enjoyed our stay so much – and as soon as the mountains were behind us we were missing them. Ahead of us, we faced a four and a half hour drive that would bring us to ‘Moselle Camping’, a site right alongside the River Moselle in Liverdun, close to Nancy, in France.
As sites go, it was very pleasant and spacious, if a little old in some respects, with water points that consisted of old iron hydrants. In fact, being an older, more established site, it meant the electric supply was also from a bygone era, meaning the polarity of the EHU sockets are reversed. Fortunately, before coming away, I’d purchased a polarity checker (which is basically just a plug with lights that checks and reports on various aspects of the supply), and a polarity inverter, which is just a short extension lead that fits between the EHU lead and the socket, and reverses the polarity of the supply. I have to say, I was pleased to finally come across a need for it; I was starting to wonder if the purchase had been necessary after all, and got very excited to see that it was.
Once we’d settled in, we went for a gentle, relaxed stroll along the riverbank, where we both took photos and I shot some video of the river and its wildlife. By the time we’d got back to the van we were both quite hungry. Fortunately, it was only a 13-minute walk into Liverdun, where we we’d identified a Kebab House from Google Maps. When we got there, we ordered two durum kebabs, one portion of chips (because we still had some frozen chips in the van left over, which we’d left cooking in the oven), and a portion of onion rings – all for the princely sum of €23. I’m pleased to say they were delicious!
On the way back, my phone kept buzzing at me, and it wasn’t until we were back at the site that I discovered I’d had several urgent texts from my bank, asking me about a suspicious card transaction that had just appeared on my bank account. It was for quite a large sum, and no, it wasn’t a transaction that I’d initiated or authorised, so I was rather relieved to see that they’d declined it. It did require a call to the Fraud Hotline, though, to process things properly. The bottom line is; someone had tried to use my card details. How they came by them is a bit of a mystery since I haven’t had that particular card out of my wallet all the time we’ve been in Europe. Fortunately, the bank declined it, and blocked the card from any further activity, which means they now have to send me a new card, which will hopefully be wating for me when we arrive home. Fortunately, we have other cards to keep us going. The incident almost put me off me kebabs, though…
