After a lovely 10 hour sleep, John made me tea and toast in bed and let me wake up gradually. He wanted to make an early start as we planned to visit Linderhof palace and all the tourist attractions are so busy at the moment it’s best to get there soon after they open.
Linderhof is one of Ludwig II’s many fairytale palaces, which was built in the 1870s. It is only small and the palace he spent most time in. The inside is decorated very extravagantly with lots of gold leaf, porcelain, tapestries and mirrors.
The palace is surrounded by beautiful terraced gardens and woodlands.
After our guided tour of the palace, we spent some time wandering around the park. These pictures are of the Moorish kiosk. It was beautiful inside. And less over the top than the rooms in the palace.
Luckily, as we wandered, we were passing the grotto at the right time for a tour. This artificial grotto has a lake, stage and a throne inside, which are lit by colourful lighting. Apparently, Ludwig used to take rides in the boat on the lake.
We then made our way back to the campervan, passing the back of the palace and the Moroccan House on the way. Linderhof was well worth visiting.
After leaving Linderhof, we made our way to Schwangau where we’re spending the next couple of nights. We stopped for relaxing lunch by a lake on the way.
We weren’t so relaxed when we got to the campsite! We were asked for our passports and, on looking for them, discovered they weren’t in the safe. After a quick phone call we found out we had left them at the campsite on Lake Maggiore! The computer wasn’t working when we arrived there so the man asked to hang on to them until it was, and we forgot to ask for them back 😦
After an initial panic we’ve decided not to stress about it. We know our passports are safe; we are not travelling back to Italy to get them; and we don’t want them posting to this campsite as there’s no guarantee they’ll arrive in time, especially as it’s the weekend. We have tried to ring Eurotunnel but are having no joy, either on the UK or French number. We’re just going to make sure we get to Calais the day before we are due, with plenty of time to explain what’s happened. I have photos of the passports; we have driving licenses with photo ID; and the campsite have offered to fax copies of the passports if necessary.
In the meantime, before we start making our way home on Sunday, we are visiting another of Ludwig’s palaces tomorrow, Neuschwanstein. I refuse to worry about our lack of passports until Monday!
Ramblings 
Leave a Reply