Sunday saw us at Toulouse station saying goodbye to the folks, who have been excellent company and help thoughout our stay, and also therefore goodbye to the last remaining familiar people and places. Setting off on our 24 hour coach journey would take me into the first part of the adventure where everything was new: to Munich via eastern france and accross southern Germany to Bavaria.
And this is how it came to be that we were sat in a sunny beer garden on Monday afternoon with a stein in one hand and pretzel in the other, being regailed by an Oompah band playing 'My Way' - a surreal experience on very little sleep I can tell you! We were taken there by our lovely Hospitality Club host Antje who is great company, able to show us beautiful things here and steer us clear of the main tourist traps. Munich itself seems like a great place, very open and full of splendid parks, adn the folk here like to live outdoors much more than in England. We see huge numbers of cyclists and walkers, and the beer garden was packed with families enjoying the sun and each others company. In fact beer gardens may well be Andy Heaven: an endless supply of frothy beer, vast arrays of grilled meat products, and a silly band to help it all go down. Life is still good!