I know what we're doing this Summer

We've booked our next holiday in the form of ferry tickets from Ireland to Cherbourg in France. Come August, Hubby and I will saddle up the Bluebird of Happiness, put her on a Ferry and go for a little drive.

Two weeks and more than 3000 kilometers later we will have visited 7 countries: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and back through France.

This is more-or-less our proposed route - the White line with the red dots on it. I got this messing around on Google Earth. It is very much a first draft and will be refined a LOT to cut down on mileage and ensure we have enough fuel stops.
We have a full set of panniers so there should be more than enough packing space (the wife of the guy we bought it from assured me one can fit 12 pairs of shoes in one of them), but they are bound to mess with the aerodynamics a bit. That, and the extra weight, will no doubt play havoc with fuel consumption.

But oh boy are we gonna have fun!!! If ever a vehicle was destined for the Autobahn, this is it :-)

So far, the plan is to take it slow the first day and see a bit of Normandy. Hubby is very interested in WW2 stuff so he wants to see the beaches there. I have a more personal mission in the area. My father was born there, and my great-aunt (who also happens to be my Godmother) still lives in a small town in the region. I need to find out if someone in her family speaks English, because I'd love to visit her. Last time I saw her I was a kid, and I know she doesn't speak English any more than I can speak French.

After that, we have friends to visit in Rotterdam, then it's down to the Black Forest region of Germany, where the other side of my father's family is from.

Those are the only Definites so far, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments or drop me an email (under the Flickr box in the sidebar).

It's all very exciting, so no doubt you'll be hearing plenty more about it closer to the time.