Having just
discovered this list and joined up I thought I should introduce
myself.
I have been
fascinated by boundaries and borders, especially oddities like tripoints, since
as long as I can remember. So this seems like the perfect place to hang out
:)
My discovery of this
list was the result of researching on the internet for my upcoming 2 day meeting
in Madrid and my interest in geocaching (www.geocaching.com). I decided to go
caching in the Pyrennean region around Andorra over the weekend leading up to my
meetings (I will fly into Barcelona arriving on the morning of Saturday 10th
September and end up in Madrid on the Sunday evening) and noticed Llívia on the
map. It seemed an oddity and so the research started in earnest!! While I
doubt whether I shall be able to access the Andorra-Spain-France tripoints in
the time available, since they appear to require extensive hiking to reach and I
shall be on my own which seems unwise in such territory, I shall definitely make
the effort to investigate the Spanish exclave of Llívia. I hope to bring back
some photos and stories to share with the like minded people on this
list.
My enthusiasm being
raised for this form of adventure I realised the added possibility of
taking advantage of a technical "stopover" in Frankfurt (less than 24 hours
means that I can still get a cheap "through fare" ) on my way back to Canada. By
driving from FRA to a comfortable (I hope) hotel in Thionville in France on
the Tuesday evening (13th September) and then getting an early start on the
Wednesday morning it seems that I should be able to visit:
1) the 3
Luxembourg Tripoints,
2) some of the
German exclaves near Monschau (stopping to collect a geocache at http://tinyurl.com/9kryh in
Belgium and possibly http://tinyurl.com/8vncx which is the
only cache inside one of these enclaves as far as I can tell) -
although depending on my assesment of how the time is going I might skip these
in favour of some faster roads,
3) the old Neutral
Moresnet territory where I can practice my Esperanto (yeah right!!),
5) the
Netherlands/Belgium/Germany/Neutral Moresnet Quadpoint, before
6) hurtling down the
Autobahn to catch my 1700 flight from FRA.
Am I nuts?
Yes!
I hope I am in good
company therefore!!
If anyone could
provide me GPS coordinates for the Belgium/France/Luxembourg tripoint as well as
advice on the best access point/place to park I would be grateful as my
internet research indicates that this could be the most difficult one to
find.
Also advice on the
fastest route back to FRA bearing in mind any known local conditions such as
road works etc. would be gratefully received. I was planning on the Aachen
Pariser Ring to the A4, staying on the A4 round Köln and then the A3. Does this
make sense?
Cheers
Hugh