Be advised, A3 Koln-Frankfurt, is notorius for staus (traffic jams). Might want to consider not travelling during morning or evening rush hour times.

Hugh Wallis <hugh@...> wrote:

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!!),

4) the southernmost point in the Netherlands (with another geocache at http://tinyurl.com/dwt8o ) and

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
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