Wednesday 27th June, Potsdam

Pic 1. Cloisters at Sanssouci
















Pic 2. The palace and its fig terraces










Pic 3. Formal gardens.











Pic 4. Chinese summerhouse










This morning Sebastian went on a hunt for gear oil (to replenish the back axle's constantly leaking supply) and found a friendly garage, which gave him some free of charge in exchange for taking a photo of the car!

This afternoon I explored Parc Sanssouci - a flight of fancy of a summer palace, built by Friedrich the Great in 1745. On the south side there is a series of terraces growing figs, grapes and plums, with large formal gardens studded with fountains.

The fountains are fed by a large storage pool to the north of the palace, which is surrounded by fake classical ruins - Greek, Roman, Tuscan, Norman and Egyptian all tumbled together. The formal gardens are stunning, with long vistas and classical statues, urns and follies to draw the eye into the distance.

I was just thinking that Friedrich needed a pagoda to complete his collection of classical styles when I came across a Chinese summerhouse - a ridiculous confection of green and gold with statues, some of whose features bore a passing resemblance to Chinese.

The weather all day has been blustery, changing conditions quickly between warm sun, black clouds and sudden cloudbursts.

Tomorrow we drive towards Liege. We'll probably stop for the night somewhere between there and Cologne, and then drive on to Meaux on Friday. Two long (over 300 mile) days ahead of us. I hope the car holds together, and that the weather is kind.