Monday July 8th - Very Warm to hot and sunny all day, 24°C to 29ºC
Coffee at Neuf Breisach walled city
20 metre tunnel through wall
Google's view Neuf Breisach
Back on German side of Rhine
Grand Canal of Alsace
Partly shady track beside old Rhine
Old Rhine is narrow and shallow
Should have had a stop here
Lunch from Casino supermarket
two beetles fighting over a crumb
Filling water bottles at cemetery - Donna's tip
Wine water and ice at end of day
A shortish day of 77k in hot dry weather. 25k across flat farming land through small villages from Colmar to Breisach on the Rhine, then 45k up the Rhine on a gravelly forested path and 7k through small villages to Efringem Kirchem, a small village about 10k north of Basel. A very hot dry day along the old Rhine River - a new deeper Grand Canal of Alsace has been built parallel and to the West of the original Rhine, making the cycle track very picturesque through original forests.
It was a hot night, but lucky we had aircon, probably our only Hotel room so far with aircon and just the night we needed it. Sleeping in til 7am is easy with the curtains drawn, and we wander down to a late breakfast where we meet a German/Canadian couple touring the Rhine on their motorised bikes - very interesting that these bikes have become so popular - they had Bosch powered cycles. Breakfast is more than a buffet - it's a smorgasbord of meats and fruits and everything in between. We're stuffed when we finish.
At 9am we're ready to leave but there's a small Casino (Casino is a French brand of supermarket) where we stock up on double of everything - 2 cheeses, 2 meats 2 tomatoes 2 breads - enough for 2 meals, today's and tomorrow's lunch, or it might be tonight's dinner if there's nothing at the hotel or we're too tired to trek downtown. It gets squished into our lunch boxes, and I add a bottle of cold water out of the tap to try to keep things cooler. 9.30am and we're off - a bit late this morning but hopefully a shorter day of just a flat 77k.
The day is warm but cool as we cycle through the forrests and farmlands on our way back to the Rhine. 17k out of Colmar, and we come into an amazing walled village of Neuf Breisach, built in 1699, and completely walled and moated in an octagonal design. And inside the streets are laid out in perfect lines. It's only 10.30am but it's so amazing we stop for a tea on the outskirts just to admire the architecture. To get inside, you pass through a 20 metre tunnel through the wall.
It's only a few more k to the Rhine River and once we're over, we're in Germany again. But it's a double crossing, first over the Grand Canal of Alsace, a canal dug parallel to the Rhine River for shipping, and the old Rhine, a more shallow and narrower river. Once in Breisach, I stop off to buy another map of the last bit of the Rhine - just to keep Ian's GPS tracker honest.
Then it's 100 metres around the bend and we're on to this beautiful tree lined cycling track along the old Rhine. It's partly shaded and takes the heat out of the day. This track goes for about 45k with glimpses of the Rhine, a multitude of serious cyclists (back panniers, front panniers, back packs and camping gear strapped on top, and sometimes even hauling a trolley with the extra gear - no thanks - a B and B for me.
We're looking out for a place to stop for a second morning tea. It's midday and we just need a break for 5 minutes to have a handful of nuts. We don't see any seats or places to stop, so we just stand up with propped bikes. But when we take off again, there's a seat hiding in the grass just 20 metres from where we stopped. Them's the breaks.
An hour's more riding enjoying the Rhine, and it's time for lunch. As I lay out our spread, there's two humongous beetles having a bull fight over something. We stay out of their way. Each beetle is the size of a golf ball with huge pincers.
After lunch, it's a hot and thirsty track. We've just taken the turn-off to Efringen Kirchen and start to zig zag around a few villages when we roll past a cemetery. Donna's tip is you can always get water from a cemetery in France and it's cold water. So I fill up our bottles even though there's only 10k left to go. 30 minutes later and we roll into the village and soon find the Landhotel at Efringen Kirchen. It's got a really nice beer garden where we sit and have a drink even before going up to our room.
Room 102 is big and spacious and there's a warm breeze coming through the window. Time to wash. The internet connection is fast but not sustainable so we can send an email but not upload web stuff, nor do Face Time. So we go through the photos of today and write up my diary then go back downstairs to the beer garden for a really nice salad, pommes frittes and cordon bleu - with a beer and wine of course.
Back upstairs and we're struggling to find a hotel for tomorrow night. The school holidays in this area have started early and we've already tried 3 places that are full. Looks like being a one star option for tomorrow night - still better than camping