Hello all. Let me begin by saying that I have no wifi connection right now so I am just using the hotspot on my T-mobile phone, so hopefully this will post but there will likely be no pictures. I will try to update this post with pictures as soon as I get to a place with solid wifi. It is Day 14 and we have made it to Strasbourg. In two week we have traveled about 610 miles, which I am very pleased with. This distance puts us at an average pace of around 4,880 furlongs per fortnight. Today we woke up to rain and it looked like we would be dealing with rain regardless this morning, so we just rain suited up and headed out around 9:45 when it was mostly just drizzling. Luckily for us it only drizzled for about 30 minutes (about the time it took to get out of Colmar and on our path) and then stopped. For the rest of the day we had cloudy coolish weather mixed in with some sunshine, so it was great. That is until we got about 4 miles from Strasbourg and it decided to downpour. Fortunately, we were close to a bridge at the time so we waited under it for the the rain to lighten which it did about 15 minutes later. So all in all we managed to stay dry, and had mostly good weather.
The route today took us east along a canal from Colmar until we hit another canal that ran north and then we followed that canal all the way to Strasbourg. This meant the riding was easy, flat, and quick (our average pace while riding was a little over 15 mph).
The riding was pleasant, not particularly exciting, but it was pleasant. You could see little farms and villages around the canal and little birds and fishes in the canal, so it was not completely monotonous. The other exciting thing was that we came across a handful of old pillboxes and bunkers just tucked away on the side of the canal. For me this was really cool but then again I really love history.
Other than the bunkers and a handful of locks there was nothing else particularly notable. Actually that is not true. The lunch we ate today was great. We stopped in the only village the canal ran directly through (other than Strasbourg) and found a little bar restaurant. We thought we would just be getting some sandwiches, but then we were seated in a dining room. After miming that we wanted some water and some food, the waitress left. She came back with water but no menus. We sat there waiting and confused. A few minutes later she brought out an appetizer of some salami, a little lettuce, and some radish. When we noticed that everyone around us was getting the same thing we realized that it was a fixed lunch menu. The main course was steak and frites and it was great. We started to wonder how much all this food was going to cost, but when we finished it only cost about €20 for both of us, which for the amount of food we got was a great deal.
We got to our hosts house at around 4:30 and spent a while chatting with them. They were both really nice. The man spoke good enough English and the woman good enough German for me. They were preparing for a party with 20 people that night, it was a surprise party for their son, and the house smelled amazing. Not wanting to crash the party we went out to a restaurant that the man recommended and it was delicious. Between the two of us, Ben and I ate four tarte flambées (essentially extra thin crusted pizzas). They were delicious and we left feeling stuffed. So in my book it was a very successful dinner.
Tomorrow we have our longest ride yet a little over 80 miles into Staarbrücken in Germany, meaning we are already leaving France for the first time (we will be back in France after Belgium before crossing to England). Anyway with the long ride ahead we are planning to head to bed early so we can get an early start tomorrow. So best wishes and until next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment