Day 9: Out of France and into Germany
Friday July 5 - Day 9 - 26 miles - Total 360 miles
We luxuriated at the Hilton this morning and made the decision to make this a half cycling day. We used today to catch up on the blog, have a wonderfully long breakfast (with spectacularly helpful staff... which was weird after the service we got in the rest of France.) Then we rejiggered our panniers, finished some laundry, took another shower, and headed out around 1:30 pm. We started out by winding our way through Strasbourg, taking a few more photos, getting a few more post cards, and stopped at the oriental supermarket (Super 88 style) of Strasbourg for lunch and resupply on the way out. Cheapest baguette of the trip, only 59 Euro-cents.
We headed south out of Strasbourg along a canal cycle path, while looking for a post box so we could mail the postcards whilst still in France. After a little detour we succeeded! Our route was interrupted by a golf course, which caused us a bit of a kerfuffle and a detour around a rotary and along a farm track. Successfully negotiated, we were back on route over the Rhine bridge into Germany!
First impressions of Germany are very good. The posted cycle paths and routes are excellent and the cycling infrastructure is first class thus far. Beer is cheap in the supermarkets which is always a plus.
We are now "wild camping" in the overgrown field by a tennis club. How did we get here you ask? We were looking for a place to stay, we cycled down a path, found a lovely tennis club with restaurant and two lovely owners who let us camp in their field and then fed us schnitzel, french fries, salad and weissbier (wheat beer) in big glasses. You think American portion sizes are big... we got nonthin' in this establishment. After dinner we started this blog when we got to chatting with a very nice couple and their 10 year old daughter, Maren. They spoke wonderful English and told us about a festival near by tomorrow (which we may check out) and some other local places of interest. We also got to chatting with some other tennis players. During our conversation, we had the opportunity to ask important questions like "Do you tip at restaurants in Germany?", " How do you say: 'Check please' and 'Camping'"? We also learned that in Germany, good bye entails a double kiss... not like in Switzerland which is apparently a triple kiss... whoa those crazy swiss...
Again, what a fulfilling end to a day. Meeting new people, new experiences, new food, humbled that they could all speak English.
The World is Ours!
Friday July 5 - Day 9 - 26 miles - Total 360 miles
We luxuriated at the Hilton this morning and made the decision to make this a half cycling day. We used today to catch up on the blog, have a wonderfully long breakfast (with spectacularly helpful staff... which was weird after the service we got in the rest of France.) Then we rejiggered our panniers, finished some laundry, took another shower, and headed out around 1:30 pm. We started out by winding our way through Strasbourg, taking a few more photos, getting a few more post cards, and stopped at the oriental supermarket (Super 88 style) of Strasbourg for lunch and resupply on the way out. Cheapest baguette of the trip, only 59 Euro-cents.
We headed south out of Strasbourg along a canal cycle path, while looking for a post box so we could mail the postcards whilst still in France. After a little detour we succeeded! Our route was interrupted by a golf course, which caused us a bit of a kerfuffle and a detour around a rotary and along a farm track. Successfully negotiated, we were back on route over the Rhine bridge into Germany!
First impressions of Germany are very good. The posted cycle paths and routes are excellent and the cycling infrastructure is first class thus far. Beer is cheap in the supermarkets which is always a plus.
We are now "wild camping" in the overgrown field by a tennis club. How did we get here you ask? We were looking for a place to stay, we cycled down a path, found a lovely tennis club with restaurant and two lovely owners who let us camp in their field and then fed us schnitzel, french fries, salad and weissbier (wheat beer) in big glasses. You think American portion sizes are big... we got nonthin' in this establishment. After dinner we started this blog when we got to chatting with a very nice couple and their 10 year old daughter, Maren. They spoke wonderful English and told us about a festival near by tomorrow (which we may check out) and some other local places of interest. We also got to chatting with some other tennis players. During our conversation, we had the opportunity to ask important questions like "Do you tip at restaurants in Germany?", " How do you say: 'Check please' and 'Camping'"? We also learned that in Germany, good bye entails a double kiss... not like in Switzerland which is apparently a triple kiss... whoa those crazy swiss...
Again, what a fulfilling end to a day. Meeting new people, new experiences, new food, humbled that they could all speak English.
The World is Ours!
RSS Feed
