Strolling around Bei nheim

Yes we’ve missed a day and that was due to our arrival in the centre of Strasbourg, I’m impressed we got here but then we were following signs to the town centre/stadtmitte. Its an amazing town full of historic buildings so no chance of getting any blog done yesterday as hubby was filling his camera up with all those  100s of historic buildings.

We’d woken in our bed and breakfast to seeing the stork feeding its baby in the nest on the church roof ahhhh.Breakfast was the usual french bread and jam and croissants and danish pastries. How come the french arent fat?

A relatively uneventful cycle ride yesterday except our diversion of over 30kms meant we did not see the Rhine all day, hubby was very happy as we were diverted through picturesque french villages. Hubby thought this would mean more coffee stops but it was not to be as it was Monday and for many their day of rest so none were open. We did try and stop at one that was open but I was struggling to explain that the luggage on our bikes meant they couldnt go into the designated bike rack as the front wheel wouldnt hold the weight. The germans seemed to get it in Germany and were ok with us resting our bike against a wall anyway we gave up and left. Eventually we found coffee in a little village with famous locks that we couldnt see because the Rhine was blocked off there, more flood dyke repairs Gambsheim. Apparently Gambsheim was one of those villages that they all had to leave, literally the whole population, when Germany invaded France.

We then had a picturesque ride through a forest reserve , luckily we didnt need to venture off into the woods for a pit stop as we noticed on leaving the forest warning signs about ticks carrying diseases, and they say australia is dangerous.

We exited next to a chateau with a beautiful restaurant set in the forest, how could we resist such an ideal lunch stop. It was really nice peddling along in France being greeted with “bonjour madame”, instead of the odd “Tag “in German, especially since wearing a nose guard to protect what skin remains of my poor nose doesnt exactly look the most fetching. Although the funniest sight we had one day was 3 german men passing us and peddling along to a cycling song, waving their arms  and joining in with it , it did seem to work I was spurred on to pedal faster.

The other really pleasant thing about being back in France is the “plat du jour ” which usually means we get 3 course meals for less than what we pay in Germany for just a main course, yummy French desserts creme caramel and meringues floating around on custard,,, heaven… You can see why we have to cycle for at least 55kms a day just to be able to eat …

Strasbourg is like a mini Venice dotted with canals. We are staying in a very old hotel in the old city. They had no storage space for bikes so we had to take our bikes around to another hotel, Hotel des Artes, and then carry them upstairs to their storage room, so no chance of sorting my gear cable out.Good practise bike carrying for any further muddy sections. We are on the 5th floor yes in the roof but they do have a small lift, phew.

Plenty of things in Strasbourg for history buffs , stunning cathedral, covered canal bridges, museums galore plus now so many European institutions here.Glad we had time to enjoy a few of the sights but any longer and the camera card will be full. We did check out whether we could send a few wintery things back to Oz over 54 euros for 3 kgs so maybe not.

Better have a look at the book and see if we get any details on how to leave this city…looking forwards to seeing my bike again I hope its alright locked away poor thing ….

Hotel Rohan        (make sure you get a booking.com deal otherwise very pricey)

Rue de Moracaine

L’lle de cite , Strasbourg

Big room, fridge, comfy bed, english cnn tv channels.