the honeymoon

we’d planned for some time to go wandering around the rhine valley, so taking our honeymoon there seemed a logical step. we planned the journey on our bikes, sleeping under the stars, eating and drinking fresh local produce, and trying to find out a bit about the local history and culture.

en route to alsace, in the ardennes, we stop for the night. horses and cows in the adjoining field chase one another playfully. many bikes, cars, and truckers pass, either honking or shouting “bon appétit!”

finally we arrive in the vosges. although still in lorraine, we chance upon a beautiful lake and decide to stop.

there is a fantastic forest surrounding the lake. we get the bikes anchored and the stove out.

h, first thing in the morning.

the effects of a cup of tea on h. note wide smile and regal poise.

we skirted along the western edge of the vosges and then headed into alsace. late in the afternoon we spotted a ferme-auberge with some ducks and a comfy-looking field. we asked the friendly alsatian farmer if we could stay there, and he was all too happy to oblige, bringing us fresh coffee in the morning to boot at no charge. we also met some holidaymaking german dentists and had some great conversations.

at the end of this day we find ourselves at the top of another vosges valley, with a castle presiding over it and another spectacular lake. also beer and pastis were no more than twenty seconds’ walk from this spot.

at the bottom end of this valley, we stopped in a town called thann to get some money from the hole in the wall. mostly we avoided towns and cities, but this church roof was too awesome to be ignored.

we crossed over onto the other side of the rhine by way of some beautiful plains villages. at the end of a long day's riding, feeling quite tired and dirty, we checked into a biker-friendly hotel. the mother of the family who ran the hotel even came down especially to wave us off in the morning.

we went along the length of the black forest, and afternoon found us on top of an alp with a nearby café and gasthaus.

in both places the food was weird - a “sausage salad” made of shredded luncheon meat covered in vinegar, a “peppered steak” with jamaican hot pepper sauce, and a very tired wiener schnitzel. fortunately cognac and baileys were also on the menu.

we were unimpressed by the german driving standards and rather closed attitude to their neighbours, so it was back to alsace to explore a couple of corners we had not yet visited.

after being thoroughly rained on and subjected to spurious disdain and thoroughly unfriendly road surfaces in strasbourg, we aborted a night out in the city and headed out for the mountains again.

h on her bike.