07 July - Bad Bergzabern to Rastatt

Today we would like to give a special blog shout out to our friend Thierry because we are visiting his homeland today (bon jour, Thierry!)

Breakfast at the Hotel Wasgau was exceptional. Most of the fare was the same as usual - meusli, yogurt, cheeses, meats, etc. It must have been the presentation and our friendly hostess that made it extra special. It was a great way to start our last day of cycling. The weather certainly wasn't anything to be too happy about, drizzly and cold. Plus, the day started out with some serious hills back up into the vineyards. Incredible views at the top though.

Our first real destination of the day was the town of Weissembourg which is just over the border in France. Somehow we thought (or perhaps were hoping for) some ceremonial check point as we crossed the border and traveled with our passports handy to be prepared. Instead, we entered a vineyard where the signs were in both German and French. The village on the other side had signs only in French (Rue de this and Rue de that) - we had arrived in the outskirts of Weissembourg. Where was the actual border? We had never seen a sign so maybe it was somewhere in the vineyard.

The town itself is truly lovely, full of half-timbered houses and lots of little German grandmothers on sightseeing tours. We parked our bikes near the 13th century Abbey and did a bit of walking around. The Abbey was a beautiful Gothic cathedral with amazing stained glass windows. The river Lauter runs through the town and several tributaries have been formed into little canals which are lined with houses and inns busting with geraniums.

We got a little surprise when we headed into the business district to buy some lunch. We didn't intend to sit down anywhere, just wanted to pick up some sandwiches and get back to riding. It turns out that all the shops close from 12-2! We found one lonely bakery (boulongere?) that was still open and snatched up their last few sandwiches and a few pastries for the road.

We headed down the Lauter river towards Rastatt, going back into Germany for a long and cool ride through the forest. We ate our lunch at a funky picnic area by the path - the table was an enormous stump. Then the trail led us back to France again to another cute town called Lauterbourg. This allowed us to mail some French post cards we had bought in Weissembourg. Then we rode down the Rhein along the levee.

It began to rain a bit after Lauterbourg, a little at first and then began to downpour. We ducked into a bird-watching hut and waited the storm out (and had a little chocolate). A German woman ducked under the hut as well and we had a funny conversation about where we were from and what we were doing... Germans don't hesitate to ask "How old are you? How is your Mother?"... very forward but still pretty friendly.

We crossed the river on a neat cable-driven ferry, then into Rastatt. We both felt pretty sad that this was the end of our fantastic bike trip. We found our hotel, the Hotel Da Franco, got cleaned up, ate a delicous dinner downstairs and then updated the blog. We were exhausted!

A fantastic bike trip. We were sad to say goodbye to our bikes, but more adventures await!

Check back later for more pictures.

Hotel Da Franco
Josefstraße 7
76437 Rastatt
Tel 0049-7222-32103

Description from Bike Tours Direct:

Day 6 - Bad Bergzabern – Rastatt (approx 56 km, 34 miles)
Vineyards, country of groves
Only a few kilometres south from Bad Bergzabern the total 85 km of the German Wine-Street come to an end. You cross the German Wine Gateway in Schweigen and then you are in the Alsace. In Wissembourg you visit the historical old town and cycle on the banks of the idyllic Lauter. After Lauterbourg you leave the Alsace and cycle on to Baden until you reach today’s destination Rastatt.