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Tuesday 29th August 2017 Erstein to Roppenheim The first 20 km from Erstein to Strasbourg was easy tow-paths stuff, mostly following the Canal du Rhône au Rhin. In Strasbourg, however, the Eurovelo15 route markers seemed to be a bit lacking... or maybe it's just us who are lacking.
Anyway we got to Strasbourg and had a cup of tea at a mobile drinks bar which was based on a 1972 Citroen van. There Andrew got into conversation with an affable chap on a bike who claimed to be the creator of the Eurovelo15. The drinks bar owner also spoke good English and observed that Andrew and I were the first English cyclists he'd ever served drinks to. Moving on we passed by the European Parliament building, a glittery glass palace, then proceeded to cycle up and down the same stretch four times looking for the way forward - no doubt to the amusement of the local idlers who were there, lounging under the trees out of the sun.
It took ages but eventually we got out of Strasbourg - a nice enough city, no doubt, but too big, affluent and pricey for an overnight stop on a trip like ours. We ended up heading out on some rough, gravelly tracks which were hard to ride on, for me anyway, in my still weakened state.
Time sped by and we reckoned we'd best make for Drusenheim and simply find a hotel when we got there. We got there indeed but unfortunately there were no hotels available for us there and as it was getting late we started to face up to the prospect of a night in the hedge. Andrew's phone had died by this time but he used mine and finally found us somewhere to stay in Roppenheim - La Courrane - which was fine and on the route, but meant another 10 kms or so pedalling. Nothing when you're in a car, eh. On bikes we slogged and sweated for another half hour but in the end all was well. We got there, there was a room and the place was quite nice. We'll need to book ahead tomorrow. Today we did a modest 46.98 miles, bringing our total to 395.39 miles. | |||||
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