Day 12: Zell to Cochem

May 11, 2014

Other cyclists have written about the good breakfast buffets in German hotels. In the few we have tried in the past, we found it to be true. The only downfall has been that while beautiful and high quality, they tend to put out only a little bit at a time. So it hinders hungry cyclists from gobbling it all up, and better, storing some away for on the trail.

Today though, the lady brought the plates of lovely stuff just for us at our table. So we felt fine about eating or squirreling it all. Once posted, look at the before and after pictures. The lady must think we are human vacuum cleaners, because on the trail, we are!

All this breakfast was brought ot our table

The famous wine of Zell is called Black Cat. We have learned that there are not really wine making coops in the Mosel. Rather each grower produces their own wine. In each town it is easy to obtain the one or more wines that are made right there. If you are a true expert, you will know that the taste of the wine varies from town to town, though the grape is generally Riesling.

Tricia wished us in the Guestbook a happy final two days on the Mosel. Actually we had thought to finish today, but now we see she is right. For one thing, we are reluctant to leave this hotel. We sat in the dining room just gazing out at the river (and the pouring rain) long after we had eaten up everything on offer. And now, I am sitting at my desk typing this instead of getting on with it! Oh well, where is my raincoat - we are out of here! (But of course, we will stroll first through the narrow streets of Zell!)

We checked out a bit of the town before leaving.

In an area of universally gorgeous old houses it would be difficult to build one that is a standout. However on the outskirts of Zell we found such a one. Tricia Graham noticed it as well, as she had a shot of it last year.

Carrying on down the Mosel, it was really one beautiful village after another, all surrounded by the signature near vertical vinyards. Hotels and wine tasting houses abounded. The path really was perfect - perfectly paved and perfectly signed, and throughout the river. River boats, whether tour boats or long bulk carriers passed periodically. The carriers, despite their huge size glided along with considerable grace. Since they move at about our speed, we tended to race with them. They always won, however, because we would get distracted and stop to read a trailside sign or something.

In Merl we came to a church, built in 1490 and restored in 1728. It was prettily decorated, but in this valley they all are. It caught our notice because this is Sunday and beautiful organ music was coming from it. We peeked through the partly open door and observed the service going on. Dressed all in fluorescent yellow, we didn't think it was appropriate to join in. Inside, though, the organ must have sounded great.

Also leaving are these hikers. Trekking is more popular here than back home, but there are far more cyclists than walkers.

This public sign instructs about nordic walking.

Here are bottles of wine in true commercial quantities. There was more stacked up than fit in this photo

We also passed many campgrounds. Some were the organized ones, which feature a bath house and usually a restaurant, and some were self service parking areas for camper vans. We also passed all kinds of hotels. Without exception they were in beautiful buildings and looked tremendously inviting. The weather alternated between briefly sunny and torrential downpour. Of course, with our good rain gear this was not about to stop us, but it was maddening to be taking it continually on and off.

One of the campgrounds was flying the flag pictured below. This of course is just an unofficial one, but we found the sentiment behind it encouraging. After the hundreds of years of conflict in Europe, we are hopeful that the European Union can carry on indefinitely. It seems to us that this loose federation (with countries retaining control of foreign relations, armed forces, social services) is working well to maintain local culture while uniting the continent in many other ways. One way, though, that Dodie wants to suggest to them is to unite the postal service, thereby eliminating different rules and prices for her and doing away with the idea of domestic and foreign mail for destinations within Europe.

We found this combined European Union and Germanflag to be encouraging

There are also elections apparently ongoing here. It's strange, since there were elections last year as well. Yet here is Angela Merkel popping up again. Can anyone straighten us out as to what this is all about? (And which party stands for what).

Why is this face on posters again this year?

Dodie spots a ruined monastery across the river

Look at the half timber ad roof tile work!

Hotels are eay to find. It looks like staying at any of them would be a treat.

We had heard that Cochem is the most beautiful town on the river. However, as we came opposite Beilstein we were hard pressed to see how it could be beat. Here was a castle (Schloss Metternich) above a cluster of half timber buildings nestled on the riverside, with an attractive church in the centre. However we shortly rounded a corner and could immediatley see what the thing is about Cochem.

Cochem is presided over by 1000 year old Cochem Imperial Castle. The castle had been blown up by the French in 1689, and only rebuilt in 1870, 200 years later. At that time it was redesigned to look even more romantic, after the style of Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein Castle, which we will also eventually visit, near Fussen. The castle seems more artistically placed above the town than at Beilstein, and there is also a quite elegant bridge. On top of that, Cochem has a more generous dollop of striking buildings, and a neat city hall tower. So, Cochem is a winner!

Yesterday I wrote that because of extravagances in Zell we would likely be economizing today. So normally that would means camping or wild camping. However the rainy conditions convinced us to put that aside. When we arrived in Cochem, then, I stopped into a few hotels on the main promenade, just to see the prices. They were all beautiful inside, all included breakfast, and had places for bikes. The prices asked were €78, 80, and 112. We have come to accept anyting under €80 as ok, but decided to check one "off promenade" place. So we climbed one steep and narrow street for a short bit, and came to Gästehaus Albers. Here the price was €70, also with breakfast and bike storage (and wifi).

The room turned out to be super as well. What we now recognize as German standard duvets, these with attractive covers, a window onto a courtyard, good size, and immaculately clean. So our big economy drive today produced a €10 saving! We immediately went out and squandered that on souvenirs.

Just outside the Gästehaus we spoke to a man who tuened out to be taking a breath of air opposite his wine cellar. I remarked to him that sales must be slow, to allow him to lounge outside. His reply resonated with us no end. "My family has been selling in this place since 1780", he said, "Making some sales or not just now really does not matter". As if to reinforce this lack of sales urgency, a couple entered the wine store for a look around. Our new aquaintance did not move a muscle. On the other hand, under the barrage of questions that we always seem to have, the fellow took us inside. There we saw a couple of dozen varieties of wine, all made by this family. The wine in the photo, moreover, comes from a family vineyard that the man said was the most vertical in the world, at 68 degrees.

We learned that the terreoir changes along the river every 5 km, and our man admitteded that he was unable to distinguish them all. However, he said, he could distinguish each of his family's wines. I prattled on about the sommelier documentary I had seen on the flight over, and we continued to talk about wine tasting. Our man (too bad, did not get his name) demonstrated tasting with the nose blocked, something akin to playing the piano with one hand behind the back, I guess.We also learned that migrant workers from Poland had been doing much of the manual work in the vineyard, but that they were no longer migrant, having moved here permanently.

The wines, at at €8 were more expensive than some we have seen, but still cheap, compared to perhaps €20 one might pay in a restaurant here. I wonder what the cost would be in a restaurant in North America? One book we read stated that Mosel wine has worked to beat a reputation as cheap recreational swill. However, it does seem that this is not an area from which mega costly vintage wines do come. Does anyone know more about that?

Dodie and the owner survey the wines, all made by his family

Stopping early at Cochem positions us to hit Koblenz tomorrow neithere too early nor too late. It also gave us a chance to walk around Cochem. We found the place to be more full of tourists thanany other on the river so far. In Tricia's report from more in the season, we know that the place really swarms with tourists later. The shops and restaurants are accordingly touristy, but here touristy is not a bad word or thing. Rather it means that goods and services will be plentiful and high quality. We also used our extra time to walk above the town, to the castle. We were rewarded with great views of the river and the town. We also found a statue of a frog prince presiding at the castle. This seems to match some frog dolls and figures in a store below. However we could not uncover a special frog theme in anything we have read.

On the way down we took a slightly indirect route, and passed some of the slightly less special buildings, inhabited presumably by ordinary mortals. They were still pretty darn nice. So Cochem is beautiful, through and through.

Beilstein - candidate for most beautiful town on the Mosel?

Steiff teddy bears. This is a name well kown to Dodie.

Frogs - anythig to do with the frog statue up on the castle?

Tourist oriented socks, but not many sales likely to non Germans!

The frog statue high over the town. Note the course of the Mosel below.

How about this fruit tart! We actually went for the apple strudel and whole hazlenut - chocolate concoction.

The iconic city hall tower with pass through underneath

Today's ride: 37 km (23 miles)
Total: 710 km (441 miles)

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