Day 80: Colmar to Strasbourg

July 18, 2014

We woke up close to first light, in a bid to beat the heat as much as possible by cycling while it would still be cool. It actually did begin around 16 degrees, though soon enough it was over 40. Our tent, of course, was in its "unauthorized" spot by the Ill River. This is the same river, we were to see, that flows through Strasbourg - creating the island that houses the old town.

We started out on the Colmar Canal. After abut 12 km this merged with the Canal du Rhone au Rhin. That makes a straight run, 60 or 70 km, to Strasbourg. The Alsace government has developed this route, to the extent that the path surface is perfect, as is the signage. This is part of their bicycle strategy, Alsace a Velo, and it is great. I did try some whining about the lack of any services other than the signage, but Dodie correctly pointed out that there is a town every 5 km, usually within 1 km of the route.

The River Ill, by our tent site in Colmar

As we cycled along, we came to another of those concrete pillbox bunkers. Then the penny dropped: The Maginot Line! Actually, the penny landed with a big clang, when we went off route (that 1 km) to the town of Marckolsheim. Here we immediately found a bakery. Perhaps because this is so close to Germany, the bakery also had sandwiches and coffee. Usually a French bakery concentrates exclusively on the bread and pastries. Finding the bakery was not a particularly great feat - we subsequently noticed at least two others, on the same street.

We had gone to Marckolsheim to find breakfast, but in true Grampies style we blundered onto something much more. Marckolsheim is the site of bunker number 35, in the third line of defence of the Maginot Line. The bunker is now a museum.

A bit of background. After the experience of WWI, the French wanted to block any future invasion across the Rhine. Under the direction of Minister of War Andre Maginot, they built a network of bunkers and other defences along the Rhine, up to (but significantly not including) Belgium. There were three lines to it: One on the Rhine, one in the forest behind the Rhine, and one defending (or sometimes comprising) the villages behind the forest.

When the Germans did attack (May/June 1940) they went around the Line and through Belgium. By June 14 they entered Paris. After that, they attacked the Maginot line. It only took a couple of days to punch through it.

Marckolsheim was one of three major fronts in the battle. The Rhine was crossed at three places near here. Due mainly to fire, Marckolsheim was 85 percent destroyed in the attacks.

The bunker museum is attended by an old man, who speaks as if he had personal knowledge of the weapons and events. Of course, even if he is 80 years old, he would only have been 10 at the time of the events. Then bunker (called a casemate in French) is still largely as it was in 1944, and is filled with an only casually organized wealth of period weapons, documents, photos, medals, and such like. The man showed us the shells that could bust apart the concrete bunkers, and there is a metal one with seriously deep divots in it. We looked at machine guns, and bazookas, from both sides.

The soldiers in the casemates, lacking air cover or artillery backup, got surrounded. Then it only remained to bring to bear all sorts of explosives to finally crack them.

Marcholsheim. The town was mostly destroyed in 1944, by fire - since buildings were mostly wood. Reconstruction favoured stone.

This shows the Rhine flowing between the Vosges mountains on the west and the Black Forest on the east. We are cycling down this broad valley, right now, on the west side.

The Casemate 35/3 - number 35, in the third line of defence

This is the emblem of the Line, affixed to emplacements and found in cloth form on uniforms

A touching German/French interspersed dedication

Photo of the same emplacement in actual use

After our sortie to the Line, we resumed the Canal, which heads straight to Strasbourg. This was pleasant water side riding on a level path. There are lots of fish in the water, so it was amusing spotting them. People who like riding hills often point to the variety, of going sometimes up and then coasting down. They have a point (though not an overwhelming one). Pedalling at the same cadence and force for 50 km can actually be wearing, even if the path is flat. Still, it was ok, and really nice, actually.

Eventually our canal began to change. Early on, it had been left to become unnavigable, and was returning to nature - with fallen trees across it. But pretty soon the canal sported a few boats going up and down. They were all from the company Le Boat, that we had seen on other canals as well. Next, our quiet woods on both sides were replaced by a busy roadway on one side.It was still the same canal and path, but now with this roadway. Finally the roadway was replaced by buildings, on both sides. We had arrived in Strasbourg.

Strasbourg made an immediate favourable impression on us. Like Colmar, it has a mixture of fachwerk and finished stone houses, but it also has some quite tall ones (maybe seven stories), making it look also a little like Paris in spots. Moreover, it has a large number of open squares, some - like Gutenberg Square - absolutely huge. There are few or no vehicles permitted, and thousand of people are walking everywhere. Though the number of people is large, so are the spaces, so it works well. The large squares are complemented by small streets - each one a picture of small shops and little restaurants with outdoor seating.

In the centre of it all is the Notre Dame Cathedral. Built inthe 13th century, it was the highest cathedral in Christendom until the 19th century. It not only is high, it is long. Inside, the unsupported space is stupendous. The exterior is of the stone lacework style that we also saw at Freiburg, and there are thousands of carved figures, standing in niches, lining the archways over the entrances, and generally just everywhere.

The large square in front of the Cathedral is lined with handsome buildings, and in the are restaurants or hotels, as always with outdoor tables.

We had the choice of pushing our bikes quickly around town and moving on - to Kehl on the other side of the Rhine, or we could have stashed our gear at a camping and come back - as we did at Colmar. But this time Tourist Information found us a downtown hotel for 50 euros - not so much more than a Camping.

The hotel is on an atmospheric street, accessed through an atmospheric alley. It feels like Paris. I feel I should be an artist or writer to be here. We took the luggage off the bikes and stashed them in the basement. Then we were free to walk!

oops, free to take a shower first, actually. It is still really hot! We went back to Tourist Information, which is in the cathedral square, and booked in to a walking tour of the Cathedral and surroundings. Then we had a look at the menus for the restaurants on the square. They looked a little costly, but good. Still, I said to Dodie "Let's see if we can dine "off square" for any less". So we walked a short distance, past devastatingly "typical" scenes of old buildings and outdoor cafes, looking at the menus. Finally I decided I liked the first restaurant - on the square. Dodie was very patient! We sat directly under the huge cathedral. What a spot! Our dishes were wonderful. Dodie had roast lamb. It came with cassoulet. This was really authentic stuff, as was my pork cordon bleu in mushroom sauce.

Grandchild Amelia, we hear, has decided that our cycle trip amounts to sleeping in the tent, cycling, and eating ice cream. To live up to her idea, we stopped into an ice cream shop. I did not immediately see the per scoop price posted, but decided cost be damned, and asked the girl for two scoops. It took her a while to explain the system to me (since I am old and rigid). Here, you chose a small, medium, or large cone, at one of three escalating prices. Then no matter how many flavours you mention, the girl creates a flower shaped presentation of them, in your size of cone. I chose tiramisu and strachiatella. There should be a photo of it uploaded sometime soon.

Back into Kleber Square, we found the public enjoying the summer evening and dipping their feet into the large fountains. We did the same. The city felt so pleasant and civilised. No cars immediately around, people sitting pleasantly surrounded by beautiful buildings, great food, bakery, and ice cream available all around. Just super.

We strolled back to our atmospheric hotel, where the open door to our balcony brings the sounds of the outdoor restaurant down the alley. Our return to Germany will have to wait a short time. Right now we are really enjoying this corner of France.

The canal became navigable. Here is a nice looking lock.

Cars appear on one bank of the formerly idyllic canal

A view of the cathedral down a Strasbourg street

A stained glass window surrounded by frescoes

Kleber square, just around the corner from our Hotel

Typical small street, with cafes, people and bikes.

A little detail on the catherdral shows a menorah

Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 3,990 km (2,478 miles)

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