Day 87: Besigheim to Binau

July 25, 2014

We cruised the 5 km or so to Kirchheim, the place where we had wild camped two years ago. Sometimes when we have gone back on a route we have done before, there are places where we remember every detail, and sometimes we remember nothing. Other times, we will be going along remembering nothing, then turn a corner and exclaim - "Oh, here is the spot where ...!" In the case of the Kirchheim wild camp, we remembered it intensely, for some reason. But of course, that still did not mean we went for it last night, for the reason I gave yesterday: spoiled brats!

Dodie mails her last postcards to the grandkids. She hopes they will remember receiving so many.

Kirchheim, like many towns here, is quite plain.

Our wild camp from two years ago - still looks good

The path and the vines, as I remembered them

At the wild camp spot there was still, of course, the steep hillside of vines. But also, there was still a fisherman - not the same one, of course (only French fishermen can sit there, seemingly for ever!).

My memory of the route kind of failed from this point onward, because I had an image of vines like that and nice path by the river joining fachwerk villages. The truth was that though there were certainly some nice stretches of path, some nice churches, and even several dramatic schlosses on hills, this was a bit of a rough day - with urban bits and on-road bits and some uninspiring towns.

Baby grapes. This plantation is even bigger than the photo shows

Two nuclear plants. One is already closed, the other will be shut down in 10 years.

An old house sandwiched between newer ones near Laufen

The path and vines on the way to Heilbronn

Heilbronn was the first major place along the way. We made our way to the rathaus, opposite which was St Kilian's protestant church. The general surroundings were pretty standard city stuff, nothing at all special, no pedestrian area, and no really old or quaint buildings. We quickly found out why. On December 4, 1944 the old city was almost completely destroyed by bombs and ensuing fire storm. The church burnt out, though the figures in the altar wings were saved for having been earlier removed and hidden in a salt mine. Some parts were reconstructed then from photographs. It was not until 1974 that the reconstruction was complete and the church could be reconsecrated.

There are elements in the interior now that look strange to us - less deft, untraditional glass work, and very plain pulpit. There is a display in the church with photos of the destruction. It just makes us so sad to think that people could go and do destruction like this in other places, and then have it brought back in destruction at home. Most people spend their lives working and building, but then suddenly - this!

We left Heilbronn quite quickly. There was really nothing to see there.

Actually, of course, leaving Heilbronn was not that quick. It is a fairly big city. But, the GPS and the bicycle signage did do the trick. (Plus, Dodie points out, she is very very smart).

The post war stained glass of St Kilian's seems rather crude. This image is puzzling too - are the lady's brains being added, or removed?

Angels with instruments adorn the pulpit. They are nice enough, but plain compared to some very elaborate pulpits we have seen.

The next significant place along the line was Bad Wimpfen. Here, any blame for not seeing stuff goes to the lazy grampies, because the beautiful altstadt was up a hill. We looked at the road up - and just didn't take it. However, down at "our" level there was a church of the "Malteser". We took this to be somehow related to Malta and to Knights Templar, but of course we are not sure. The church was in a compound surrounded by an old wall and containing other buildings. There was also a large fleet of VW vans and other vehicles, all with "Malteser" written on them. Perhaps the group runs a social service or ambulance operation? Inside, the church was quite dark, and the organ was playing what I took to be eerie single tones or simple chords. Later, I wondered if in fact they were just tuning the organ, or practising. It has been the same in other churches - I can't tell when they are serious about something - especially organ playing. Anyway, I made a movie of it - so it can go on youtube later and someone smarter than us can analyse it!

As we carried on down the river, we noted quite a few schlosses up on hills. Clearly you can visit some of these, because there are signs inviting you to head up to them. Grampies, of course, would never climb a mountain just to look at a schloss or ruin - especially as we have no info about what is to be found at each one. One of these, which the info we do have says is the second biggest in the Valley - Berg Hornberg - is also a hotel. Hmm, maybe they have a shuttle?

Anyway, hotels are at least temporarily off our agenda - since there is lots of camping in this area, and there is a short window of no rain (that might slam shut, even tonight!). We came to a camping near Binau, and were pleased to have the lady just casually gesture to a spot for us, and then to have no problem with us cooking and sitting at a covered area with table and chairs and power, just near the registration. That means we have everything here that we would want in a hotel, and of course a riverside spot.

For tomorrow we again have hopes of finding those beautiful towns. They are out there, we know, and not all are on hills. Check back tomorrow and see what we find!

Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 4,392 km (2,727 miles)

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