Day 29: Hochstetten to St. Louis/Huningue

May 11, 2022

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We had an update request on Dodie's fingers from daughter Laurie, so we'll start with that. Dodie feels things are improving, with some of the blisters turning to scabs. However one tends to crack open, and new sites are starting on the left hand. Dodie is using a tea tree oil wipe and antibiotic for areas that open. So it's not great, but no fingers have fallen off yet! Dodie also feels the nose is ok, but she is having to protect the new skin where scabs came off with sun screen.

Ok, back to the tour.

We had approached our gasthof from the back alley last night, and it wasn't until this morning that I took a good look at it from face on. From inside I had already experienced the dark wood panelling, amazing good water pressure and temperature in the shower, the good on site restauarant, etc. Now I saw that this is exactly the type of place that lured us in other years away from camping in Germany. When you come across one, it is so tempting to just jump in. And lots of them are called Adler (eagle), the remainder are Goldener -something - probably Hirsch - stag. Just kidding, thee are lots of names.

We left ourselves time and kms to go into the town of Breisach, which was slightly off route. It turned ut to be the highlight of the day. The town has two levels. Below there is a great square, with three bakeries that we saw, anyway. But above is the munster - a cathedral that we had mistaken yesterday from a distance as a schloss (fort).

Since it was first thing in the morning, we tackled the steep cobbled way up to the munster with aplomb.

What you are heading for is a section of town aptly named Munsterberg, as you see below.

There is an old gate to pass through on the way.

From the top you have a view out to the Rhine, and presumably the Vosges mountains beyond.

The church, which had been built in the 12th to 15th centuries had been very heavily damaged in 1945, like this:

It has been rebuilt, and looks good now:

But you can still see pock marks in the walls'

There is a not taking sides war memorial nearby.

Curiously, there is also a memorial for victims of Covid. That's fast work on installing a memorial.

Inside the church we found some very ancient looking frescoes, plus unique stined glass, and carved statues. A guidebook was for sale, but we have now sort of learned from the piles of such books we bought on past trips and mailed home at great expense, then to only look at them once in a blue moon.

We love the ancient ambiance of a Franciscan church and the gardens and cloisters that usually are also attached. The upper city had that great feel, and also a walled garden that had been recreated in the old spirit.

Cobbles and walls give that great feeling.

We enjoyed Breisach a lot. As you can see from this roadside sign, we were not the only ones. Breisach can say, other than the Grampies, Roman Emperor Valentinian I slept here (369 a.d.).

We took off over our same bridge as yesterday and were immediately back in France. We had decided to stop at the last bakery in Germany for some anti-bonk supplies, and it's a good thing there was no holding out for France and an eclair - we hit no bakeries in the dozen or so villages we passed through during the day!

We were a little worried about being thrown on road during our day long odyssey in France, but actually it was ok. Much more often than not there was an off road way, even if it was a not separated bike lane or sidewalk. The scenery was the now normal farm fields intersperst with towns. The towns, though, had lost most of that iconic Alsace appearance.

The mountains of the Black Forest in the background.

At one point the fields became acres and acres of peas. This had us talking of mushy peas, petit pois, and pea soup. Must have been getting hungry!

Finally our route jumped onto the Huninque Canal and this was quite a relief. During the main part of the day we had faced very strong head winds coming from the Vosge mountains, and the way was generally in the open sun. The temperature reached 31 degrees. The combination was really exhausting. At least the canal offered wind protection and shade.

Since thi is France, the canal (any canal) also offers fishermen. They are monk-like in the way they can sit there all day.

The actual area of Basel is pretty confusing, to me anyway. We passed through two (abandoned) border check points as we tracked down our hotel, which is in France but 100 meters from the Swiss border.

If you can look carefully at my cartoon map, you'll see the situation. We came down the Rhine on the left side of the map, and you can see the border with Switzerland, just where it says Huningue. Keep going on that side and you are in Swiss Basel. On the other side of the river, marked out by the orange line, is more Switzerland, but beyond that is Germany. Got it?

Not exactly chocolates and Alps, in Switzerland near Basel. Here, it's drugs from companies like Novartis. (Oops, this bit of Novartis is actually just over the border, in France!)

If was not to totally easy to find our hotel, which is called the Adagio apartment hotel, but it was worth it. It features a very little kitchenette, that allowed us to make noodles, and there is a fridge for the sandwich I bought at the bakery but did not eat, because of so many noodles!

Dodie of course was not thrilled by the heavy quilt, very tucked in. Oh well, tomorrow we sleep in Germany again!

What gave meaning to our lives today? Leafed over canal side path, finally offering some shade from the unrelenting sun in the open fields.

Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles)
Total: 1,732 km (1,076 miles)

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