Cycle Tour Bike holiday along the upper Rhine 2015

Another hot day, but some scattered cluds. No winds.

Strasbourg is a fine city for biking with tarmac paths along roads, rivers and canals, of which there are plenty in the city centre. The signposting is poor, but we had no problems finding things thanks to my specailly planned Strasbourg-route on my GPS.

Before breakfast I have a swim in the Rhine in my birthday suit. After breakfast Simon stays on the camp site while I relax in the open air pool next to it. Lunch on the camp site. After that we cycle via a posh bridge for pedestrians and bikers across the Rhine. Our first goal was the magnificent cathedral Notre Dame, built in the late Middle Ages out of pink sandstone from the nearby Vosges-mountains. It never got its second tower, as it was planned. The single tower is built open with holes through it. This technique was considered especially rare and noble. After the visit inside the cathedral and on the tower platform it was time to relax at a café. I sat outside chatting with people and Simon inside watching Tour de France on a tv. I had my wrist watchstrap mended at a watchmaker. Then we had a bike ride to the European Parliament, The Human Rights Court and the Council of Europe at the former building of the parliament, which I had visited in high school. We went on along the river Ill to the quarter of Petit France with many canals and islands. We had a beer and soft drink break on the terrace of the noble restaurant L'Ami Schultz. Strasbourg had turned out to be a splendid city with many old houses and a pleasant atmosphere along the many canals. After this we cycled back to the camp site and Germany via the Rhine bridge. I climbed a high wooden tower in Kehl and enjoyed the view, while Simon prepared our dinner at the camp site. After dinner we did just nothing apart from playing table tennis.