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Published: August 15th 2011
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Thanks to the awesome French bike paths, our 10 km ride from the campground through the city of Strasbourg and then to its outskirts was easily accomplished this morning. In fact, throughout the day, we saw little traffic as we were on mostly dedicated bike paths and bike lanes. Much of the route was labeled Piste des Forts, meaning Trail of the Forts.
It was those forts that made me a bit misty-eyed this morning. We were cycling through the forest on what was once a major road on the French side of the Rhine. That road is now just open to cyclists, but during WWII it was obviously a line of fortifications. We must have passed dozens of such concrete bunkers, open towards the Rhine with an escape tunnel out of them leading away from the river. I know that my Uncle Gerald, for whom I was named, was killed in France near here somewhere. Perhaps he was in one of those forts more than 60 years ago. Perhaps I was cycling in the territory where he gave his life for freedom. It is indeed humbling to realize what he and our other solders, many of them just teens,
did to bring freedom the French and to maintain freedom for us. Thank you!
On a lighter note, I also thank Robbi, our good luck cow mascot. No rain today, though it was cloudy and cool much of the day. And while we got “misplaced” a couple of times, we were never really lost. With two or three days to go, I hope we can maintain this record.
The terrain today was totally flat; about half the way we were beside the Rhine. In order to raise the level of the river for transport, they have built dikes. The paved bike paths are built to the left of the dikes, creating two interesting features. One, we can’t see the river from the path, and two, we are actually cycling below the level of the river. And while we may sometimes whine about hills, a totally flat ride is also tiring in that our legs never get a chance to rest. If I feel myself getting ready to complain, I just remember those hills in Portugal and close my mouth.
As we arrived at this campground in Munchhausen, we wondered what we were going to do about dinner
tonight. I mean, I had meat and cheese (but no bread) and a package of cookies; but I want more than that after cycling all day. We showered (that’s a whole nother story) and then walked into town. Well, town is perhaps not the right word. We walked towards a number of houses, but no real town could we find. There were three restaurants, none open. Back to the campground. Waited until 6 p.m. and walked to a nearby auberge, where a jolly bar tender spoke a bit of English with us, put on an American CD (“Blowin’ in the Wind” and other oldies) and brought us a good meal of steak, fries, a salad, bread, and beer.
We are now back at the campground, no Internet, and so far we have not been able to pay for our campsite. Evidently, there are just two or three sites for overnighters; the rest are for full-timers of whom we have seen just a few.
We have figured out that we have fewer than 200 kms to get to the Haases home in Langen, Germany (where we get to see the new grandson!!). We could probably do that distance in just two days but will likely take three to savor these last few days of biking in Europe.
Okay, Robbi, keep the sun shining! And thank you, God, for taking care of us day after day, providing for both our needs and our wants.
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