Day 5 - 22 September 2012 - Lauterburg to Kehl - 76k

It rained all night. This was a good test for our tent, which kept us all dry and snug inside, but it is a bit painful to pack in the morning. However, the rain had stopped by morning, but everything was still wet. We actually enjoyed the night’s sleep. We have a double sleeping bag which makes life quite cosy and not as strangulated as sleeping in single bags. Breakfast was also a delight of porridge with sultanas, and coffee made on milk. We travel with a magnificent ‘trangia’ cook set, which packs into a small parcel about the size of a traditional Christmas pudding.

We took too long to get packed, and rolled away from our campsite at Les Mouettes just out of Lauterburg at 9:30am, heading for Strasbourg/Kehl.

We were on the French side of the Rhine river, and headed south, so all signs were for Strasbourg, with Kehl being on the German side across the bridge from Strasbourg. The bodies were feeling a bit stiff and sore. My (Kelvin) knees are both tender and stiff, I think from the constant hauling of heavy load, although I don’t seem to notice any strain once the bike is rolling, except perhaps on the numerous little rises in the track occasionally. Julie is tender in the tailbone, which makes sitting on the bike all the more difficult. Despite this, she is amazing how she keeps her bike rolling with the added load of her panniers.

The French side is beautiful. We pass through some amazing parts of forest, the trees often form an arched canopy over us. The Rhine course has been altered years ago to straighten it, but which has left many large what we might call billabongs or large lakes which are just a picture. It was so lovely today to see occasional fishermen sitting in their little barge boats, quietly fishing. I called to one “any poisson?’ mixing my English with fluent French. A very long answer in French came back across the water, none of which I understood, but he may have been saying something like ‘a few nibbles here and there but nothing caught yet that would feed a family!’ or something like that.

We rode beside the river for many stretches today. We marvel at the lovely barges that seem to be frequent. Conscious though that we needed to get to the German side, we saw the ferry crossing at Seltz, and decided it was time to cross. As we stopped, Julie asked a lady about the ferry, and we got the answer in reasonable English that it crossed back and forth all day, and it was free, so we started to wait. Then, a nuggetty old German on a bike saw this, and although he couldn’t speak English, he told us to stay on the French side because the bike path on the German side was ‘bad’. I think bad was the only English word he knew. Then we had a French speaker join us, and then a third who could actually speak some English, all giving advice most of which we couldn’t understand but strangely got the gist of what was being said. Stay in France! So we did, and glad we did.

For many miles the path was glorious, but seemed to run below the level of the river. We could see fishermen on top of the levee wall beside us, and we assumed that when the river was re-coursed, it was higher than the natural terrain, so a lot of today the river was much higher than the road level. We set our sights on the village of Drusenheim to buy a baguette for lunch, and so glad we did.

As we approached the point where the map showed the turn to Drusenheim, we discovered the most beautiful ferry port which seemed a photographers paradise. We turned off the track and rolled into one of the most beautiful French villages, a hidden treasure just off the bike path a few kilometers. We cycled down the main street and back, taking photos and stopping to chat with the girl at the baguette shop – she had no English and our little French but it was a great conversation!

Julie wanted to ride the ferry! Recalling the little German's warning about track ‘bad’, urging us to ride the slightly longer route to Kehl via Strasbourg, we gave in to the urge to cross the Rhine on this beautiful ferry. As soon as we arrived, it was loaded and ready to go. The driver must have seen us from afar because he waited just until we got aboard and with a slight wave of ‘hello’ he cranked it up and across the Rhine we went. The views from the Rhine looking back at the ferry port were wonderful.

We lunched on the dock overlooking the river, but gazing down the gravel path of which the best the German could describe as ‘bad’. It was bad. Was the ferry ride worth it? After a delightful lunch of baguette and fruit, and milk coffee, we headed south. Sadly, for most of the rest of the afternoon we were on gravel path which was softened by the overnight rain.

Kehl was only now some 24k, but almost every kilometer was hard work on the soft gravel. Anyway, the kilometers gradually passed. We enjoyed barges up and down the river, some swans, plenty of fishermen, and gradually we could see the sights of Kehl looming along the river. We headed for the centre of town hoping to find the Information office, but when we arrived at this glorious central plaza alive with life, we realized it was Saturday, and our hopes sank even before we got to the door of the Information centre in the corner of the crowded plaza. It was closed. We didn’t quite know how to get to the camping ground, which didn’t seem from our broad map it was very far. We found a lovely passer by who could understand us, but we had trouble with his replies which were all in German!

Anyway, by following the river, we found the camping ground. It is superb. People keep talking to us. We were invited to drinks with some Canadians. We enjoyed a massive meal at the camp bistro, and went to bed frustrated because we couldn’t quite get the internet to connect for us via the camp wi-fi.

The morning has dawned. It is Sunday, and today is a big day ahead on tired legs. However, everyday we ask the Lord for sufficient divine power to not only keep us going, but also keep us going in the right direction. We like the Scripture verse "...but those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint". Isaiah 40:31

From Kehl, with love from Kelvin and Julie