Last nights dose of french commercial radio was really quite something. If you think commercial radio back home is bad, you're not even half way close. Try listening to an evening of foreign radio ads. The stand up comedy hour was particularly strange, but not so strange that we actually changed stations. 'Strangely addictive' is probably about as much justice as we could give it.
Up this morning and south east to Colmar. The first pass, Col du Bonhomme, is great. Probably seemed better than it was but after 2 days of mildly interesting roads it was a really welcome change.
We also got a brief insight into why the roads over here are so damn good when we passed some resurfacing works. They don't just skim and patch the surface with cheap tarmac like they do back home. They completely gouge away all the old road then start from scratch. It's all topped off with a thick layer of super fine tarmac. The foundations are a couple of foot deep. Certainly enough to lose Sam. Which was tempting.
Crossed over the Rhine into Germany and straight into Freiburg. Didn't find anything of interest so we carried on into Titisee in the Black Forest.
I've been before but never by day. It's pretty touristy but definitely worth popping in. Even if it's just for some Black Forest gateau or apple struddle. I was just interested in gateau, and only because I missed out last year. Dumped the bike on pavement outside one of the cafes but some chap on a tat stall warned us that the traffic wardens are keen as mustard and it will definitely attract a ticket. There is free bike parking in the town but we wanted to keep it in sight because it was fully loaded. He told us to leave it next to his stall because it was a tiny patch of private land so would be safe. And indeed it was.
After some coffee and gateau we popped into a little produce store to pick up something for lunch. It looked like a complete tourist trap but it actually had some great produce and the prices were dead reasonable. They had a massive selection of wines, ranging from 'how much!?!' at one end to 'ah that's more like it' at ours. We bagged a cracking bottle of Chianti for not much cash at all.
Leaving town we passed a lovely public park by the lake. Looked like a great place to spend an afternoon chilling, and many people were doing just that.
We picked up the B500 road south to Waldshut. This is a legendary road. I was having a bit of a sugar rush after all that gateau. Sam thought I was getting 'a bit excitable' and enjoying it too much! Apparently i'm not allowed to ride after consuming sugar again. Pah.
We rode up to the Rhine Falls at Neuhausen. These are truly spectacular. We sat for a while and ate our lunch. When we left I got in a Japanese photo. I mean, I really got in a Japanese photo. This bird had a thing for tall men in leather and wanted a photo with me. Sam thought I was been stitched up but obviously the old boy's still got it!
We rode up to Lake Constance, which is where we pitched up for the night. There's a choice of campsites so we picked a smallish one near the lake. It's a popular holiday spot for the Germans around here so expect only basic facilities and plenty of campervans.
Very few facilities onsite but there was a great restaurant and bar close by at the lakeside. We sat on the terrace drinking huge glasses of Rothaus Pils all night then came back for an easy late tea of fresh tortellini from the supermarket. Perfect.
185 miles
No comments:
Post a Comment