To - Bad Sackingen
Distance - 86km
Time - 6.5 hours
Total - 1466km
The choucroute was lovely. It was different cuts of ham and pork with sausages and sauerkraut. There was plenty of it as well which suited me. It is the first night I have eaten at a restaurant. Most of my meals out have been lunchtime meals and you feel a bit more conspicuous eating by yourself at night. Don't think I'm getting all lonely and self conscious, I'm just explaining what it feels like. It was raining heavily again when I came out of the restaurant and I got wet through on the way back to the hostel. The good news was that the radiator in my room was nice and hot so I got things dried out quickly. These rest days are so tiring, I was ready for an early bed and no more drinking with the ex French army chap.
Of course this is my last day in France and I have already got the German dictionary out. I will be practicing my guttural pronunciation. You may think I won't have a problem speaking from the gutter but I remind you that I was 'well brung up'! My German is worse than my French but I have plenty of time to practice.
It is also a Sunday. My tactics will be to have a normal hostel breakfast that includes as much bread as I can politely get. Then get out on the bike around 9am and buy a few provisions to last me through the day. I had spotted a Carrefour mini-supermarket that is open from 9am so that did nicely for bread, cheese and pâté.
The weather had actually stayed dry. I was cold for the first 15km but managed to warm up as I cycled. I got the the point where the Canal du Rhone au Rhin actually joined the Rhine. It wasn't a wonderful sight but it was significant as I could see Germany on the other side. I knew i was getting close to Germany as the people on the track were walking dachunds, rotweillers and schnauzers instead of poodles. I got a bit confused about what sort of greeting I should give people as I pass. I stopped at a little fair on the side of a small river, still in France but within sight of Switzerland and Germany. It was in aid of the canoeing club and local school. I was collared for a ticket to enter the duck race that was scheduled for 6pm tonight. The father of the boy who sold me the ticket spoke good English and I told him I did not know which language to try. He suggested English was best because 'all the Germans speak English an the Swiss speak all the languages'. By the time I am writing this I could be the winner.
I crossed the footbridge into Germany and had my picture taken to commemorate the occasion. After 200 metres of Germany I crossed to Switzerland. I had my passport ready for scrutiny but no-one was working at either border. In fact I have crossed the border between Germany and Switzerland about three times and haven't seen a customs official. I have studiously been trying to avoid buying Swiss Francs and so far it has worked. I cycled into Basel and looked at a couple of churches and the town hall in the old town. Very nice town hall. Whilst in German speaking countries it s very easy to make smutty jokes about the signs eg Einfart. I must however apologise for the photo of a museum you will see later. You will know what I mean!
I had my lunch on a bench overlooking the Rhine and then nipped back into Germany. I rode more leisurely to Bad Sackingen because the temperature was better and also there were nice places to see. I prefer this area to France, it has lots of character and seems cleaner and more orderly. The town of Rhinefeld is split between Germany and Switzerland. The Swiss side was a lovely town centre but of course I didn't stop to spend money because I had no currency.
On my way to Bad Sackingen I heard some music coming from a Garden Centre. It turned out to be my first 'lederhosen' encounter. There was a middle aged band dressed in lederhosen entertaining the shoppers. There was also a barbecue and bar. So, I posed as a prospective customer and listened to classic covers of popular music such as 'I feel good' by James Brown and 'Brown girl in the ring' by Boney M amongst others. I can't say the tracks were made for a German middle aged oompa band but at least they gave it a go. It was an experience for sure.
On my arrival at Bad Sackingen I was pleasantly surprised to find it was the Spring Festival and the town centre was crammed with stalls and people. A very nice place it is too. I don't usually take pictures inside churches because they are usually dull and a bit repetitive unless you are a stain glass fan. I did, however, take a picture inside this church because it was quite stunning especially for a medium size town most people have never heard of. I had a coffee and a blue berry cake at the Rothaus Cafe. It probably won't be the last picture of a Rat House you will see whilst I travel through Germany.
It has been a genuinely interesting day with all sorts of things happening. I didn't even mention seeing a woodpecker really close up or the hydro-electric dams across the Rhine.
The hotel is just outside town but is lovely, clean and modern. It will probably be a contrast to the hostel I have booked for tomorrow at Schaffhausen where I am booked into a room for 10, it could be interesting!
I will probably revert to English dates unless I get the time to work out German days and dates.
Photo 1, The canal meets the Rhine.
Photo 2, Duck Race poster.
Photo 3, White water canoeing.
Photo 4, Me on the bridge over the Rhine to Germany.
Photo 5, Town Hall at Basel.
Photo 6, Museum at Basel, be careful with the name!
Photo 7, Lederhosen oompah band.
Photo 8, inside Bad Sackingen church.
Photo 9, Rothaus at Bad Sackingen.
Photo 10, Festival.
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