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<\/a>a very nice father\/daughter biking team from the Netherlands.\u00a0 They were traveling down<\/em> the the Rhein, so we shared information on which way to go, goods and bads, etc.\u00a0 We could have chatted for hours with them exchanging stories, but we<\/a> had a 50 mile day ahead of us and it was a late start already.<\/p>\nThere are two route choices from here up the Rhein; cross the river and ride in France through small villages or stay on the Germany side and ride a straight (though quiet) bike trail all the way to Basel.\u00a0 Given our experience with the lack of signs in France’s small towns and Menno’s recommendation, we stayed in Germany.<\/p>\n
What a wonderful choice.<\/p>\n
Yes, we missed small French towns, but the bike trail was anything but lonely.\u00a0 Right away we saw dozens of swans<\/p>\n
<\/a> We saw deer …… we know, this doesn’t count as wild, but look at that face<\/p>\n We saw bicyclists all day (the most since Amsterdam), most of them touring and all of them enjoying themselves,<\/p>\n Shortly after noon, we approached some pretty rapids,<\/p>\n Basel is a big city<\/p>\n<\/a>easily floating single file down the Rhein, enjoying whatever it is they eat for breakfast.<\/p>\n<\/a>The trail was a high bank along the river, occasionally offering glimpses<\/p>\n<\/a>of the narrowing river.<\/p>\n<\/a>……….. and sheep<\/p>\n<\/a>with their shepperd as well as the real worker, the German Shepperd, amazing to watch (missed that <\/em>picture).<\/p>\n<\/a>but were a bit taken aback when Vick and his 21 year old steed<\/p>\n<\/a>pulled up beside us.\u00a0\u00a0 Turns out Vick rides bikes as well, but with a horse as beautiful and spirited as Derby, it would be tough to get on a bike.<\/p>\n<\/a>since we’d packed a lunch, it was a perfect place for a picnic.<\/p>\n<\/a>A few more glimpeses of the river,<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>before our course started us on our approach to the city.<\/p>\n<\/a>With the exception of a swan and her ‘ugly ducklings’<\/p>\n<\/a>the ride in was through a very industrial area.\u00a0 Even the border crossing from Germany to Switzerland was under such heavy construction, there was nothing to photograph.<\/p>\n<\/a>and though we reached it by one, it took us another hour to get to our hotel.\u00a0 Finally out of the industrial and into the sightseeing.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>There is a holiday today (can’t translate the details) and everything is closed.\u00a0 So the usual umbrella lined cafes are missing and with it some of the magic.<\/p>\n<\/a>But there is a cathedral!<\/p>\n<\/a>Surprised though, that every single large church and\/or cathedral<\/em> we have been close enough to photograph has been under some kind of major renovation.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>We try to shoot around the scaffolding.<\/p>\n<\/a>The M\u00fcnster Cathedral dates back to the 1100’s.<\/p>\n<\/a>There is excavating under the cathedral and it’s a bit bizarre to see items from 900 A.D., just laid out neatly numbered.<\/p>\n<\/a>One of the several bridges that join the city divided by the Rhein has a guardian dragon.<\/p>\n
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