Two nights in Paris

Tuesday 25 June

So here we are in Paris. We are staying in a different area from where we have been before - close by, but different. We are in the Odéon in the 6th arrondissement (between the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Marché Saint Germain, just next to the Théâtre de l'Odéon); previously we have been in the Panthéon area (5th arrondissement).

It is a great spot. Indeed, we walked across via the Sorbonne university area back to our old haunt and found it to be somewhat over-run with tourists and not so appealing.

On the way, as we walked through "our" area, we remarked on how appealing it seems; and there was a restaurant attached to a wine shop on a corner that I said looked good for dinner (Note to self). More about this later.

To go back, we left Nancy on the 13.40 on the TGV train which swept along at times at 320 kms/hr: eat your heart out Australia! 

We had had a lazy morning, not leaving the hotel until about 11.00 a.m. It was overcast and we packed (yet again!) and were grateful for the 12 p.m. check-out.

We wandered into town once more and bought some yummy-filled baguettes for lunch on the train, had a coffee and returned to the hotel to get our bags, to use the wi-fi once more (to confirm our return flights) and to walk to the station.



We arrived into Paris & managed to navigate the Metro from Gare de l'Est to Odéon - lots of stairs! My Friend's NAV app found the hotel successfully and by about 4.00 p.m. we were in and unpacked - and remarking on our good fortune in having negotiated another stage of our travels!

So, after our meander, we returned to where we had seen a potential place for dinner: it being only about 6.30 p.m. when we arrived back at the restaurant we had passed earlier, we sat at the wine shop next door and had a wine. 

I asked the owner of the wine shop what the restaurant was like and with a wave of his hand he said "Good - it's attached to the house" (meaning, I presume, that the wine shop and restaurant were one and the same business). I thought "That's not necessarily a recommendation" and we both shrugged & laughed (as you do...). 

He said there was no hurry as people in France don't even think about starting the evening meal before 7 p.m. but there seemed to be a steady trickle of people arriving so just before 7 p.m. I went up and asked for a table "pour deux" - and the maitre d' said "fine" but that they didn't take reservations, so we went in.

What became apparent was that this was no run-of-the-mill place, as people continued to stream in. It is the Polidor and we were told "it is historic" and featured in Woody Allen's 2011 movie "A Midnight in Paris". Furthermore, it is said that Victor Hugo, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Henry Miller, Arthur Rimbaud - among many other leading lights - frequented this establishment. It was founded in 1845 and the interior of the restaurant has not changed for over 100 years, and the style of cooking remains that of the late 19th century.

We shared the foie gras which was delicious; and I had beef bourguignon which was yum and the tarte tatin; My Friend had confit de canard landais which he said was great.

Most diners sit at long, shared tables, with communal salt cellars and pots of mustard. We shared with a couple from LA; later, before they left, we were joined by a guy aged in his early 60s who was on his way home to San Francisco from his house in the south of France where he spends a month every year (as you do!). He speaks French fluently. He is an attorney and a "cycling tragic". He has just bought a new road bike and this is kept in the house in France; and he also rides regularly back home in California.

When we left the restaurant, there was a queue outside waiting to get in ...

So we had a good evening, topped off by a quick and very short stride through the nearby Luxembourg Gardens the gates of which the gendarmes were in the process of locking (9.30 p.m.).

Wednesday 26 June

Got up late as this is our last sleep-in for the holidays. We'll be up early tomorrow to get to the airport for a midday departure (but need to be there at 9 a.m. for check-in).

So today: what to do? Well, we have no agenda apart from the Chagall exhibition.

We leave the hotel about 11.00 a.m. and set off for the 3rd arrondissement on foot to visit le Marché des Enfants Rouges. 

After the short visit to rue Mouffetard yesterday, which left us feeling a tad under-whelmed as far as markets go, we looked forward to a something new.

First off, a little history: Marguerite de Navarre, sister of King François the 1st and mother of King Henri the 4th (who was the one to end the religious wars that had been bloodying France), was a very well educated, politically engaged and charitable member of the royal family. In 1534 she had an orphanage constructed in what is now the Marais whose little pensioners were dressed in red as a symbol of their status. The orphanage was closed in the beginning of the 17th century and in 1615 was transformed into a market dubbed the Marché des Enfants Rouges (market of red children) to commemorate the charitable establishment that had occupied the site for almost a century.

We crossed over the Seine and passed the enormous queues of people waiting to get into Notre Dame (celebrating 850 years).



Past the Hôtel de Ville where, somewhat presciently (given he is currently ailing in hospital) there is an anti-apartheid exhibition on - "Nelson Mandela: Prisoner to President", & through to rue de Bretagne - via a small park where a group of children were performing in a brass band in a rotunda to the bemused entertainment of locals (and us) sitting in the sun eating their lunch.

We ate at the marché sitting amongst locals at the crowded tables. We had Moroccan food from an Afro-Antilles café which was very nice.

We continued walking through to one of my favourite spots, the Place des Vosges - the oldest planned square in Paris. It was built by Henry IV; no. 6 is la maison de Victor Hugo. We sat here awhile just watching kids play soccer, people eating (late) lunch and chatting, etc.



From here we went to have a look at the Port de l'Arsenal - which is near the Bastille - simply because we wanted to see where the barges moor when they are in Paris.

Moving on, we came to the Jardin des Plantes where lots of people were taking a keen interest in the gardens. The long, long avenues of enormous plane trees are quite delightful & provide lovely shade - it has actually been quite a warm day for the most part.

On we walked. As we were aiming for the Chagall Exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg, we called back at the hotel which was sort of on the way, stopping for a lovely crepe from the "hole in the wall" place in rue Mouffetard as we went. We have been here before & they make THE BEST crepes!

On the way back past the Panthéon, I noticed a restaurant that looked like it could be good for dinner later so made another mental note to self of the street: rue des Fossés Saint Jacques.

It was now after 4 p.m. but we knew the Chagall was open until 7.30 p.m. so we had a break until 5 p.m. and then walked to the Jardin du Luxembourg to go to the Musée there. The exhibition illustrates four key periods in Chagall's life and we enjoyed it. We have become fans of his work since we saw the beautiful windows in the St Stephan's church at Mainz when we were on the Neckar bike/barge tour earlier this holiday.

We walked back towards the Panthéon via the Luxembourg Gardens which have had huge photos of the Tour de France attached to the outside of the perimeter fence. We spent at least half an hour looking at the wonderful photography of exploits and scenery dating from the 1920s to the modern day. Excellent!

We found the restaurant that we had noted earlier: the Cafe de la Nouvelle Mairie is an authentic French cafe in a quiet plaza. We enjoyed a lovely platter of cheeses and wine followed by wonderful desserts. I had a yummy clafoutis of apricots; My Friend had a tarte with raspberries.

And then back to pack - for the last time!


Thursday 27 June

Up early. Leave hotel about 7.15 a.m. and walk the 15 minutes to Gare du Luxembourg to catch line B to Charles de Gaulle Airport which we arrived at by about 8 a.m. Seamless - almost, except that there is a CDG 1 and 2 which meant a frantic searching amongst the ticket documentation to work out which: it was CDG 1, at which station there is a shuttle train service to the airport itself - it took a few minutes to work out & seemed to be a change from last time???

Anyway, apart from that all went fine. Plane left 1/2 an hour late.

Friday 28 June

Not a bad flight really. Here we are in Changi Airport (Singapore) - arrived about 6.30 a.m. A warm 26 deg C! Waiting for next flight which departs 9.55 a.m.

So. Holiday over. Many components to it. Probably a bit ambitious: combining a walking and cycling holiday requires an uncomfortable amount of luggage; and the weather, while we worked with it and didn't let it spoil anything, was certainly challenging at times: the cold and the wet.

Have to re-jig my head now back to reality. We arrive home to political turmoil with Kevin Rudd having ousted Julia Gillard 80 days prior to the election. Hmmm....

Nancy: 2 days here

Sunday 23 June

We departed Zell early by taxi (6.50 a.m.) with Rich and PC - and were driven at Formula 1 speeds to Wittlich where we comfortably (!) had time to catch our train to Trier. 

We had a transfer time of over an hour so had a coffee and chat until our departure at just before 10 a.m. for Thionville which is across the border in France (the others had a changeover at Metz). Another wait and just before midday we took our final train for the day to Nancy.

We will be here 2 days. And what a town! Located in the north-east of France, Nancy was founded in the 11th century by Lorraine Duke, Gerard 1st. Nancy then became the capital of Lorraine in the 16th century. In 1738, Louis XV's father-in-law, Stanislas Leszczynski, was given the Duchy of Lorraine and he set about turning Nancy into a glorious rococo showpiece.

After unpacking in our small but comfortable hotel, we walked into the main square - Place Stanislas. My goodness. What a sight! Dripping with gold highlights and massive in size - what can you say! It is breathtakingly beautiful. No wonder it is regarded as the most beautiful royal square in Europe. It is on the UNESCO World Heritage list as a magnificent example of Classical French architecture.

We just walked around and around snapping photos. We bumped into Rich and PC and went sight-seeing some more. Being a Sunday, there were lots of people out especially in the Parc de la Pépinière where there seemed to be a festival of sorts going on.

Another of the UNESCO-listed 18th century monuments in Nancy is the Place de la Carriere; this square was originally laid out in the 16th century when it was used for jousting and tournaments, hence its name Carrière.

In the Old Town we visited Nancy's version of the Arc de Triomphe, the Craffe Gate, the Duke's Palace & Saint-Èpvre’s Basilica where there was also a market in full swing in the adjacent square. Our cameras snapped busily.

We had dinner in the square - a very simple meal, watched the world go by & had an early night.

Monday 24 June

Woke up to rain.

But we weren't worried as we had a lovely sleep-in and a late 'brekky' from our supplies of fruit and muesli. 

Left the hotel about 10.30 and walked again into the Place Stanislas. 

We decided on the exhibition at the Musée des Beaux Arts housed in one of the striking 18th century buildings in the square. On display are works representing every European school of art, spanning a period from the 14th to the 21st century. The museum’s impressive painting collections include a series of works by Pérugin, Tintoretto, Caravaggio, Rubens, Delacroix, Monet, Modigliani, Dufy, Picasso, etc. — as well as one of Rubens's earliest works (“The Transfiguration,” 1605) and one of Caravaggio's last (“The Annunciation,” 1609).

The museum visit took us about 2 hours and was amazing. By the time we left, we were exhausted and sought somewhere for lunch. 

We happened upon a terrific little brasserie up a narrow cobble-stoned side street and enjoyed a plat du jour with a terrific red wine and coffee (we seem to have arrived in a land where you can get a decent coffee!). 

We ate inside as it was a bit wet and cool outside even under the awning. We were well looked after and the maitre d' seemed very keen that we be pleased. We sat with mainly locals and had a great time.

Lunch required some walking off and indeed we bumped into Rich and PC so we completed the sight-seeing that we'd started yesterday - we returned to the Porte de la Craffe/Porte Notre-Dame (a double gate of sorts) and continued through to the Porte de la Citadelle.

We then wandered around an area where there are a number of 18th century mansions: Hôtel d'Haussonville, Hôtel des Loups, Hôtel Ferraris.

We separated again as we had not yet seen the Place de l'Alliance & the Cathédral (the others had already). We then wandered back to our hotel for a rest - via the main shopping precinct which was very busy.

We all had dinner at L'Excelsior, a century-old brasserie - a complete 1911 period piece: creamy molded ceilings, russet-coloured stained-glass windows, polished brass chandeliers (all with a fern or flower motif); it has regional-contemporary food, oysters in season, amazing desserts, a Majorelle piano and, as we were leaving, the lights went out and the entire staff - chefs included! - came out in a procession with a lit birthday cake singing in French in sonorously slow voices the birthday song for an adjacent table: just fabulous!

In the morning we pack (uggh!) and leave on the TGV (fast train) for 2 nights in Paris.

A week on the Moselle

Saturday 15 June

Today we cycle from Koblenz to Cochem - approx. 50 kms. After a slow start with laden bikes, we settled in after 10 kms or so and had a nice ride along the Moselle which is a noticeably narrower valley than the Rhine; there was little evidence of any recent flooding.

We started on the left side and had to deal with traffic to Niederfell where we enjoyed a coffee and CAKE (a pastry really, with lovely fresh strawberries), then onward (now on the right side) to Treis-Karden, a gorgeous little town where we visited the lovely St. Kastor Stiftskirche (this church has a beautiful 15th century terracotta high altar of the Adoration of the Magi) and we had lunch in the quiet square outside.

We cycled up and down little hills at the foot of vineyards which rise up and up above us on the steep slopes. The Moselle River is with us all the way and on the other side we see cyclists, villages, castles & the river itself is busy with barges (both commercial and tourist), speedboats, paddlers, ducks, geese.

It has been overcast but warmish but now the clouds come in and the wind springs up so we endeavour to make steady progress to get to Cochem in case it rains - which it doesn't. It is quite hard going into a head wind which gets stronger but it is nice riding along the good sealed bike path which parallels the road.

We reach our B&B on the other side of the river at Cochem via an extensive bridge. Coming into town we get good views of the colourful houses and hotels lining the main promenade along the river and the huge castle dominating the skyline above; and a market is in full swing.

On the side of the river where our hotel is, it is much quieter and therefore more appealing. Ah! And wonder of wonders, we have a lovely hot shower. I wash my hair. And we luxuriate in having a room with lots of space. And there is a BIG bed. What bliss after the barge!

We go out for a walk and don't get far - stopping for a drink at a cafe with lovely views over the river and looking out to  the main town on the other side. Then we proceed over the bridge - it is very busy, lots of tourists; after a while we head back again and  are now relaxing in our room having a rest before dinner.

......

We meet up with Paul & Mel who have independently come to spend a few nights here on a trip "down memory lane" (they spent 2 nights here 33 years ago). We have a very nice meal together and a short walk after.

Sunday 16 June

Had a sleep-in - well, until 8 a.m. anyway! What luxury!!

Lovely day's riding from Cochem to Zell where we are to stay for a week. The riding was easy on flat, sealed bike path. You could ride on either the left or right hand side of the river and  cross periodically either by bridge or ferry. Nearly impossible to get lost (and we generally try pretty hard - but this trail was pretty fool-proof, even for us).

It was extremely pretty. Delightfully-colourful towns at frequent intervals: all with a nice church, cafe, weingut.

We stopped at Beilstein with the ruins of Burg Metternich on the hill overlooking the town. We pushed the bikes up to the church with the Black Madonna and had coffee and CAKE at the cafe overlooking the river.

Further on, we stopped at Ediger-Eller: just a gorgeously pretty town, with half-timbered houses and a pretty church high up amongst the narrow, curving cobble-stoned streets. We wandered around taking lots of photos.

Definitely a geranium day today - geraniums everywhere in all sorts of pots, even old wine presses - brightly coloured in the warm sunshine.

We cycled on, fairly quickly now as we knew the others had by now already arrived in Zell, a lively little market town, made famous by its special brand of Mosel wine: Zeller Schwartz Katz, Black Cat Wine. The story behind the name originates in 1863 when three wine merchants from Aachen were negotiating to purchase the town’s best wine at Mayntzer’s Winery. The winery’s black cat, without prompting, leaped atop a wine cask, spitting and hissing at all who approached. The wine merchants had found their wine, and it made them immensely wealthy. 

The slopes where the wines are cultivated are so steep that the use of machines is hardly ever possible and the wine growers do the work laboriously by hand.

So here we are for a week. The other couples (bar one lot who are coming tomorrow) have arrived. The apartment is great with 5 bedrooms distributed over 5 floors - so there are lots of stairs. But there is a big kitchen/eating area, a well-equipped laundry (yay!) and a nice living area. We are located right in the centre of town.

Zell is super pretty and  we have views over the Moselle.

Monday 17 June

We had a sleep-in and after a visit to the metzgerei (deli/butcher) and a grocer and  the backerei (bakery) - all close by within 100 m or so - we (MF, Harry and me) set off on our bikes to explore and we did a nice circuit through vineyards to Reil where we had a coffee (My Friend had a beer!), onto Traben-Trarbach where we crossed the river and then cycled back via Enkirch with its pretty half-timbered houses (where we had our picnic lunch in a park by the river) and past the pretty town of Pünderich.

From here were good views of the 786 m- long Pünderich Hangviadukt (the longest viaduct in Germany) and its 92 arches. Photo by Harry Harper.

Yes, we finally have the chance to relax. The weather is great - hot even! And the Moselle is gorgeous. Pretty villages every 10 mins or so by bike. Lots of places to stop and have a coffee (or a beer if you are My Friend!). Plenty to do. But also the place we have rented is great. Two living areas so you can get away like I have now and we are overlooking the river - amazing! So we are able to relax.

This is the Black Cat wine town - and I had a lovely glass of riesling at the little wine cellar across the cobble-stoned street from our apartment - just delicious and only €2.50 a glass!!

Tuesday 18 June

We got up early as the forecast was for another hot day and we planned a longer ride. We left before 8 a.m. and rode to Bullay to catch a train to Traben-Trarbach - over the viaduct we had seen yesterday.

We spent some time in Traben-Trarbach as it is quite stately with its Belle Epoch style villas. There was also a glockenspiel here.

We saw this sign on the bridge as we crossed over the river. It quite amused us.

Following the river, we had a lovely ride to Bernkastel-Kues which was busy with tourists. We had a coffee here and then continued to Neumagen-Dhron.

This really is a fascinating town. 

The village was first established as a Celtic settlement; then Constantine I had a huge fort built here to protect the shipping traffic on the Moselle and the Ausonius Way, a major trade route. Archeologists discovered the gravestone of a Roman wine trader dating back to 220 AD in Neumagen-Dhron, and the village has therefore been named the oldest wine-growing centre in Germany. It is also the place where the Neumagen Wine Ship (Neumagener Weinschiff), a ship carved out of stone and now in the Rhenish State Museum in Trier, was unearthed.

It was by now incredibly hot. I think we had ridden about 50 kms. We ate our picnic lunch and bought water from a supermarket we were lucky to find.

The plan was to take the RegioRadler bike-bus service back to Zell. This is a bus that tows a trailer for the bikes and picks up all along the Moselle at the various towns. We were certainly grateful for it today as it was soooo hot.

Wednesday 19 June

Today we had a sleep-in and set off about 10 a.m. to explore a route to Bad Bertrich, a spa town.

Again it was hot.

We crossed the bridge, taking note this time of the "Radfahrer absteigen" sign ("Cyclists dismount"). It can be helpful to know these things!

We rode to Alf, a town opposite Bullay which is where the bahnhof ("station") is. At Alf, we were rather amused by the 'spitting statue'. I was admiring the statue of a man on the bridge looking into a stream when suddenly there was a plop in the water. I thought a bird had flown overhead but then it happened again and I knew there was no bird. Couldn't work out what it was until I realised the statue was spitting into the water!

The route to Bad Bertrich went along a cycle path to start and  then became an unsealed walking track which was rough in places but followed an attractive stream. We came upon a sign to Burg Arras and, as we hadn't yet "done" a burg ("castle"), decided to go up the 1.3 kms to check it out. Mind you, it was pretty hot by this stage but the road up was shaded by trees.

It was quickly apparent that it was pretty steep so we ended up pushing the bikes and walking. My Friend wasn't happy but this burg turned out to be the only burg along the Moselle with a hotel so he was satisfied by a LARGE beer when we reached the top. I enjoyed a coffee sitting in the small garden while he amused himself with a tour that included a dungeon - "pretty corny" he said but he seemed to enjoy it.

We had a steep descent with the brakes at full stretch and ran out of bike path soon after reaching the bottom so had to go the remainder of the way on the road until just before Bad Bertrich where there was a pretty trail along the stream.

Bad Bertrich is a pretty smart-looking town. We cycled through the cobble-stoned main street and saw the building of the Vulkaneifel thermal spa ahead. On a whim, we decided to go in. We didn't have swimmers but were inventive with our undies. We had a lovely 2 hours of swimming around, cooling off, lying on deck chairs, and letting jets of water pound our muscles.

We returned to our bikes "locked up" outside fearful that they might have been knocked off but our trusty steeds were still there - a possible miracle given My Friend had carefully left the keys to the lock hanging by the lanyard on the handlebars!

And then zinnnnged back along the road afterwards to return to Zell.

Thursday 20 June

We awoke to a huge thunderstorm with drains gushing water into the river and sirens sounding as service vehicles bustled about dealing with the deluge.

Some of the shops were flooded and after the morning rain, carpets were laid out in the street to dry in the sun and big hoses pumped water out of the basements and street-level rooms of buildings.

We had a relaxing morning catching up on this and  that; then went out in the sunshine to wander around. We walked the length of the town: first towards Bullay then the other way towards Trier. At this end is an enormous statue of a black cat on a wine barrel.

We then went to the Bremm wine outlet and did some wine tasting ably assisted by a young man who has worked in a winery in NZ. He was most informative. The rieslings in this area are excellent.

Friday 21 June

We went to Trier today. We caught the train early after taking a bus into Bullay to the station. It was about a half hour train trip.

Trier is the oldest town in Germany. It was founded in 16 B.C. by the Roman emperor Augustus. It was the main centre of Christianity north of the Alps. And at various times it was caught in a tug-of-war between French and German forces, sometimes being French and sometimes being German. Also Karl Marx was born here in 1818.

Eight of us had come to Trier and were standing at the Porta Nigra (Trier’s landmark “black gate” is the only one of the original four city gates still standing) bemused that this could once have been a church when we were approached by a man who went onto explain how this was so. 

Once he had our undivided attention, he explained that he was a city guide (obviously freelancing!) so we negotiated a rate and took him on for a couple of hours to show us the sights. Turned out his main job is as an historian at the university and he proved to be most informative and entertaining.

He pointed out the Dreikönigenhaus: The House of the Three Magi with its unusual Moorish design. We walked through the colourful and the busy Hauptmarkt. And we visited the fascinating UNESCO World Heritage Sites of the Dom and the Constantine Basilica.

All in all, a great tour! And still we had not seen it all!

We split up into smaller groups to do whatever we pleased and  met back at the station just after 4 p.m. to return to Zell.

Saturday 22 June

This is our last day in Zell - and  in Germany! - as tomorrow we leave: some of us go to Nancy (in France); Anne and Peter to Prague.

It was a strange day. My Friend and I decided to walk up to the Collis Tower (built in 1906) which is high up on the hill overlooking the town. We thought we might go for a final bike ride later on.

The walk took us up past the Square Tower, a former town fortification, and then we climbed very steeply a trail to the Collis Tower where we had amazing views over the town, down the valley along the river, over to Burg Arras and we could even see the Pünderich viaduct in the distance.

When we arrived back for a late breakfast, we discussed departure plans for tomorrow and  a check of the train timetable on the internet revealed that the timetable was different from our tickets.

It appears that the storm of Thursday has caused damage to the track which now requires attention so the train has been replaced by a bus to Wittlich (thence train to Trier). A newspaper we find on our train later has photos of floods in Koblenz. Not only does this turn of events play havoc with our plan to return the bikes to Trier in the morning but it also jeopardizes nearly everyone's connections for ongoing travel.

Frantic re-planning ensues and My Friend and I decided to take the bikes back today and share a taxi in the morning to Wittlich so that we can make the train to Trier and thence to Nancy. Lucky for us, the tourist office is literally just across the road from our apartment as we make many visits there to book taxis and check information.

In fact this plan has two advantages for us. It takes the pressure off returning the bikes in the morning when our transfer time at Trier was tight anyway AND we get the chance to finish off touring Trier.

So at about 12.30 we head to Bullay by bike, catch the train to Trier where the guys at the bike rental shop at the bahnhof efficiently remove the pedals and bike seats that belong to us, return our deposit and it is all done in an amazing 5 minutes.

We head off to sight-see and visit the Imperial Roman baths (Kaiserthermen), the Amphitheater built in the 2nd century A.D., stroll through the Palace Gardens and have a late lunch outside at the cafe there, then a short visit to the absolutely amazing Rheinisches Landesmuseum with its huge number of exhibits of Roman artefacts.

We raced back to the station and were 'home' back in Zell by about 6.30 p.m.

Time to pack. Ugh!!!

Neckar Barge/Cycle Tour

Saturday 8 June (cont'd)

So it is Saturday afternoon here - very hot! Can you believe it? I think it would probably be 30 deg C or so.

We have been wondering whether or not our barge would arrived due to the floods here in Europe but it has - just now. So we will put our stuff on board in about an hour or so and then not have to worry about luggage (hopefully) for a week.

Our plan B today was that if buses arrived to take us upstream, that we would put our stuff on board and ride - very pleased not to have to do that. The rumour was that it might be Heidelberg which would have been 80 kms.

Anyway, in the meantime, we relax. There is a Medieval festival here this weekend so there is plenty happening.

We had a walking tour with a guide this morning around the Old Town for about 1.5 hours. Some interesting history as well as opportunities to top up on photos!

Overlooking the River Neckar, the small fortified town of Bad Wimpfen was the imperial residence of the Staufians (a dynasty of Germanic Kings) in the 13th century. There have been settlements here since the Celts (at least 5th century BC) but it is during the Roman invasion that the area became a real city. During the second half of the 1st century AD, after defeating the Gauls, the Romans arrived and they created the German line (a frontier between them and the German tribes). After the destruction of the roman city, the Francs took over. Little is known of this period, only that they probably brought Christianity under the ruling of the Bishop of Worms.

.......

We boarded barge as scheduled about 4 p.m.; there was a welcome cake and coffee and sekt; then a briefing at 5 p.m. (exactly - German time!); followed by dinner at 6 p.m. which was surprisingly good along with decent wine.

It appears the captain has sailed from Mainz overnight to get here! They have been ‘holed up’ in Mainz for 5 days due to the floods - not allowed to sail and photos they showed of the huge pieces of debris explain why. Anyway, clearly the captain is a champion.

After dinner we wandered back into Bad Wimpfen to partake of the Medieval festivities and the streets were crowded with locals having fun in processions, street theatre, dancing, singing, eating (and despite having had dinner, some of us had MORE!) - and drinking. We particularly enjoyed the singing of a group of choirs. 

We returned to the barge for our first night on board.

Sunday 9 June

Slept in a bit today. But got to breakfast on time - pretty busy with 60 people descending at once! Hard to cope with ...

And guess what? It was raining! And got wetter right up until we left a bit before 10 a.m. (we delayed leaving hoping the rain would ease...); not a good start especially for those not used to riding and those just starting their holiday (us "old hands" are used to this weather by now).

We decided to go; and at 5 kms pulled up for a coffee; by the time we had finished, the rain had eased and before long it was clearing. By midday, the sun was coming out and this afternoon it is actually quite hot!

It was very pleasant riding; there were several castles up high that we bypassed; we crossed locks and bridges; stopped again for coffee and cake (which I MUST stop eating!); a few ups and downs.

We arrived in the very attractive town of Eberbach after about 35 kms of riding (and where the barge is moored for the night) and had a couple of drinks before arriving at the barge for coffee and (dare I say it?!) cake; hot shower; then a walk around town before dinner.

Monday 10 June

Rain again ...

Rode 40 kms today to Heidelberg. Slushed around in the wet and,  in places, the mud. First town along the way was Hirschorn which was very pretty. We had coffee (a nice one for a change!) and - despite my best intentions - cake: apfelstrudel (and icecream! but no cream ...) which I'm glad I did because I think it was the best applestrudel I've ever had!

The rain eased; and then it started again. It wasn't drenching - more a wetness which lasted on and off all day. Second town was Neckarsteinach with its 4 castles (I only remember seeing 3).

There was some nice riding until Neckargemund and then some tedious riding the remainder of the way close to a busy road to the city of Heidelberg with its big university student population.

After a cold (!) shower, we walked into the old town to the 2 main churches: the Church of the Holy Ghost and the so-called white church.

A 1.5 hour guided city walking tour followed and we got to see the Heidelberg Schloss and the Pharmacy Museum. Our guide was a retired attorney with a mind like a steel-trap. His English was excellent and he was very entertaining - quite a performer (in fact I would say he ‘had tickets on himself ‘ I rather thought).

Heidelberg escaped bombing by the US in WW2 primarily because it wasn't an industrial centre, unlike Mannheim further downstream (through which we ride tomorrow).

Dinner followed and then a walk through the Old Town along the 1.6 km pedestrian-only area, the longest in Europe. Have retired to bed with quite tired legs.

Apparently the plans for tomorrow require alteration due to significant flooding in the area.

Tuesday 11 June

Well, we awoke to rain. To be quite honest, I was secretly pleased and hoped it wouldn't stop; my knees are achey and I felt I could justify a day on-board - reading, blogging, chatting, cups of tea - and just generally ‘catching up’.

But guess what? The bloody rain stopped! Arrgh! So off we set: about 40 intrepid souls, following Gottfried the tour guide like a long multi-coloured snake meandering along the bike trail paralleling the Neckar River through the streets of Heidelberg, miraculously avoiding knocking over any other trail users and emerging out the other side of the city heading towards Worms (pronounced "Vurrrrms") - the oldest city in Germany.

On we meandered, chatting happily with regular interjections of "bike up", "jogger up", "walker up", "car right", and (less frequently thankfully) "truck back", etc.

We cycled into the village of Ladenburg along its cobble-stoned streets into the marktplatz where a :) :) market was in full swing - lovely produce: spargel (white asparagus which is in season now), strawberries (of which several punnets were purchased and shared around), beautiful fresh rhubarb, capsicums, etc. We grabbed a coffee & some very yummy pastries from a backerei.

Sun is out.

We took a ferry across the river from here and cycled on to Mannheim where there were many birds wading along the swollen river banks - storks, ibis, geese, ducks, etc. We navigated Mannheim very efficiently with the volunteers on "point duty" and the back "sweeper" making sure no-one got lost and Gottfried plugging along up front ensuring we were on the right track.

From here the Neckar becomes the Rhine which is indeed a mighty river. We twisted and turned through industrial areas, up over bridges, down spiral stairways, past railway tracks, along potholed bike tracks, splashed through water, rode along dykes & sprinted along concrete past spargel farms busy with workers picking.

Sun is well and truly out now - even hot!

A few "truck back" calls and around 2 p.m. we saw the Nibelungen Gate soaring ahead: the entry to the City of Worms on the other side of the bridge over the Rhine River. "Nibelungen" is the Germanic name for the royal family or lineage of the Burgundians who settled in the early 5th century at Worms.

A great day's riding.

Our barge M.S. Patria was moored just downstream of the bridge with the water racing by (200,000 cu m per second My Friend tells me).

Some of us pulled into the bar just before boarding to have a beer; for some of us girls: a delicious sekt.

Worms is famous for the Diet of Worms, to which Martin Luther was summoned in 1521 to Emperor Charles V. He refused to recant his beliefs, saying the famous words "Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen".

Everything in Worms revolves around the famous saga of dragon-slayer Siegfried. There are numerous colourfully-painted dragon sculptures throughout the city.

We had a nice hot shower, ate our lunch and then MF and I walked into town to the Worms Cathedral (interesting for its Catholic altar - very ornate and golden - at one end; and the much plainer Protestant altar at the other); also the interesting and tranquil Jewish Cemetery which is the oldest in Europe; and a longer walk along the Ringstrasse, passing the main shopping area and crossing the city to the very Gothic Liebfrauenkirche (a very important pilgrim church) set in a vineyard and, today, the afternoon sun drenching the side aisles through the stained-glass windows.

Tired feet took us back to the bar near the boat for another beer and sekt, shortly followed by dinner onboard: another good meal and lots of chat. We retrieved our washing which had been drying in the sun on the top deck, and were off to bed! Tired!

About 50 kms riding today.

Wednesday 12 June

Peeled the eyes open. Not raining yet ...

We cycle a detour again today due to the building of a dam - to Nierstein, about 37 kms.

......

Didn't take very long - within half an hour the sun was out and we had some nice cycling with fields on either side: swathes of green interspersed with red poppies, some other purple flowers, spargel (asparagus), and the still-swollen Rhine with picnic seats almost completely covered by water.

Mishap with one of the riders at a bollard in the centre of the track. Andrew had to attend injured rider and a local woman out walking her dog (and as it turned out had studied Marine Biology in Brisbane for a year!) kindly drove Anne to a nearby hospital.

A further incident involving a mis-navigation which had a number of riders on a road with speeding vehicles did not make for a happy day overall. We stopped at Oppenheim and enjoyed a very nice glass of the local Riesling. Also wasted our money on a tour of the supposedly interesting "cellar labyrinth" under the old town.

Arrived into Nierstein about 3.30 p.m. For coffee and - yep! - cake. Raced to get ready for an outing to a local vineyard. "Dinner" was included - the tour was fun but the food was bloody awful. Views of Nierstein were great though.

We hadn't had lunch, so we needed a real meal. We set off to find somewhere else to eat.

We had a wonderful meal at a great restaurant opposite the boat - a lovely pasta and some lovely Rieslings. The wine list even had wines dating back to 1921! - for 7500 €!! (no, we did not have this one). The perfect antidote to a trying day.

Paul R. especially loved the Trockenbeerenauslese 1992. Back on board, after showing off the prized bottle (empty!), we watched in amazement when the captain chucked the empty bottle into the river!!!

Thursday 13 June

Sunny before breakfast - a first!

Only a short ride today into Mainz. I'm sure there are longer options but I will take the easiest option. Looks like a few are interested in going back to Oppenheim and also to have a bit more of a look around here in Nierstein too. So that looks like a plan.

Absolutely great day. We rode back to Oppenheim and the St Catherine's Church at the top of the hill in the old town really was amazing. I know we have seen lots of churches but the stained glass here really was special. Interestingly, Albert Schweitzer played the organ at this church a number of times in order to raise money for his hospital. Apparently he was an accomplished organist.

Had a coffee at the cafe where we had the lovely reisling yesterday (cafe run by Italians so actually got a good coffee).

Returned to Nierstein and had a nice run into Mainz via the vineyards and good bike paths (after working out a detour due to horst wasser - "high water"). Lovely day. Lots of sun and good fun.

After nice hot chips and bratwurst at the biergarten where we watched our barge moor, we had a cool shower and then walked into town to see the sights of Mainz.

A bit about Mainz: The Franks united the Celtic and Germanic tribes of Europe. The greatest Frank of all was Charlemagne (768–814), who built a new empire in Europe, the Holy Roman Empire. Mainz from its central location became important to the empire and to Christianity. The first books printed using movable type were manufactured in Mainz by Gutenberg in the early 1450s. During World War II, more than 30 air raids destroyed about 80 percent of the city's centre, including most of the historic buildings.

The highlight really was the Church of St Stephan with the Marc Chagall windows. Absolutely breath-taking. The Mainz Cathedral was immense but not a patch on the beauty of the windows in St Stephan's which were designed by the Russian Jewish artist to facilitate Jewish and Christian reconciliation.

We also visited the Gutenberg Museum which had an original Gutenberg Bible amongst many other printed books from the 15th century and later.

Overall, Mainz had a good vibe. A long cobble-stoned pedestrian mall with lots of nice shops and delightful fountains & sculptures and an immense Marktplatz. Lots going on.

No cake today.

Friday 14 June

The sun is out. Today is the last day of the Neckar Barge/Cycle Tour. We ride about 40 kms to Bingen and then the barge takes us to Koblenz where we spend our last night on board.

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The ride today had several detours required because of water over the trail. But there was some lovely scenery!

We had a very nice morning tea in an area renown for its champagne houses. There was some pretty riding although a fair bit of traffic and we were no longer on bike trails due to the high water.

One of the detours was through a small town to avoid the busy road (!) but the bike trail we picked up had a big orange truck parked midway around which we could not pass so we had to climb up into the vineyard adjacent to the track to avoid the truck (which was pumping water out of the yards of nearby homes).

We had a human chain of arms pushing bikes up the embankment, others pulling the bikes from the top of the embankment and others helping riders up - all to be repeated at the other end of the truck blockage, this time helping to lift bikes and riders back down onto the path.

At times, where the bike path was not under water, there was lots of debris: stones, weed, big logs.

Sometimes a large shipping vessel would sail past and the water would wash across the path.

At Rudesheim, we crossed the river on a large ferry with other vehicles including a huge tractor and made it to the boat with just 10 minutes to spare for the 1 p.m. departure to Koblenz.

We sailed along the Rhine marvelling at all the castles on the hills that stretch steeply up from the river and the pretty, coloured river-side towns.

At Koblenz, we appreciated the skills of the captain and crew as they carefully docked the barge in tricky conditions owing to the high water. We are now on the Moselle River. The Captain rounded the Deutsches Eck and so we have left the Rhine.

We wandered through town; visited the Liebfrauenkirche church; admired the St Kastor church which dates back to 1200 but was destroyed in World War II (and its pretty garden); and walked to the point where the Rhine & Moselle Rivers meet: this confluence is known as the Deutsches Eck and is marked by a park and a gigantic statue. There was a beer festival being held here for the weekend also.

It was the Captain's Dinner tonight and the cook continued his good reputation with a lovely dinner. Afterwards, one of our fellow travellers, Annie, entertained us with many songs and we had a great night singing, dancing and laughing. What a great voice!

She even managed to get the Captain (who has taken up the moniker 'The Grey Wolf') up for a dance or two! What a delightful fellow! And it was a beautiful sunset - a magnificent blue sky with pink clouds - at 10 p.m.!!

A few of us walked down (after all of this!) to the beer festival. I went back earlier. Am over it! Off to bed for me ...

In the morning we will set off once more - but back on our own - on our fully-laden bikes to cycle to Cochem upstream on the Moselle River; then to Bullay where we are sharing a house with others for a week.