AND ON TO SWITZERLAND

We had a very strange day when we arrived at the Swiss border!  We were travelling from France into Germany with Switzerland over the river, where we went and had a beer in an Irish pub!!!

We camped on the German side of the river though, as we had been warned that everything in Switzerland is expensive!!

We decided to head towards Zurich on the German side of the river to start, and found this rather unusual fence constructed of old bicycle parts....

And Dave was pulled up by the sight of this unusual boat - we ended up seeing quite a few along the river..

As we move from country to country, they all seem to have their own style of architecture.  Here is some high density housing Swiss style

As our cycle path meandered throughout the countryside we found ourselves on a tributary and were fascinated with this fish ladder that has been constructed...

All these sights are only possible because of the way we are travelling.  If we were in a car or even on the motor bike we would not be travelling along these   routes..  We are not into big cities and even though we have visited some, we find all this other stuff just so much more unique and love to share.
Like this beautiful  gate - what would we find inside??

Well there was this nest - what a great place........

And it's always a suprise when you see inside...

And in the little larger towns there always seem to be at least one church.......

A lot of these old cities and towns still have their original town walls and sometimes our cycle path ran alongside these walls..

We eventually had to cross the border again and head for Zurich!!

And the Swiss cycle paths were just a pleasure - just wish we had more at home!!

As with every country we found a new house design to record.

Dave sometimes stops when I cannot see anything obvious to photograph but he does have an eye for the unusual - -  how about this giant slug!!

We did have to share the roads at times in Switzerland, but at least there were on road cycle ways...

And it was here that we came across our first cycle road on a bridge which is actually under the road .......this was also where Dave was getting creative with some self photography - - - on the move - - 

Well you can see a bit of him!!

Dave has navigated us all over Europe - and I for one am very happy that he has taken on the job.  You can turn me round twice and I have no idea where I am....

And again he has put us on the right track......

So its into the city we go which is where I will continue from next time - - - - 

....

BACK TO FRANCE

As we continue down the Rhine our path takes us back into France as the borders change.  We also traverse along offshoots to the river which are often an adventure in themselves.
This particular little offshoot came up with something different in the form of lots and lots of little fishing shacks.  We didn't actually see anyone fishing from the shacks but there were a couple with cars parked nearby - Dave recons that they would be a good place to escape the missus and  for a camp!!

 The weather has really been very kind to us since we crossed the channel, but it does get cold here - a testament to it follows......They are either expecting a very cold winter or he is a firewood seller - the latter we hope.....Firewood as far as the eye can see!

The suprising thing about travelling slowly or comparatively so, on a bicycle is that you really don't miss all that much.  We were lucky enough to catch an impromptu motorcross show one day...

One thing you don't have to wonder about with these old houses in France - is how they're framed up - it's all there to see!

And for a different take on the same theme....

one of our many dilemmas - which way??? 

It will be an added dilemma for the locals when they see the added sticker at the bottom....GCCC???

And another odd thing we come  across are weird garden ornaments - this one really deserved a mention though!!!

As we continue down the Rhine towards Switzerland and venture off the river, we are still amazed at the quality of  some of the cycle paths, especially like this...

The water always has had a fascination for us and we were pretty suprised at how clear the water was down the Rhine and flowing from of the smaller tributaries.  We often stopped just to watch the movement of the reeds as they waved with the current flowing through.....

 So many of the French towns we rode through could have been ghost towns they were so quiet.  Someone did tell us that France basically closes for August and everyone goes on holidays. We could quite easily believe this!! As we rode through these small French towns we did see many beautiful gardens -

there were so many camping places that we stayed at along the Rhine - it was a pleaseure to wake up to a different view each morning - this was just another rather peaceful camp....

Every so often we have come across these strange little erections on the side of the road.  Most are pretty much similar and when we stopped to take a look we found that they are bug hotels.......

Some days we began to feel like the Children of the Corn...as we rode through corn fields for mile after mile, day after day.....

And there was no escape as we looked in all directions......

But there was the ever present Jesus Statue to watch over us and the corn.......

But in case you all think we are having a wonderful time - - there is still the work to be done -

and I am keeping busy as well..

It's a hard life but someone has to do it........ Otherwise how would we all find out what is inside  those walls???

Or show you one of the most unusual log cabins  that we have ever seen......

But one job that will not wait any longer.............guess...........

Catch you soon with another load -

of pics and news - not washing!!!!!!!

Oroo

RIDING AND MUSING..........

We left Koblenz after our rest day, but it ended up not being so great for Dave, as his back was again playing up!  We rode for a while then eventually at one town i checked with the Tourist Information and they actually phoned ahead and booked him in at the next town 7k's away.  Great!! Only problem was we had 20 mins to make the appointment!!

(Thought I'd throw in this great castle pic to keep you interested!!!

As we started to make haste out of that town, we heard an unmistakable accent - our first Aussie since Ireland!!!   He was heading in the opposite direction and all we could do was that Dave called back 'ON YA DIGGA!"  and we just had to keep riding.  It was so hard to do!!
Anyway we made the appointment (in time) and ended up staying the night in the town so Dave could have another manipulation next morning.  I'm still not convinced how much it was needed, but he said the young German girl knew her stuff!!!!

Back to our travels and although we spend a bit of time near the river, we often detour through wonderful little towns on the way...this is typical of some of the streets we venture through...

I guess they have similar problems in every country with Dogs, or rather their droppings and every country has their own unique signage...

As we ride along the Rhine valley where the terrain gets quite steep we are amazed at the almost vertical farming that is going on!  How they ever manage to get vehicles up those slopes defies gravity!!

And of course the ever present castles.  We lost count of how many we saw, and i'm sure there are heaps more.......Gentry had a fine life back in the day!!!

There were also some unusual designs in the more recent, and lesser grand constructions, but nevertheless very unique.

 This next one took my fancy as it was so unusual.  Dave did not take this picture (he does most of the photography) - you will see that I managed to cut off the top of this - The worlds\'s largest hand carved operational Cuckoo Clock- hanging outside a shop which sells - wait for it - Cuckoo Clocks!!! - nothing else.

Even the train tunnel's here have their own special flair!

When we were planning this trip, specifically the legs along rivers and canals, I envisaged days of leisurely riding on paved paths beside the water - in reality this is not so and the deviations away from the water are actually quite prevalent, but that is not an issue when you come across this -

And they really love their flower boxes over here!  I just wonder what all these places look like in the dead of winter when it's just too cold for anything?  Maybe that's why they take all the colour they can get while its warm.

And yet again some more incredible vertical farming!!!  It's a wonder we get anywhere with all the stops we make, it's really a great way to really absorb all that is around you!!!

And would you believe what I found on the banks of the Rhine????  i like to call them Rhine style Beach huts!!!   They are actually a cross between a beach hut and a garden allotment!  there are heaps of them!  It seems like they cannot have an actual dwelling on the lot but they have almost everything else - on about 800 sq metres, a shed, garden, furniture, ornaments, and some even have hedges and fences - amazing....
this one was a bit different - not the typical German theme -

Dave also managed to find some really good rest stops for lunch most days.. this one had an excellent view but I thought I'd give you a shot from the other side....

Dave has developed quite a liking for the German Beer - suprise suprise!!  and he said to me one afternoon that he would have to remember that one so I suggested he take a photo reminder - - wonder if we can get this in Aus??

And we finally met up with some Aussies along the way in a free camp ground!  It was next to a canoe club or something similar and there were only public amenities - cold water only!!!   I just want to point out that I was the ONLY one brave enough to take a cold shower in the morning!!!!!  But we hope to catch up with these guys in the future!!!

For some reason Dave seems to attract different people!!  We like to try and set up camp before 5pm each day to give ourselves a bit of daylight to relax in.
At one camp we did that and sat down in our new chairs ( more on them later)  and not long after, a little girl - about 5 just stood about 5 feet away and stared at him!  A few minutes later she left.
then she returned shortly after with another little girl about the same age.  they just stood there, saying nothing and staring at Dave.
Next they brought along what we guessed was an older brother.  And pretty soon after a woman who seemed to be looking for the kids came and spoke to them, - she laughed and then turned to us and said " they think you look like christmas!"   And she chased them off to their own place.
Not long after all the kids came back and the girls asked the boy something - he would have been about 12 and his answer was "No that is Christmas Voman!"  So I even go a mention!!!
The kids dad Rene came over later with some offerings in the form of some sort of potent little bottles and some German Beer.  We had some great conversations considering he had no English and we had no German, but a goodtime was had by all.  Good on you Rene!!!

Some days our bicycle paths seem to go on forever.....

And the signs we encounter are very suspect if you look at them with an english  language point of view - which of course is all we can do as unlike most Europeans who can speak more than one language - we are definately UNI lingual.  But these signs??????

Not something I think one needs to advertise!!!!

and.......schaftlicher?????   WTF??

I leave you with this very interesting shot of a necessary function - even when you are on holidays!!!!!

 Well sometimes you just gotta get the washing done!!!!
Till next time
Adios - or rather wiedersehen!!!