Day 3: Freiburg to France’s Vosges mountains
Another early start, powered by heaps of muesli and yogurt. Today had the largest agenda of any day in the entire trip, so I was eager to get moving. The first challenge was getting out of Freiburg in the correct direction. It’s much easier to find the way to a city’s center than it is to find the way out of it. Eventually I got on the correct path through the correct vineyards and crossed the Rhein for the last time and entered France. In all the border crossing between Switzerland, Germany, and France I haven’t seen a single customs officer in the booths — just roll on through, kein Problem.
The next challenge was to get the hang of the French bicycle path style. It wasn’t nearly as well signed and segregated as Germany, but it was still a big improvement over what Americans deal with when they’re bicycling. Eventually I got into the beautifully restored old town inside Colmar and after some struggling, found the Orange mobile phone shop where I bought a prepaid SIM card. Unfortunately, I forgot to unlock my phone before leaving - so it will be a while yet until I can connect properly. The Orange shop was in the same square as a cathedral that was 800 years old, and had more patrons.
On the road again, heading towards the ancient town of Riquewihr, renowned for the good fortune of having only 2 bombs dropped on it during the world wars. The road into the town was beatiful, up into vineyards.
And the town itself is gorgeous, with narrow, crooked streets and charm dripping off the buildings. And it was overrun by geriatric German tourists — I suppose they wanted to see what they didn’t destroy?
Thinking ahead to the afternoon’s climb I ordered a huge lunch and it was superb, a kind of 3-meat and potatoes stew washed down with a glass of local wine. $25 is a good deal for that feast, thanks weak Euro!
After lunch, the climbing began. I took a route that avoided backtracking and ended up climbing quite a bit more that I’d expected. It was through the forest and as pretty as anything I’ve seen in Marin county - and it reminded me of the climb from Alpine Lake to Ridgecrest road. With my 20kilo 12kilo load I walked quite a bit of it. No matter, the sun was still high in the sky and I knew where I was on the map. And I knew I needed to find some food for dinner to bring to my destination, the Nature Friends refuge just over the Col du Bonhomme.
What luck! Along my roundabout route, there was a storybook cheese shop. It was about 1km along a side road up a hill, and worth the effort. I was greeted by a nice old lady and her pet dog and piglet. We chatted for a bit — I’m only barely capable with French, so old ladies are the best bet at the moment — and I got some cheese that was produced quite close to her house. This is what bicycle touring is all about!
At last it was time to start climbing up the Col du Bonhomme, which I believe has been part of the Tour de France in the past. With my tired legs, it felt like quite a long grind indeed. Fortunately I found a patisserie that was still open and got some bread. And for tonight’s dessert I stopped by a distillery and got a few small bottles of eau de vie. Dinner was shaping up nicely! But the hill still took a long time, about 15 km of consistent grinding in my lowest gear, and with trucks and cars whizzing by. Ugh. The summit was a welcome sight. I was getting low on fuel and water, so this was my best victory pose.
It was time to find my home for the night. I had sent a message inquiring about the Nature Friends’ chalet just beyond the Col, but hadn’t got a response. And sure enough, it was closed and locked tight. And with the sun starting to drop low, I needed to find a plan B ASAP, and was getting concerned about what a plan C might be. At times like this, it’s best to trust France. After continuing downhill for another 5 minutes I saw signs for an Auberge (restaurant+hotel) set back from the main road and checked it out. The sign on the door said they were closed for the 3 days including today, but the proprietress said that was only the restaurant, and set me up with a room. Success! And then I got to eat the best TV dinner of my life, featuring French blooper videos, 3 cheeses (Bargkass, Randonneur, Munster), bread, a big beer, 2 eau de vie (gewurtztraminer and old prune flavors). Big portions for a big day - hard to believe all of that fit into 12 hours of living! And now is the right time to plan tomorrow’s route - which will open up Michelin map #2 of 4.
(today was 100km of bicycling)
