Ferry

Friday saw us catching the 0900 cruise ferry to Linz, and very nice it was too with most of the lower deck being an expensive looking restaurant. The views from the top deck were fantastic as the river wound its way through a range of steep sided wooded hills...hot though at about 36 but an easier alternative to cycling in that temperature. At just over £20 each for the 5 he trip it was great value too.

Linz has an attractive city centre and was worth a look before cycling a few k east to it's campsite. Like Germany the Austrian sites are reasonable but not a patch on France in frequency or quality.

SATURDAY

Big change in weather today...cloudy and cool with torrential rain, wind and thunderstorms in the evening. Stopped in a small town called Ybbs on the side of the Danube. Zimmer for £21 each including breakfast and glad not to be camping in all that rain. Cycle facilities, tracks, signs and motorists don't seem anything like as good as Germany.

Its to be seen if our plastic money is accepted in Austria....many places in Germany refuse anything with Visa or MasterCard on it even debit or pre topped up Euro cards....so a pocket full of cash is essential! France was easy and was happy to relieve us of our cash by any means possible :-)

Oops

Although the predictive text on my phone may be rather astute we are are actually heading for Ulm not pulmanary...I hope!

Hundersingen and an undignified accident!

48 lovely miles of Danube...and no the folklore isn't true...like all rivers its a muddy green colour with not a trace of blue! Anyway it was all traffic free trails through a gorge with cliff top forts at intervals...fantastic and as usual great on a bike.

We know we are heading for Pulmonary and then Passau but as we haven't found any German maps yet we feel a little vague on where we are in relation to the rest of Europe!

Close to the end of the day I was stopped at a junction one foot down waiting for Carol (not unusual) when I was suddenly hit from behind and pinned to the ground by an ample (in all the wrong places or I mightn't have cared) 20 stone German woman. I still astride my bike and totally unable to move and her and her bike on top of me....The lady being angled down from the pavement couldn't move either but fortunately several of her friends risked hernia and serious back trauma and pulled her free!! Much to Carol's amusement apparently. Luck has it that no serious damage was done...although its likely I will need counseling!!

Watershed

Started the day with a pleasant track along the shore of Lake Constance...very nice and busy with day Tripper cyclists. After Radolfzell we missed some signs so had a somewhat Bitty route north having to consult our map continuously ....ended with some lovely riding through hills and forests to summit at the Rhine Danube watershed...that's what we assume the sign says anyway...and it was high up. The sign suggests 862m which is a bit of a slog in the heat as some parts were a first gear grind.

Constance is just about visable in the background.

No campsites for miles so booked into a small hotel in Tuttingen just a stones throw from the Danube....which we haven't seen yet!

At least tonight we should relief from the relentless mosquito bites!!

Clerval. 800 miles.

The last couple of days have largely followed the Doubs river which is a delight between steeply wooded hills. Last night stopped at Oselle by a small lake...not bad but only cold showers brrr.

Today though Besancon with its impressive hill top ramparts on through Baume les Dames.

I'm not too sure what the picture is of below...either an impressive boat (and crew) wash or maybe something of religious significance from the shrine above? :

Through Chalon to Pagny la Ville 50 miles

Better Weather :-)

Chalon was a city...enough said!

The campsite we were heading for turned out to be the campsite time forgot. A tiny private French camping club ground on the banks of the river Doubs. We spotted an unfortunately guy and attacked him with our best French...he seemed to take potty on two old people talking gibberish and agreed for us to stay. Despite being old everything was clean and tidy with a great rural landscape over the river.

I use 'Archie's Campings' to find sites downloaded from the web in Garmin or Tom Tom format....32000 sites accross Europe and never let me down over 4 years use...recommended, oh and free too.

Chagny. 53 miles. 653 total

After a nice day of rest in a municipal campsite at Volesvres yesterday we started off fresh and enthusiastic this morning...a fresh wind on our backs and the miles quickly rolled by....all of a sudden the temperature dropped to something marginally above absolute zero and the fresh wind quickened to strong and blustery blowing horizontal raindrops the size of small footballs...jumpers, and full waterproofs on including overshoes...and that was the pattern for the day!

Anyway and easy 50+ miles to a small town one has to be very careful with its pronunciation?

More canals and pleasant rolling hills.

Volesvres just east of Paray le Monial 600 miles

Last night a pleasant camping a la ferme at Gammay sur Loire. Much of yesterday and today on quiet lanes and alongside the Canal Lateral and Canal du Centre..very pleasant and leafy and most of the Loire cycle tourists have disappeared as have most of the EV6 signs. Our route has been made up often on rough tracks as the map well have doesn't discriminate between rough and tarmac!

Left the Loire today at Digoin so now turned NE towards Basel and Germany.

Another day of thundery torrential showers...but who's complainimg in the warm.

Thursday 4th. Fourchambault. 500 miles done

Just NW of Nevers. 53 miles today after a rather late 0930 start.

Martin...you have a good eye for a tent...yes its a Nalo...served well over a few years.

Some of the beds of wild flowers are fantastic...seen them all over France and the boxes of seeds in supermarkets..alas too big to bike home.

Carols sagging Brooks saddle called for a bike shop stop to borrow a spanner...can't imagine how it got so stretched!