Germany - France
June 2o24
A bicycle touring trip from Berlin to The Rhine, on to The Mosel / Moselle, and then along the Path of Peace.....
Berlin - Lutherstadt Wittenberg
12 June 2024
Another summer, another bike tour ! This time a trip across Germany from Berlin to the Rhine, then up the Rhine to Koblenz, where it joins the Mosel / Moselle. I will head west along the Mosel / Moselle in to France, perhaps even a bit of Luxembourg, and then when I get in the region of Verdun I will start heading north along the Path of Peace which follows the front line of the First World War, up towards the coast, breaking off to get to Dunkirk and the ferry home. ...READ MORE...
Lutherstadt Wittenberg - Bernberg (Saale) 13 June 2024
A short ride today. For a reason. I am to camp tonight, and I wanted to make sure that I got to the camping ground in Bernberg by mid-afternoon in order to get myself settled in, and if the weather proved to be inclement, then I still would have time to ditch the camping and find a hotel. The weather is fine, improving throughout the day, and so I am camping. The camping ground is ganz Deutsch, all organised and with all the facilities you could want - efficient check in girl, hot showers, super clean toilets, all the camper vans pointing in the same direction, a very nice eating place with good food and beer. And some sun. What more could a man want for 14 euro for the bit of ground on which my tent is pitched ?. READ MORE...
Bernberg (Saale) - Blankenberg 14 June 2024
A short ride again today, which was just as well because I’ve come in to the Harz mountains, which aren’t exactly what I would call mountains, but they still provide enough elevation for some tiring cycling. Especially when you are loaded with all your kit and caboodle...READ MORE...
Blankenberg - Einbeck
15 June 2024
When I looked out of the window this morning it was raining and blowing. The forecast said it would pass for 9 am, so I made plans accordingly, had breakfast and paced myself for a 9 am departure. The forecast was pretty much right. However, throughout the day the blustery wind was blowing, mostly to the side, but often enough in my face to make for a tiring ride. That and the Harz mountains, some of which I seem to have gone through, at least up until lunchtime. So, the morning was a slow business. Blankenberg is evidently a holiday resort for the mountains and walkers and trekkers. Very elegant in many ways, with large 19th century villas which double as guest houses. In spite of the wind and the rain the earnest German walkers were out and about with their poles. It looks like a serious, purposeful, business. READ MORE...
Einbeck - Kassel
16 June 2024
It’s Sunday in Germany, and everywhere is closed. Except petrol stations, where you can get some overpriced supplies, and coffee shops. My hotel did serve breakfast, which was very pleasant and afforded me the opportunity of making my lunchtime sandwiches. Their Ruhetag is Saturday, so not sure if they provide a breakfast on a Saturday. But they did on Sunday morning. Einbeck is a very pretty, timber-house, town. All very twee and Teutonic. Most of the towns I’ve been through seem to have kept a large part of their past reflected in the architecture. I went though Gottingen, which is a university town, but the university looked as though it was in need of much TLC. The route today was mostly up and down various ridges, with a blustery wind opposing me, so it was a pretty tough ride. What I saw of Kassel, where I was to spend the night, didn’t impress me too much, although maybe I didn’t see the old town. READ MORE....
Kassel - Kirchheim 17 June 2024
Today’s ride was pleasant, along a selection of rivers, first the Fulda out of Kassel, and then eventually the Eder. Where I am tonight, Kircheim, is on the Lahn. All these rivers provide ways through the various hills and mountains, and they pretty much all will have decent cycle paths along their banks. That’s what I was mostly on today. It was busy with other cyclists, lots of touring cyclists like me, of all ages, and on an array of bicycles, many of them electric assist. But, as I’ve said on many occasions before, for all their common sense and efficiency in so many other things, when it comes to bells on bikes, the Germans just do not get it. It is very rare that someone warns me that they are about the pass close and fast on their electric bike by ringing a bell so that I am alerted to their speedy presence READ MORE ....
Kirchheim - Marburg
18 June 2024
The camping last night was fine. The place had everything that I needed, all organised and clean. The food and drink was a bit basic, but I was glad of it. There was one other biker camper, very serious young man, who was in his tent early and left at first light. I did ask the rather jolly ho-ho German guy who ran the place if there was any coffee / breakfast available in the cafe in the morning, but sadly no. He told me that the place was run by him and his wife, and that he struggled to get people to work for him. What about the Syrians, I asked? Surely that’s why Merkel took them all in, as well as out of the goodness of her heart and to save them from the murderous clutches of Assad. Nope. They don’t want to work, he said. The State pays them and houses them. Why should they work ? Seems a bit odd to me. He seemed bemused it was so.READ MORE ....
Marburg - Limburg / Diez
19 June 2024
Famous last words. Rain and camping. Yep, it rained and thundered during the night. However, I am very impressed with my tent which didn’t let in a drop. It’s a Big Agnes. Not sure who or what she is, but they are based in Steamboat Springs Colorado. They make neat camping gear. The tent is small, just for one person, but the clincher is that it has poles which collapse to 112 inches, which are ideal for packing away in to a pannier. Small, compact and neat. The morning was damp, and packing up a wet tent isn’t much fun. The sky was grey and threatening, and throughout the day it drizzled and occasionally poured. But, I persevered. My route took me mostly along the Lahn all the way to Limburg, where I am tonight just a bit further on in Diez, in an AirBandB, which is a welcome respite from the rain of last night. And an opportunity to dry things out. READ MORE ....
Limburg / Diez - Mainz
20 June 2024
It was a short ride today. But, I didn’t take note that I was going to have to go up over the Taunus hills to get from the valley of the Lahn to the Rhine. The Taunus are not particularly high, but they are sharp, and I seemed to go up and down several times. So, miles wise it was a short ride, but it was a tough one. A good part of it through the Taunus and down was through woods, with lots of Germans out with their poles walking the tracks. READ MORE ....
Mainz - Koblenz
21 June 2024
It was a short ride today. But, I didn’t take note that I was going to have to go up over the Taunus hills to get from the valley of the Lahn to the Rhine. The Taunus are not particularly high, but they are sharp, and I seemed to go up and down several times. So, miles wise it was a short ride, but it was a tough one. A good part of it through the Taunus and down was through woods, with lots of Germans out with their poles walking the tracks. READ MORE ....
Koblenz - Krov
22 June 2024
As the crow flies, the distance from Koblenz to Krov can’t be more than 40 miles, but the Mosel / Moselle is a very meandering river, and there are lots of twists, turns and curves. I was following the bank, which meant I did a good 70 miles today. The Mosel / Moselle isn’t as big as the Rhine, and appears a lot calmer. It runs through its valley with steep granite slopes to each side, many of them terraced, where the vines are grown. The vines like the rocky soil, the minerals it gives, and the slopes which maximise the sun. The Romans planted their vineyards here when they came this way, heading in to Gaul / France. Asterix and all that stuff. The small towns are given over to wine tasting houses and tourism. Lots of people decant from the river cruise boats, which on the Mosel/Moselle are more in evidence than the cargo barges. It’s a very peaceful river. They could do with straightening it out, however, because I was endlessly curving back on myself as the river took all sorts of twists and turns !... READ MORE ....
Krov - Remich
23 June 2024
It’s Sunday in Germany, so everything is closed ! You have to plan ahead when on the road in Germany when it is a Sunday. Some petrol stations are open, and you can get bottles of water and essential supplies, so that is something. They take Ruhetag seriously here, as I’ve seen already.
Remich- Verdun
24 June 2024
A long and difficult ride today, pulling myself out of the Mosel / Moselle valley, which is quite steep, and up and over some ridges until I came to some upland flat, but only to have a final tough climb up to Verdun, where I am camping in a typically French campsite, where you can even order your fresh baguettes and croissants for the next morning. I got told off this morning for not having ordered my pain au chocolate last night. So, I’ve made sure to order two for tomorrow. I was reprimanded for not having booked a pitch with electric when I asked if there were any plugs. But, I think that has to do more with the bossy little chain smoking jobsworth at reception. He evidently likes catching people out and telling them off....READ MORE ....
Verdun Rest Day
25 June 2024
I had a rest day on Tuesday in Verdun, so that I could spend some time sorting out laundry and doing some bike bits, and generally resting up. The weather was glorious and camping out for a couple of nights was quite nice. The camp site was very French, most people in their camper vans, and taking pity on the poor man in a tent with a bike, bringing me beers and offering to charge up my devices from their electric connection. I’d already been told off for not having booked a pitch with electric yesterday when I enquired about availability of electric. I’m getting used to being told off as I travel around. Hotel people and campsite people seem to be bossy by nature in Germany and France. ....READ MORE ....
Verdun - Reims
26 June 2024
I was on the road this morning by 8:30 am, fortified by my double dip of pain au chocolate and cafe au lait, which I needed because I headed immediately in to some long climbs as I pulled myself out of the Meuse valley and over some ridges. That was the story for the morning, until I came to an upland plain. All along those ridges was evidence of the fortifications that were built for the battle at Verdun, and the Maginot Line of fortification which the French built after WW1 to defend against the Germans in the future. Except that in 1940, the Germans just outflanked them by going through Luxembourg and Holland and taking them from the rear. The ridges were clearly strategically important points. He who holds the high ground gets to win the battle. ....READ MORE ....
Reims - Amiens (Train)
27 June 2024
I’ve had a day on the French trains SNCF, from Reims to Amiens. The trains look very modern, even the local ones, which mostly I have to get because the TGV won’t take bicycles. So, my first leg was from Reims to Laon, with a 6 minute connection to another train on to Amiens. But, the Reims to Laon train was 40 minutes late, just stopping in the middle of nowhere, and various announcements made in rapid fire French that my schoolboy French couldn’t decipher, and a wait of about 20 minutes, before we trundled along slowly for another 20 minutes before picking up normal speed. Anyhow, I was able to find a bench in the shade in a park in Lahn and have a little snooze as I waited the two hours for the next train to Amiens....READ MORE ...
Amiens - Arras
28 June 2024
Last day of cycling. I have biked to Arras, mostly along the front line of WW1, the Somme front, and have taken in the war cemetery at Longueval / High Wood where great uncle George Alfred Carruthers is buried. By and large the ride was over rolling countryside with various ridges and woods which were of strategic important then and fiercely fought over. Alf was killed at the Battle of Trones Wood, buried somewhere, then discovered almost 20 years later, and reburied in the cemetery where he now lies. As I travelled along, I could see various hillocks and ridges, and thought how they must have been fought over, and yet now looked so peaceful and calm. Punctuated by war graves. I did come across one German war grave cemetery today. The only one I have seen. Very austere. Iron crosses marking graves, and even a couple of Jewish headstones.....READ MORE ...
Arras _ Home
29 June 2024
A bit of a long day to get home to Birmingham in one day, from Arras via Calais to Dover, and then on up through London to Birmingham. By train. It mostly worked, except for over 2 hours of delay stuck on the ferry after we docked at Dover but were not allowed to disembark because of a security issue in the port. I never found out what the security issue was. But, security, like health and safety, trumps all these days, and so you just have to sit tight and wait. I got an 8 am train from Arras, and was eventually back in Birmingham and home about 930 pm, so quite a long day...READ MORE ...
Photos
We need your consent to load the translations
We use a third-party service to translate the website content that may collect data about your activity. Please review the details in the privacy policy and accept the service to view the translations.