Switzerland - Basel

Basel
Sun 29 Jun 2014     Cumulative distance 2739km
We departed Battenheim in overcast conditions with a blustery wind and headed south, bypassing Mulhouse (dead quiet on a Sunday morning) and joined the cyclepath along the 'Canal du Rhône et Rhin' and then the 'Grand Canal d'Alsace' all the way to Basel in Switzerland.

Aside from a few brief showers the rain held off and the riding was easy, as we were mostly sheltered from the wind by surrounding forest. We stopped just north of Basel for a late morning coffee/tea (to dispose of excess Euro change) near the 'Drei-Länderbrücke' (Three Countries Bridge) - a pedestrian/bicycle bridge across the Rhine river at the point where the borders of France, Germany and Switzerland meet. To change our two country tour into a three country one we cycled across in to Germany, said "Guten Tag" and then turned around and cycled back to France! We soon crossed into Switzerland and entered Basel, a place very familiar to Marianne whose aunt lives there, and after wending our way through the old town we stopped at a cafe for lunch.

Basel marks the end of our combined tour. Over the next few days Beth and Denis will continue on, taking a relatively direct route back to Oberbalm (Marianne's sister's home) where they will clean and pack their bikes ready for our return flight late in July before taking a train back to Paris to visit family.

Marianne and David will stay a while in Basel with old friends and then take a more circuitous route back to Oberbalm, stopping to visit others along the way, arriving there about a week after Beth & Denis have left for Paris. We will all be re-united a day before our flight home.

Reporting will be limited to the periods when we are cycling and other activities will be captured elsewhere.

Battenheim to Basel

 

 

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