Alsace

July 28th, (Sally)

The last two weeks have been a wealth of different experiences. Hard to know where to start, except that the very reason we were in Colmar keeps coming back to mind. We had planned to be in Colmar to watch the Tour de France come through on the 17th of July so it was with relief that we finally moored in the town with a few days to spare. The 15th of July we decided to make a survey of the Col de Schlucht, one of the higher climbs that the cyclists would do on the day so set off on our trusty little 50cc motorbikes for the 50km trip. Out through Munster, famous for its cheese and storks. Storks in Alsace are meant to bring good luck [as well as babies] so they are encouraged to roost on buildings by erecting large steel baskets for them to make their nests in. In Munster they are quite a drawcard and one can sit in the main square over lunch while the birds circle around bringing food to their young. From Munster it was a picturesque run up the mountain to find a host of hardy fans in their camper vans had already arrived 48 hours before the event. With no facilities in sight except a ski chalet/restaurant which was doing a roaring trade one would have to be keen.

The next day I visited the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar to where pride of place is the Isenheim Altarpiece painted between 1512 and 1516. Amazing things one discovers in every town we go to. The rest of the day we enjoyed the ambience of Colmar as they all prepared for the big day. It was a scorcher, 35 deg so nice to relax under a shady umbrella and watch the world go by. The great weather however did not last over for the 17th. We set off at 9.00am and as it was looking a little overcast put an extra jumper in our back packs. Just as well as, by the time we climbed up and up through the forest we had to stop and put on every article of clothing we had. It was freezing and it did not get better. We reached the Col at 11.00am to find the camper vans now numbered 200, 3kms of cars lined the approach way and it was starting to rain. Our chosen spot was 200 metres down hill at the last corner before the summit, so there we set up, with a good view of the track and all the fanfare that accompanies it. For four hours we stood there, getting colder and colder. The carnival of sponsors cars starts about two hours before the actual race, and it is a good natured display of elaborate floats throwing out giveaways to the crowd — boxes of chalk to decorate the road, hats by the hundred, key rings, bottles of water, biscuits and papers. All good fun and the crowd gets right into the spirit. Interspersed among this are the merchandise vans doing a great trade in umbrellas and ponchos plus a myriad press corps and photographers. There was a certain level of excitement when the first helicopter arrived overhead, we knew they must be near, then suddenly there was a flash of colour followed by several cars. What was that? It was the leaders. And they were going up hill! Then the peloton poured past. What a spectacle, just a rush of colour almost impossible to pick an individual. So that was it, four hours in bitter cold to watch six minutes of the race, and we would not have missed a second of it. Of course then it was a mad scramble to get back to our motor bikes and try and get away before the rush. The line of cars was now 4km, so we were competing with pedestrians, cyclists and the first few motorists but we did it, then a flying trip down the mountain in time to get back into town and see them after the finish as they headed to their team buses. The next day we did it all again and saw them leave Colmar via the main streets of the town when they all leave in a rolling start. Once again we were in time for the carnival at the beginning and could see the full entourage that accompanies them.  Like all the major sporting events one is always struck by the huge number of people involved and the amount of money invested. Colmar proved to be a real highlight for us, the town itself is delightful, half timbered houses, a wealth of cobbled streets and close proximity to some gorgeous wine villages which we explored once again by motorbike. Ribeauville and Riquewihr are two of the most well known, and both worth a visit though we found Riquewihr on a lovely Sunday afternoon just a bit too touristy for us.

As we left Colmar we met an English couple on their narrow boat who were also venturing onto the Rhine. I shudder to think of them sharing a lock with a super tanker or a fully laden barge which we did on the way south. We had a very uneventful but hard working day against the current as we travelled from Colmar to Mulhouse where we moored up in the centre of town. Mulhouse has none of the charm of other cities in Alsace but it does have one of the best museums that we have seen. What the Louvre is to art the Cite de l’Automobile is to cars. A marvellous collection of over 400 cars dating from 1890’s all in perfectly restored order. The story behind the collection is almost as fascinating as the collection. Two brothers, Hans and Fritz Schlumpf had a woollen mill in Mulhouse and one started the collection by buying up Bugatti’s. He had one of his mills discretely converted into a workshop and employed 40 craftsmen, all sworn to secrecy, to restore cars. The cars arrived in trainloads, but he kept only the best and was on the point of displaying them when the wool business collapsed and his 2,000 workers were unemployed. The brothers fled to Switzerland, the workers broke into the factory and found the cars so decided to open it up to the public. Fortunately the cars were never sold off to pay the debts as they now form the basis of a growing collection which includes 127 Bugattis, countless Rolls Royces and other priceless classic brands too numerous to mention.

Mulhouse was also where we had planned to meet up with Delphine, our Rotary exchange student from 1994-5. Now where did all those years go? She and her partner, Francois, arrived last Saturday afternoon on a direct flight from London to Mulhouse in time to enjoy Champagne on the deck of Sable, a barbecue meal and a rousing game of Mexican Train. On Sunday, as they had a hire-car, Francois offered to show us the Route de Cretes through the Vosges mountains. What a spectacular drive that is, the Route de Cretes was created by the French in WW1 to supply front line troops and its purpose is made all too clear as you pass the sites of several Military Cemeteries and the memorials to the bloodiest battles that took place in this the Southernmost length of the Western Front. Whereever one goes in France it is hard to escape the bloodshed that has taken place. We stopped at Grand Ballon, the highest point in the Vosges and walked the trail to the top for some stunning views of the Alsace Plain, the Black Forest across the Rhine and a wonderful clear view of the Swiss Alps. From there we continued on and turned to come down through the route of the Tour to Munster and on to the small wine village of Turckheim where with Delphine’s know-how we avoided the tourist strip of restaurants and found a vine draped courtyard where the food more than matched the ambience. So there you have it, a fortnight of great sport, great art, great sights, almost great weather, great company and great food. Almost forgot to add that Ribeauville is renowned for its Reisling so the wine was pretty good too.

The Rhine

14th July, 2009 (Tony)

It's Tuesday, Bastille Day, and we're in Colmar. The fireworks went off last night long after I was sound asleep in bed. Sally claims to have seen them. For many it's an extra long weekend for lots of businesses close on Mondays. The town is buzzing with tourists, many like us here in advance of the Tour de France circus which arrives Friday and leaves Saturday. All the shops are having summer sales but there are few shoppers. We expected enthusiastic promotion of the Tour but the funny thing is only half a dozen businesses have taken up the theme. Weird. The old part of town is gorgeous, picture-postcard perfect. Quaint old half-timbered houses authentically restored and decorated with window boxes blooming with geraniums and petunias loom over small squares crowded with inviting restaurants and cafés. German is more widely spoken than French. Back in the 1700's it may have looked similar but with the tiny canal being used by the tanners to wash hides which were then strung out to dry in the open lofts in the houses above, not to mention the markets of fish, horses and animals in the streets, and the dung, it certainly would have smelt different. Today it was lovely. We headed out on the motorbikes to reconnoitre the countryside in preparation for Friday's 13th stage of the Tour. The nearby villages are enchanting, surrounded by vineyards producing Alsace's finest reislings. This evening (5pm)we attended a concert, "A Homage to Sviatoslav Richter" performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia. The venue was a fifteenth century church converted into an auditorium. The program featured piano concertos by Rachmaninov and Prokofiev, finely delivered by Denis Matsuev. Simply marvellous...

Strasbourg is a tale of two cities. The old part, like Colmar, is absolutely delightful but is so crowded with visitors, exploring the streets becomes quite exhausting. Occasional pauses for a drink or patisserie seems to be the most effective antidote. The cathedral (I know, I said it would have to be good) is vast. A hundred and fifty years ago it was the highest building in the world. It is still the fourth highest church. The carvings and sculptures on the exterior stonework are exquisite and quite enthralling. The new Strasbourg, however, is very new, very modern, very stark, and not very French. None of it would win an architectural prize, in my opinion. The sheer extravagance of the EU Parliament buildings and all the departmental office buildings that by necessity go with it boggles the mind. There was not a worker to be seen in any of the buildings — the parliament only sits twelve times, for five part-sessions a year in Strasbourg — presumably they are all on holiday; or twiddling their thumbs in Brussels at this time. I fancy Strasbourg would be a wonderful city in which to live. The trams and bikeways are fantastic and the outer suburbs are very attractive — smartly kept germanic-style homes on 500m2 blocks with profuse gardens.

The stretch from Sarreguemines to Strasbourg was really pleasant, if somewhat crowded at times with hire boats. It is great to see the canals being utilised at last. We stopped a night at Mittersheim which has a nice port and then Sarralbe before reaching the expansive summit ponds which were created as part of the Maginot Line and we then turned east into the Canal de la Marne au Rhin. At Xouaxange (don't ask me how to pronounce that) we ventured by motorbike up into the mountains to St Quirin, perportedly the most beautiful village in France but we could nominate a dozen more worthy, and Arbreschviller where we caught a petite train up into the forest. This was interesting as the trees were predominantly a type of fir, tall and spectacular, and still being selectively felled and milled for their good looking timber. We stopped again at Niderviller, famous for its china-ware, and biked into Sarrebourg to admire once more Chagall's stained glass masterpiece.

Now retracing our steps in a hireboat in 1999, we slipped through the two tunnels to emerge at the top of the St Louis-Arzviller Incline Plane. This is an engineering marvel, built only in the 1960's to eliminate seventeen locks. A giant bathtub on rails transports vessels up or down a slope of 42 degrees, through a vertical lift of 44.6 m. Thence to Lutzelbourg, a tiny town but so pretty it looks like it should be part of a model train set, especially as trains roar out of a tunnel very close to the canal as it wends its way through the gorge. The ruins of an ancient chateau perch atop a pinnacle of rock above the town. A walk up there deserved the reward of a well-earned drink afterwards in the town tavern. At Saverne a jaunt to one of the ruined chateaux high in the hills called for the use of the motorbikes. The splendid panorama from there covered almost all of Alsace, to Strasbourg and across to Germany.

Tackling the Rhine to get to Colmar was always going to be a challenge. It is 64 km from Strasbourg lock to the turn off to Colmar and there is nowhere for a boat like ours to stop. There are several yacht clubs along the way on the German side with marinas for runabouts and day cruisers but vessels of Sable's size are not welcome. The Rhine is contained in a man-modified channel at least two hundred metres wide with sloping concrete sides. Giant double locks that rise 12m, each 185m long, one 12m wide the other 24m wide plus a hydro-electric generating plant straddle the river every 15km or so. The locks operate twenty four hours a day for commercial ships. Pleasure boats may use them, when there is room, between 07:00 - 19:30 hours. The water is surprisingly clean, Clutha green and flows at minimum 4kph on a quiet day. We prepared ourselves for a 12-14 hour non-stop journey, setting off at 6:30 am in order to be at the first lock and out into the Rhine by 7:00 am. All our plans were thrown awry at the second lock where the 24m wide lock was closed for repairs. A queue of huge commercial barges was lined up ahead of us, all having to wait for the 12m wide lock. It was our bad luck that three of them were doubles (one pushing another) each 180m long. They take an age to squeeze into a lock; and there were boats waiting to come down so each changeover took more than half an hour. We were obliged to wait through five passes before a 118m minnow's turn arrived and we, along with two other pleasure boats, followed him in. At 6pm with 21km and two locks still to go we were dog-tired and I guess Sable ought to have been too as she had been grinding away at 1900rpm in order to maintain 6kph. Providence provided a small floating pontoon that some small passenger boat must use from time to time and we gratefully moored up to it and called it a day. We slept like logs, occasionally stirred by the churning of passing barges as they growled past us during the night, but we were soon wallowed back to sleep in their wash. Refreshed, we set off again next morning at 6am and made it into the canal to Colmar by 10 o'clock. This canal is restricted to 6kph but it is a very pleasant three hour cruise along a waterway abundant with wildlife and clear enough to see fish despite the weed. By 2:30 pm we were enjoying coffee and cake in downtown Colmar. Scrumptious... Watch out for the Aussie flags as the riders approach Col de Schlucht on Friday.