I had a great time in Paris enjoying a few of the main tourist attractions, Eiffel tower/Arc de triomphe/Louvre museum/Notre Dame cathedral/Musee D’orsay/Opera house/boat and bus tours. I also obtained my vaccinations and a patella strap for the knee.
Apologies for all the ‘selfies’!
Afterwards I continued on Germany crossing the border from Strasbourg.
I then carried on to the start of the Danube river that will take me all the way across Europe to the Black Sea. The town is called Donaueschingen. Here they have a fountain claiming to be the “source of the river”, but it definitely isn’t!
Unfortunately the fountain was under construction so it looked like a filthy pond in a building site.
It was also here I met Ross, who is from Jersey. We’ll be cycling together all the way to Istanbul, Turkey.
Since we met we have been camping wild for all but one night. It has been great fun seeking out places to stay. My personal favourite being our own little island in the middle of the Danube river (Donau in Germany).
Our first glimpse of the Donau.
Progress halted by the trains!
One of hundreds of bridges we are crossing over the river.
Drinkable water from village fountains.
Washing in the river, it was shockingly cold!!!
Frozen tents on our private island at 7am.
Through southern Germany we have passed through the cities of Ulm, Ingolstat, Regensburg and Passau. Each has been very nice but we haven’t stayed too long in each.
Our plan is to have a few days rest in the capital cities we encounter (Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Bucharest)
Cathedral in the city of ULM.
We cycled into a dead end where we caught a ferry to the next town.
A short 5km ferry ride down the river, with cheese cake and beer.
Bavarian beer in Ingolstat.
We went into the city centre In Ingolstat to get free WiFi at Mcdonalds. As we parked up a gentleman called Felix approached us and started chatting. Almost immediately he offered us to stay at his house!
Turns out he was a warmshowers host and a bicycle mechanic. He was busy that night getting hammered at the beer festival but made sure we were settled in the evening and even took us for a traditional pretzel in the morning. Here he is still drunk just before we parted ways!
Camp fire on Sunday 26th April.
We’ve been blessed with clear skies and the temperature has been a solid 18-24 degrees up until 27th April.
The cycle route has been beautiful so far, 50/50 gravel and tarmac, but most has been flat, which has been great for my knee recovery.
The German section of the route has been 580km in length, we’ve cycled it in just under a week I think. We’ve been aiming for around 50 miles/ 80km per day. We usually start moving by 9.30am and have multiple breaks, especially for lunch and shopping. Then look for a campspot at 6pm and are in our tents by 9pm/when the light has nearly faded.
As I write we are basically next to Passau, we’re here for two nights then we head onwards.
Next stop Austria!
richardbike 