Day 21 France, 9/10/2010 Strasbourg. 6.3miles/10.17km, ride time 43mins, averaging 8.8mph.

Not the beautiful day like yesterday that we were hoping for this morning. It is quite overcast with a bit of drizzle in the air.

We took our time this morning and then got ready for the short cycle into the city centre. Our first port of call was the tourist information office situated close to the cathedral, to find out where we could safely leave our bikes. With our bikes duly deposited in a nearby undercover car and cycle park, we headed back into the city to have a look around.

Starting back at the Cathedral we went inside and had a look around. Like most of the cathedrals we have seen it was huge and dark, with some beautiful stained glass windows and a very interesting astronomical clock. Which we were in time to see chime!

The weather outside hadn't improved much, if anything the rain being heavier. Nevertheless we continued on to have a look around Petit France, an area of old, pretty

buildings and canals. From there we walked around to Les Ponts Couverts, a much photographed towered bridge. Which is currently covered in scaffolding, you would have thought they would have finished it in the 100's of years it has been there!

Most of the beauty of the city is in just wandering around and looking at the many narrow streets and pretty buildings. With no sign of the sun coming out and Debbie getting cold we called our tour to an end and headed back to the camp-site.

Strasbourg has been one of the nicer cities we have visited and not a bad way to end our brief visit to France. Will be heading back to Germany tomorrow and our last camp-site before we reach Switzerland.

Day 20 France, 8/10/2010 Plittersdorf–Wintesdorf–Drusenheim–Gambsheim–la Wantzenau–Strasbourg. 40.53miles/65.31km, ride time 3hr43mins, averaging 10.9

Woke up to yet another dry day, if somewhat overcast. We are definitely getting in a routine with the packing up as we were on our way in very good time.

Passing through a couple of small German villages we made our way to the bridge that would take us across the Rhein and into France. The bridge wasn't the most pleasant of introductions to France as there was no cycle path, it was a bit foggy and the cars are travelling very fast. Nevertheless we made it safely and immediately found a signposted route to Strasbourg.

The first part of the route was along a quiet road beside the Rhein, although the river was not visible being behind some quite major flood defences. As the mist began to lift the temperature steadily rose, and we passed through our first French town we saw a temperature sign reading 25°C! We stopped at a near by patisserie and bought some bread and cakes; the staff certainly had a breezier approach than their German counterparts. At risk at being strung up by any Francophiles though, German bread and cake shops are definitely better. Especially the bread!

Continuing on through several more villages, we made good progress along a well signed route. Some of those signs are somewhat small and slightly ill positioned. We didn't crash into each other, but could have quite easily when one of us made a rapid directional change having spotted the sign at the last moment!

The last part of the route took us through more forestry and eventually to the outskirts of Strasbourg. Somewhere along the line we lost the cycle route, but were quickly put on track by possibly a woman with possibly the finest spoken English in Strasbourg. From there on it was a bit of trial and error to find our camp-site, but we made it just in time for the dreaded siesta. Oh well only 30 minutes to wait this time and it was a beautiful day.

We eventually got pitched and settled, did some washing and met our first Brits since leaving. Our first experience in France has been a good one, tomorrow a tour of Strasbourg.

Passed 1000kms today, plus no punctures. Go us!