We have made it to Germany! After our hilly and snowy first week, we spent several hours investigating the contour markings on the map and seeking out river valleys and canal paths to continue along. Following the Marne, the Moselle and finally the Rhine, we escaped the snow and the undulations and sped through Lorraine and Alsace on a mission to get to George and Fernanda in Germany by the weekend. This ended up being an almost 400 mile race which resulted in saddle sores, painful knees and more than a few tears. But it's proved to us that our bodies are stronger than we thought and that a block of cheese and some lavatorial humour will always raise our spirits!
We've been accompanied along our route by an incredible array of birds of prey, storks, woodpeckers and white cranes and most nights we have gone to sleep to the sounds of owls hooting and woken up to the dawn chorus. We have also found an army of older people in France and Germany whose sole aim appears to be to provide us with directions, top up our water bottles or cheer and clap as we wobble past.
Our major challenge on this section of the route proved to be crossing the Rhine. We had imagined this moment for a long time, as the river marked a clear boundary between France and Germany. But crossing points proved elusive and we finally exited France on a canal path with no visible evidence that we were crossing from one country to another. The Rhine remained on our righthand side, and on one particularly challenging day, we arrived at the ferry crossing only to discover it had broken down the day before, forcing us to cycle an extra 20km to reach the next bridge. However,our ever-hardening thighs proved up to the task, and we then wobbled for another 65km to the haven of peace and warmth that is George and Fernanda's home in Muhlbach.
On arrival, George rushed out with a camera to capture us in our most haggard and exhausted state (see photo section!) However, George and Fernanda have been the most welcoming, generous and wonderful friends and hosts that we could possibly have imagined. Not only did they provide us with freshly baked brownies and muffins, enormous meals and drive us to local bars to sample the delicious German beer, they also actually gave up their bed to us and slept on the floor and sofa. George and Fernanda - thank you so so much; it was so lovely to see you both and you really made us feel so welcome and have given us renewed energy for our onward journey. (P.S. We're still in your house but we promise to leave soon!)
Tomorrow, we head off from this haven, first to Stuttgart to sample the famous thermal spas, and then on to Ulm to join the Danube which we will then follow for over 1000km until we reach Budapest.