Day 12, 2 6 2013, Dambach la Ville to Mulhouse

Our hotel host explained to us that the exquisite painted half-timbered houses that we see in the Alsace villages in the foothills of the Voges mountains were traditionally French-looking until after World War 2.  This is a bit of an irony, just as the nationality of this part of the world changed, again, from German to French, the buildings were painted in the German style, instead of retaining their French look of raw render and seasoned timber, and all the better for it.  They look great in their bright paint. 

The magic Alsation towns strung out along the foothills of the mountain range have been fastidiously and imaginatively restored.  Riding from one to the other was an absolute pleasure.

In the early afternoon we rode down to the regional centre of Colmar, on what on the map looked like a major road.  However, all of the roads we took today were very lightly trafficked.

Today was the first day of our ride where the weather forecast was actually good, but as you can see from some of the photos, still somewhat overcast.

From Colmar we rode to Mulhouse on what was the main road until the freeway was built. The road we were on paralleled the freeway, and as I have commented before, and you can see from the photo, this usually means there is little traffic.

We had tailwinds again today, and the ride and scenery were just great.

92 comfortable kilometers for the day.