Day 8, 29 5 2013, Saarlouis to Mittershiem

We had a most extraordinary dinner last night at our pub.  They had an English menu and we selected a dish for two described as “3 meats and vegetables”, priced at a modest 25E.

It came on a platter, 450mm x 300mm, square, piled with food.  We were hungry after a big day but there was no way we could eat this amount of food.  Even the other patrons were sniggering at our astonishment. The food was OK, basic pub food, but I had never seen anything like it. 

Breakfast was the full German style, with meat, cheese, fruit, yoghurt, bread and more.  A pity we didn’t need much.

Today was overcast, cool, with occasional patches of light drizzle.  We had spent some time considering our options, one of which was to head north-east to Mainz, and then come down the Rhine. This was part of our original plan.  We decided against this, partly because of the weather.  We decided to head south on the Saar River cycle route.  Unlike other river routes we have followed, the path we followed ran along the bank of the river or associated canal.

Leaving Saarlouis was pretty ordinary, as the river is heavily industrialized, and at times the cycle path runs under the autobahn.  However, we were able to ride off road on a very nice sealed path all day.

As we rode south we left the industrialised zone and the scenery was quite serene.  There was not a great deal to see as the canal ran through a valley, but the ride was very pleasant, and restful after yesterday’s effort.

From time to time we left the canal to look at local towns, which tend to be pleasant and typically French. Some of the more major centres were heavily bombed in WW2, and so much of the older infrastructure is gone.

We got some more advise on how to get to Strasbourg, and found we can follow canals all the way.  This will be enough of canals for a while.  They provide a nice break, but become a bit tedious because of the sameness of the scenery.

96 easy Km for the day.

This will be posted a day late as our nice cheap hotel does not have wifi.

No map for today, but the route is directly next to the Saar canal all day.

Roz says

Happiness is spinning down into villages over the speed limit (yesterday) and rolling along canal paths exceeding the speed limit (today).

Feeling extremely linguistically challenged at the bar tonight where the patrons are chatting in Alsation!!  Dogs sit at the bar too.

Drinkers eat no food.  The hotel owner made dinner just for us, no choice, no discussion, another huge plate of food!!

On to Day 9