Day Fifteen

27/05/25 - Day Fifteen 
 

I woke at 6:30 to tackle the big day ahead of me. 85 miles to Strasbourg. I left at 7:30, fed and ready. Often I ride the first miles with no food, but today I needed to stayed fuelled. The ride started well as I enthusiastically went for the pedals.

After a coffee in the town of Germshiem, I cranked out another 20 miles. Battling the headwinds was the order of the day, so I kidded myself that it meant I was really covering more miles, as a resulting way to motivate myself. Luckily, I was feeling strong and the miles counted down nicely. Crossing into France at lunchtime, I almost missed it, I was expecting a sign I could take a picture at. Glugging down a post-lunch iced coffee, in an attempt to negate the carby lunch, I filled my water bottles at a graveyard and completed the remaining miles to Strasbourg, heavy techno reverberating in my ears. It was the debut for this playlist on the trip, and to good effect.

My first encounter with a French person went well. I greeted the cashier at Carrefour with “salut!”, and this she didn’t seem to take kindly to, saying something in a telling off tone with a “bonjour” in there. Turns out salut is informal, but not considered rude, so I’m not sure what her problem was - maybe she sensed my Englishness!

I arrived at my hosts house and knocked on the door. No answer. The last message from Yoav, had told me the gate was open so I assumed that meant to just come in and make camp. I set about putting up my tent. A couple of young children snuck into the house during this time and I wondered whether the adults were home. I felt a bit awkward having not met anyone yet, and hesitated to start cooking. As hunger won, and I began to boil my own water, Lilian came home and welcomed me to their garden! She opened their basement for me to access a toilet, water and sink. As I was then eating, Yoav came home, wishing me “bon appétit”. We conversed for a while about my trip, his wonderful cherry tree in fruit, and Strasbourg.

While waiting around in their garden I had bit the bullet and booked an Airbnb for tomorrow for my rest day. Which was a shame because Yoav then offered me to stay another night, when I told him my plans to take a day off in Strasbourg. I showered, and wearily retired to my tent. Writing my notes for the day just in time before my eyes shut tight. 

Author hyping himself up for a big day!

 

 

Frikadellen brötchen

My obsession with the underside of bridges grows

The only signage at the French-German border
My kinda street


Well earned beer courtesy of Martin! Cheers buh



Comments

  1. Leah RoyallJune 16, 2025 at 7:51 AM

    Keep up the good work on the signs documentation – from the inconspicuous cross-country border to the memorable Worms…

    ReplyDelete

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