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ALSACE, FRANCE
231
January14
Kaysersberg
is picture
perfect. Awindingcobblestone
street is lined with gorgeous
historic buildings (not great for bike
riding, so we walked), a stream rushing
through it and an old chateau overlooking
the valley. The morning heralded a clear
blue sky so we got up early and climbed
the chateau tower for a great view over
the vineyards.
Eager to make the most of the clear
weather, we rode among the vineyards,
through yet more pretty villages, and
pulled into
Eguisheim
(ot-eguisheim.
fr/en/) which was an unexpected finale.
Within the circa-1257 walls, the streets
are built in concentric circles to create a
labyrinthine effect: designed to confuse
invaders, it’s now confusing visitors.
We lost our way among the colourful
half-timbered houses and ended up
grabbing a baguette and an asparagus
quiche for a simple lunch in the sun
sitting against the back wall of the
church dedicated to 10th-century Pope
Leo IX. There’s an interesting walking
tour of Eguisheim, voted favourite
French village in 2013, with good
signage in English that describes the
town and its buildings in detail.
From here, we left the vineyards and
villages for the flat ride into big city
Colmar
. We reached the final hotel,
Beau Séjour
, at about 3pm, having
clocked an easy 35km for the day. Our
bikes were locked up at the hotel to be
collected the following morning. While
there’s much to see in historic Colmar,
we left that for the following day and
instead gave our legs a well-earned rest.
Make it happen
The beauty of booking a
Utracks
self-
guided cycling trip is the freedom to
do your own thing, but with backup,
on routes across Europe. Bikes, hotels,
breakfast and dinner are included and
suitcases are transported from hotel to
hotel. It’s economical and flexible: just
book the dates to suit your travel plans.
Strasbourg (otstrasbourg.fr) and Colmar
(ot-colmar.fr/en) are easily accessible by
plane and train.
utracks.comDAY
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