Stopover in France

After another job interview we continued our round trip through Germany and took the scenic byways through the Black Forest. You could say we did some preliminary scouting for future road trips.

We found ourselves meandering northwest, so crossing the border to France (border, which border?) was a no brainer. A small sign indicated that we had entered the land of wine, baguette and cheese, froglegs and snails, and not to forget strikes and socialism (in order to complete the list of the most prevalent stereotypes).

I have the fondest memories of traveling through France, and getting food for two spending less than 10$ by collecting a bottle of wine, a baguette and some goat cheese or camembert at a Super U or Intermarche. We would find a picknic area, and have a simple but lovely lunch, and due to some wine induced sleepyness, would take a nap under some willow trees. Ah, those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end...

The Vosges, a mountain range close to the German border is another area with potential to be explored on two wheels.

The clouds added to this particular dramatic scenery, although in the end, all we got was rain... no thunderstorm or lightning.

Another memory of France for us is connected to low budget traveling. In the past it was either the campground (some with the most horrific washrooms we had ever seen) or very cheap budget motels.

We decided to rekindle the good old days and stayed in a very cheap but very clean motel in Saverne, probably most popular because of Chateau Rohan (in front the Marne-Rhine Canal). My French was a little rusty but we still managed to get food and a room in town.

The next morning was rainy but we took the time to drive around for a bit anyway before heading home. And we got rewarded with another set of awesome vistas.

In the distance we spotted the Rocher de Dabo with Chapelle Saint Leon situated on top.

It was still early in the day, so the chapel wasn't open to the public yet, but we walked up anyway after a gardener greeted us with a friendly bonjour and waved us through.

An impressive piece of rock alone but putting a little church on top of it must have been quite the accomplishment in those days.

Before hitting the highway we detoured through the Pfälzer Wald and discovered a few more drive-by ruins and some lovely architecture.

The area has awesome twisty roads but lots of them come with a Wochenendfahrverbot (Weekend ban) for motorcycles, yes, a ban for motorized two-wheelers only. This left us a little upset, and we decided not to like it as much as the other regions we had the pleasure to travel through.

From there it was just a boring stretch going North on the super slab, but we have to admit that overall we very much like what we have seen so far from the Heimatland.