Well Monday was wet and damp and so we stayed in Strasbourg. We wandered around in the rain trying to find a newsagent that sold the Sunday Times but to no avail. So we stopped at a little restaurant and had a lovely lunch of Vegetarian Lasagne and Tarte Flambee washed down with some lovely Cotes du Rhone. Somehow that helped make the rain outside seem less important, and so we headed to a big Hypermarket and stocked up with the last French food we would have for a long while. We returned to a beautiful aroma in the boat as Wendy had made a slow cooker meal in the morning and it was simmering away all day while we were out.
Next morning the rain had gone and we left for the Ecluse Nord that leads out into the River Rhine. As soon as we hit the main current our speed increased by 5 km/h and we roared down the Rhine at 16 km/h. The Rhine at this point is canalised and the current quite tame compared with further down the Rhine. We had two big locks to get through which took a while, and then we were let out into the wild Rhine. The current increased to 10 km/h and we were hurled down the river at over 20 km/h whilst the engine was on Slow ahead. The current in this part of the river is controlled by underwater ‘groynes’ or stone piers that jut out into the river sometimes for up to 80 metres. You can’t see them and they are sort of marked in places by buoys. You have to follow the charts carefully and keep to the middle when you can.
Unfortunately that is not always possible because of something called ‘blue flagging’. The current is always weaker on the inside of bend ,and boats beating up river like to head on the inside of bends to make better progress. Sometimes that means going on the ‘wrong side’ and to indicate this they put up a blue board which basically means pass me starboard to starboard rather than port to port. At one point in the trip we had two ships coming up river, one of which was blue flagging, one ship overtaking us and a police boat. All the boats were within 50 metres of us in a narrow part of the river on a blind bend. We were glad when that was over. We stopped for the night in small haven off the river and by lunchtime the next day we pulled out of the Rhine and into the River Neckar. The current was negligible up the Neckar as it has weirs across it every 10 km or so.
We continued up to the first main town on the Neckar called Heidelberg famous for it castle and old University.
It is full of medieval buildings and is very charming (and touristy). We had the best seat in town on the River where all the action was taking place with end of term student parties on the banks of the River, rowing boats up and down, sailing boats everywhere, trip boats and barges and US. And it only costs 15 euros a night. I can only imagine what the hotels must be charging. Next day we wandered around the town, past the famous Zum Ritter hotel that dates back hundred and hundreds of years and paused for a while in the main square for a beer.
In the evening we went to a local beer garden. The weather was holding out, and though partially cloudy we have not had any rain since we left Strasbourg. The next day we headed up the river and stopped at a lovely walled village called Hirschhorn. We climbed up to the Schloss on top of the hill which is now a hotel. There is a lovely view from there along the Neckar valley.
The Neckar in this part flows through steep wooded valleys with castles perched on every second hill. The evening was warm and we spend it on deck watching the people watching us.
We would have liked to have stayed longer but the river was calling and so next day we headed further up river passing more castles along the sides.
We stopped for the night at Zwingenberg where the Margrave of Baden (who or what ever he is) lives in a lovely castle on the hill overlooking our mooring.
Then today, Sunday we continued up the river, whose character was slowly changing to lower hills until we emerged out of the Odenwald (which is the name for the forested hills around the Neckar) into the plains around a city called Heilbronn.
There wine is grown in terraces along the hillsides. We were stopped by the Wasserschutzpolitzie and asked for our papers and all was in order and we then moored for the night at Bad Wimpfen. It is an exquisite 1000 year old walled mediaeval town.
We biked up there and wandered around amazed at how well preserved it was.
This week we continue up the Neckar towards Stuttgart and then we head back again to Heidelberg.
