September 16: Heming to Strasburg
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No breakfast this morning. The hotel is closed on Monday, so we settled our bill the night before and got instructions on how to close up the place when we leave. The bakery across the street is closed this morning, so we ride off for Strasburg and keep an eye peeled for a bakery.
The route takes us through rolling farm country, through villages so small that they don't have a church, much less a bakery. How do these people get their bread?
The answer comes in less than an hour. We hear a horn, and spot a panel
truck pull up to a house. It's a mobile bakery! 
Jayne buys some bread and breakfast bread stuffed with sausage. It's the
perfect energy source for our ride today. The bike is beginning to look
like a prop from The Grapes of Wrath - panniers, the big yellow bag, rain gear
strapped on the outside, and now plastic bags of bread hanging from the seat
back.
After 15 miles or so, we meet up with the Rhine Marne Canal. At first the canal towpath is unpaved and a bit rough for the trike, but soon we reach the paved portion and our speed picks up. The canal is quiet and scenic, with pleasure boats moving up and down the canal, passing through numerous locks and we head for the Alsace.
After a short snack stop in a canalside town, Saverne, 
we head on for Strasburg.
We enter Strasburg, passing by the European Parliament building, then pick our way through town to the central cathedral square. Once again, we take a hotel on the square. The hotel provides secure parking in a nearby garage - one of the hotel workers takes the stoker's seat for the ride to the garage, and thinks the bike is a hoot.
Looking for a change from French and German food, one of the hotel workers recommends his favorite Chinese restaurant. After a short stroll through the city, we find the place. Of course, it's Monday, and the place is closed. Luckily, there's a Thai restaurant nearby. When we enter, we're immediately greeted by a Bernese Mountain Dog, followed by the waiter. Dinner is tasty, and definitely a nice change of pace.
| Dogs... They're everywhere - on the street, in the stores
and restaurants - and they're all male, unfixed. (We've wondered
what happens to the females. Is there just one, very overworked
queen dog per breed out there?) In addition to the exotics like the
Bernese, there are tons of Labs (but they're shorter and blockier than US
Labs.
The funny part about Euro dogs is their behavior. Because they go everywhere and associate with people regularly, they seem to be better socialized. In a store or restaurant, they laid back, relaxed, and good mannered. Put them on the street on a leash, and it's a different story. Whether it's a Jack Russell terrier of Great Dane, Euro dog is not a good boy on the leash. Why? Because every other dog that's been on the street has left a little aromatic calling card at each corner, pole, or tree. So walking Euro dog becomes a continual game of yank the leash. |