Day 4: Solo motorbike tour of France (Strasbourg to Mulhouse & Ballons de Vosges)

For an overview of my 8 day tour of northern France through the Alsace region and the Vosges Mountains, click here.

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Route: click here for the interactive map (126.5 miles): Strasbourg - Ballons de Vosges - Mulhouse.

An early start saw Saki and me in Obernai for around 10am where I walked around the little town in search of public toilets #ladybikerwoes. I ate my morning croissant under the watchful gaze of Monseigneur Freppel.

After Obernai, I headed off to Ribeauville via Selestat. This was rather dull driving to be honest. But then the roads opened up into beautiful mountain curves and hairpin turns to enjoy on the way to Colmar (through the villages of Aubure and Freland). Colmar is delightful, an odd Little Venice town in this French/German region. Park your bike by le petit train de Colmar, close to the Monoprix Supermarket. Here, I walked around the lovely town and down to the canals to have my lunch.

A quick stop off in Guebuiller and then off to Mulhouse. Unfortunately, I missed the turn and ended up on the dull D430 for miles.

Mulhouse is definitely a town to give a miss. It is a total dive. I stayed in a horrific ‘hotel’ which had failed to explain it was on an industrial park or under refurbishment. The toilets were so obscene that I had to pee in the sink in my room. The hotel alleged they were saving the environment by not providing towels but as the alternative was purchasing a disposable, fibrous towel instead, their motives were clearly dubious.

I hid in my room and moved all my stuff over to block the door which didn’t lock. This is NOT a place to stay as a solo lady traveller.