Day 3: Solo motorbike tour of France (Nancy – Strasbourg)
For an overview of my 8 day tour of northern France through the Alsace region and the Vosges Mountains, click here.
Route: click here for the interactive map (173 miles): Nancy - Strasbourg & the Vosges Mountains
I was rather deflated by the Vosges Mountains – whilst these were lovely and green, they were more like a forest than the mountains I had been envisioning. This is no fault of the Vosges but of all the pictures I had seen of the Alps which I mentally transposed onto this trip.
I chose some small towns on the map and enjoyed riding off to them as there were so few other motorists on the roads:
1. Eschbourg – very pretty little village of about 12 houses up. Don’t get caught out by the hairpin turn at the bottom of the hill. Post Office has a toilet that you can sneak into, opposite the green house..
2. Frohmuhl – Tiny little roads which were fun to drive
3. Bitche (below) – I went here just because of the name. There wasn’t much to see but you can ride right up to the top of the town to enjoy the little cobbled streets and tight turns.
4. Hunspach – this was the highlight and on the eastern edge of the Vosges. It was by far the prettiest town I saw in the Alsace Region though there wasn’t much to do except photograph the picturesque village. I did buy a hand painted slate magnet from a local artist and laughed at the local garden security.
I stay in Strasbourg for the evening. I ate at a nice Jewish restaurant – I ordered pasta and a salad. However, I forgot that in France when you order a salad, it’s often a course in itself so I was rather full that evening.
