One of the old trains which replaced horses hauling the barges
It was a chilly 7C this morning when we woke up so we snuggled down in bed for a little bit longer than anticipated to stay warm – not that we needed an excuse. The cycle down into Lutzelbourg was via a shaded cool valley and we weren’t going that far today so didn’t need to rush. Good cycle route and very pretty views of the town as we entered it including the forts on either ridge guarding the entrance to the town. The last time we rode through here I remember it being charming and wanted to revisit it especially as we did not linger then, unlike today.
Opposite, wrapped up warm even though we were in the sun here
Below a pretty lock house at Ecluse 23 on the way to Savern
The local boulangerie was open, so we stopped off for a coffee and almond croissant. Lovely sunny spot, even had to get out the sun tan lotion and take off two of my 4 layers! Bought some bread for tomorrow’s picnic lunch and took a small detour to the Protestant church, splendid spires, before continuing our ride down the canal to Savern, about 8 km. We passed the large barge we originally met earlier in our trip and happily waved to them
Mike in front of the protestant church in Lutzelbourg after our coffee and croissant stop
Savern was a bit manic, it was lunchtime and the kids had just got out of school. So we decided not to hang around and made our way back up the canal to Lutzelbourg. A much easier ride on the way back as the wind was behind us, it warmed up nicely, and apart from the locks our route was flat and on a very good surface. In no time we were back at the bakery to pick up a couple of slices of quiche for our lunch later on. Not a long ride today but it was beautiful and so glad we made the time to come down here.
The first boat of the day making its way down from the Incline
Shortly before reaching the Arzviller Basin we cycled pass a boat of five guys on a Riverly boat, heading upstream. They seemed to be very disorganised and were all over the place so Mike and I decided we would put our foot down, get back to the boat and plan on making it up the Incline Plane before they arrived. It worked well, we were very lucky as we basically only waited about five minutes before the light turned green and we had the lock all to ourselves.
As the quiches needed heating we cruised along the beautiful cut out to the basin just before the first of our tunnels where we mored up in some shade, by on old shed that had bat boxes on the outside and bat motives painted on it. After a relaxing lunch stop we agreed not to hang around but to head off behind another boat through the tunnels. It seemed much easier this time and we shared the helm in 500m stints which made it much less tiring.
Decided to base ourselves for the evening at the Moulin marina just after the entrance to the tunnels. The temperatures had started to drop and the boat was cool enough for us to get on with our packing and sorting. We also had a lovely spell on the deck enjoying the late afternoon warmth which dried the last of our hand washing. The guys (Riverly boat) eventually turned up and moored just over from us. Friendly bunch but they did make a bit of a fist of reversing into their mooring. It’s fun to watch others trying to manoeuvre and see how they do.
Lovely last evening sitting on the deck before dinner reminiscing about the holiday and our different memories. My top one was of our first evening and watching the moon rise with a silvery sheen to the clouds. Mike’s was going down the Arzviller Incline and working out how to use the pivot point to reverse into a space. It has been an excellent holiday. So glad we could moor here for our last night rather than in Hesse.
See opposite for a video of our day
