Having finally exhausted all our Swiss Francs, which was not difficult, we bid farewell to Switzerland for the last time. After, that is, I'd retightened the loose valve in my front wheel that had resulted in a flat overnight. With chains relubed after the water yesterday we grabbed a glimpse of the Rhine for the only time today as we hit the streets of Basel and quickly passed into country no. 5, France. Following signs rather than the predetermined route kicked us into St Louis before returning to the comfort of the Garmin-reassured directions. The first stretch took us on an excellent blacktop canal path which took us as far the big sluice area marking the start of the Canal du Rhone & Rhine. From here we followed that canal for another 9km before heading off through a massive area of forest for 18km. It all got a bit samey but at least the cycle track, though remote, continued as an excellent tarmacced surface. When we eventually emerged out into rural, agricultural and flat French countryside we absolutely confirmed that France shuts down on Sunday's!! No coffee/cake/beer stops all day. Just a picnic of 'stolen' bread rolls from breakfasts past, a tomato (shared), bananas and grapes. Today was perfect cycling weather, starting fresh and got warmer but never too hot. More importantly, it was dry, with sun and cloud and a refreshingly cooling headwind. We finally reached our destination of Neuf Briesach, a fascinating fortified octagonal shaped town originally built as a defence against the Germans in early 18th century - we are in Alsace so lots of ownership land changes. Our hotel is right on the centre of the fortified area. We couldn't check in until 17:00, so with 1.5 hours to wait, we thankfully found a cafe-bar open (at last!) for beer crepes and coffee, before exploring the town's novel structure. As we wandered towards the hotel we became deafened by car horns blowing everywhere, so it's a fair bet that France have just beaten Ireland in Euro 2016.
69.9 km; 16.7 kph avg; 4:11 moving time; 82m ascent
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