I thought I was done with canals—but not Google. The route it gave me to Strasbourg followed the Canal de Colmar and then the northern branch of the Canal du Rhône au Rhin. I didn’t mind. No cars, no exhaust, no helmet, no train to catch, no campsite to find, no stress—bliss.
When I joined the Rhône–Rhine Canal, it cut through the countryside in a straight line—almost no curves at all until I reached Strasbourg. Around 55 kilometers of straight-line serenity. I was there by 11 a.m.
The week-long channeling of my inner explorer was over.
While waiting for my niece to pick me up and take me to Germany where she leaves, I cycled past all the city’s landmarks, which brought back fond memories of being here with Julie during the Cirque du Soleil tour. Strasbourg is a great place to end a trip—a beautiful and charming city. Maybe we should come back for the Christmas markets. We’ll see.
Today in numbers:
71 km — distance cycled
435 — years the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg was the tallest building in the world, with its spire reaching 142 meters
1792 — France’s national anthem was composed in Strasbourg
1570 — Strasbourg’s Christmas market, the oldest in Europe, was established