On Sunday we rode down to our local village of Vandesse and then headed east toward Dijon.  Lots of canal boats out, everyone out picnicing along the rivers and canals, and lots to see. The Fairy Tale fortified town & castle of Chateauneuf en Auxois was beckoning but we explored it last year so stayed along the canal trail.   We remembered a restaurant on the canal on the way to Dijon that we liked when we were here 5 years ago owned by a Swiss guy who spoke some English and was friendly  - we couldn't remember exactly where it was but we just kept pedaling until we found it.   

Yesterday we headed on to France.   We packed up, cleaned the apartment, and made a shopping stop just before crossing into Luxembourg.   We needed German white wine, groceries for the first night and morning, and sheets and towels for the camping cabin.  We also needed to get a document notarized and hoped to get it done in Germany.  Our German is not great but our French is abysmal (even after both taking French in University and I even took a year at the French Institute in NYC. And spending months in France since then.)   It's just not a language that sticks with us.

Our last day on the Mosel we rode upriver to visit Thurant Castle.   On the way we stopped to check out the lavender fields and bee hotels.  As you can see, they are not too paranoid about separateing trains from cyclists... Freight and passenger trains streak through every 10 minutes and no one pays much attention.  Rail lines make perfect trail corridors but US trains refuse to give right of way.  There are a few "rail with trail" arrangements in the US and there has never been an accident, but they remain immovable. 

We made it to the Sunny Mosel River - land of sunshine, vineyards, and flowers.  A castle on every hilltop and a wine terrace on every river curve.   We are on the Unter (lower) Mosel this time.  In 2013 we rode most of the Mosel up and back as far as Bernkastle-Kues. in 2016  we had the vehicle so based on the Upper Mosel around Trier.  This time we found a delightful apartment in the village of Kobern-Gondorf.  It's a bit quirky (lousy checkin and internet and some other issues) but very comfortable once we finally got settled with a full kitchen, living room, with huge windows, & lar

Germany!  We crossed the border in the best possible way...

We had another lavish breakfast at Renate's and then took off toward Nijmegen...

All day we rode on paved trails - mostly through forest and fields beside roads that were rough sand and dirt.  It's easy to see what transportation mode has priority here!  We rode through deep forests and national parks and had a "second breakfast"  picnic at a WW 1 Belgian refugee camp.  Red poppies are everywhere and everywhere there are reminders of the past.  We overnighted at Renate's IJSVolgel (Kingfisher)  BnB in Doorwerth - very close to Arnhem - where there was fierce fighting - the site of the movie "A Bridge too Far".  

We are traveling very slowly this trip... no mad dashes and arriving too worn out to see the area. It's been chilly and damp giving great excuses for enjoying the Dutch heated verandahs. In Barneveld we found the perfect haven from storms (we had a blowout one overnight with high wind, thunder and driving rain but luckily our bikes were snug under the porch and we were snug in the best bed ever!). This would be a great place to spend a few days but today we are off to Doorwerth.

Finally settled for 3 days in Amersfoort in Hansel and Gretel's cabin in the deep woods - but still right in the heart of the medieval city of Amersfoort that dates from the 1300's.

We had a  great breakfast at Mary K's, then had to ride back up to Logement aan de Vecht because I forgot something when we check out.  Back to Mary K's which was directly on our route to retrieve out panniers.  We watched some high-jinx on the canal - apparently a race between the most inept rowers in the city..   they smashed into posts and dropped oars to great cheers from the audience. 

We then visited the Rietveld Schoder House - Gerrit Rietveld (grandfather of our good friend Gert Rietveld) was a famous Dutch architect.