Day 13 Gorinchem to Rotterdam - last day of the Rhine tour

It was a brilliant day, no wind and no rain and that is such a fabulous thing to finish our unbelievable tour on such high note. We saw Rotterdam approaching in glorious sunshine, welcoming us to its folds.

Lovely cycle which took us through great countryside, took no less than 5 ferries to cross rivers! Could even have been the same river several times but I lost track. One ferry was so fast  with white water churning from its engines; felt like we were on a speedboat. Ferry crossings were good as gave us breathing space to look at the map and take stock of where we are. Saw some really intersting stuff, like once coming off a dyke there was two garden chairs, table and a bottle of water at the side of the road inviting travellers to refresh themselves.

We had a very early lunch in Papendrecht and several Dutch people stopped whilst we were eating to say 'smaaklike ete' which means enjoy your meal; everyone was so friendly.

We are in the Cubic houses near the middle of the city tonight. This afternoon we went to 2 huge bike stores which we passed on our bikes as we were coming into te city, and I bought a great big bell for my bike. A good reminder of our trip overtime when I ring the bell!
Tomorrow will be a lazy start to the day. We have a short lie in planned, breakfast is later as it is Saturday, then off into the city for a quick stroll and hop onto the bikes with the luggage to pedal the 27 miles to Europoort in a lazy fashion. Lots of time to stop and take photos and arrive in good time to get the ferry.
I will be hitting 700 miles when we cycle onto the boat! Not bad for a 14 day holiday ;-)

Day 2 Breisach am Rhein to Strasbourg

Ok for those interested in stats: 55.10 miles, 2688 calories burned and 4hr 24 cycling time with an average speed of 13mi an hour. Not bad!
It was a brilliant cycling day. The predicted rain was gone and instead we had cloudcover - which we needed after yesterday's sunburn. It was hot and humid and spectacular.
The small French villages are very quaint. They all have German names e.g. Bindernheim, Witternheim, Schwobsheim but in reality they are very French! This stems probably from a time when this region went from Germany to France due to either border disputes or wars. We saw some really spectacular houses with lots and lots of flowerbaskets drooping over windowsills and beautifully painted houses, particularly 2 purple ones.
The pictures to the blog post will follow later as I have them separate on my phone. Marckolsheim was very special and it got 4 stars on the Villages Fleurie competition. After weaving our way through the villages, we turned onto the towpath along the Canal du Rhône du Rhin which took us straight into Strasbourg. Lovely tarmaced surface, the only problem here are some tree roots which made some surfaces a bit bumpy.
Lunch was from a supermarket in Boofzheim and were 4 Herta sausages, 4 doughnuts, 2 bananas and 2 Heinekens. Shared between 2! A good carbo cycling lunch.
We are in good accommodation tonight, our first hotel (Comfort Inn). The youth hostels were so far very kind to us as even though we were booked into female and male dorms, we've been sharing a bedroom at no extra cost.
Tomorrow is an even longer day with 63 miles planned. But having got to Strasbourg in such good time, gives us now the opportunity to go and do some sightseeing in Strasbourg.