Route du vin

I'm not going to pretend to know anything about wine, or try to describe all the wonderfully preserved medieval towns and villages on the Alsace route du vin, but just need to say that this is a really great way to spend a day.

Monday was Pfingfest, a great name for Pentecost, so after some hefty rides in the BlackForest at the weekend I was ready to have a relaxing ride through the vineyards on part of the route which in its entirety is more than 170km from Than in the south (near Mulhouse) to Marlenheim and beyond in the north (near Strasbourg) Today we took the train to Selestat with the intention of cycling up to Haut Königsberg which is not part of the wine route but a fine reconstructed tourist attraction, 757m up a hill in the Vosges mountains. Worth a visit if you're in the area for sure.

Then its a case of freewheeling down through the vineyards to join the route du vin, stopping here and there for a flammekuche, a coffee and gateau or glass of wine whilst enjoying the wonderful and curious architecture. We didn't even have time to visit all the towns on the short journey, so much to see! Also, I had intended to buy some wine at the final town of Turkheim, as I didn't want to cycle far with heavy bottles, but we didn't reach the town till after closing time. Definitely will be back soon, especially for the Colmar wine festival in August.

A word of warning - don't go into a wine cave and say "I'm just looking" - you will only get an angry Frenchman shouting at you about time wasters etc.