After a good night`s sleep in the hotel, we woke up feeling well rested at about 6:30am. A quick pack of our bags and an early breakfast and we were on our way not long after 8am. Amazing how differently you can feel from one day to the next. The day before we struggled with every kilometer. Today, it was like we were flying. We`d covered a good 40km by lunchtime and found a picnic table just outside the wine town of Neustadt, where we made a nice hot meal on a chilly, windy day. Just the thing to get us going again for a few more kilometers. By this time, there were rows of vines everywhere we looked. We passed through several small towns in the afternoon with quaint half-timbered houses, vines stretched between homes and across the street and lots of small wine bars. About 20km from Neustadt, where we cut diagonally towards the Rhine river, through towns like Altdorf and Bellheim, we came to a camping spot but were surprised at the price. After paying about 10 euros a night most other place, 18 euros for one night seemed a bit rich so we carried on. By this time, we had a good 75km on the clock but still felt full of energy. Good thing too as it was getting dark and the next campground was another 25km or 30km further on. We zipped along cycle paths and tree-line highways, and just as the sun was disappearing below the horizon we slipped into France. We weren`t even sure if the camping spot would be open – having been warned by countless people that all French campgrounds close in October – but this advice turned out to be wrong. The one we landed at was open for another week, and the lady at the reception gave us a brochure with camping spots across Alsace, several of which are open year round. Just 11.30 euros lighter – including a bottle of wine – we settled into our camping spot for the night. After quick supper and a couple games of cards we were done for the night, tucked up in our sleeping bags by 8pm.
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