We have three methods of finding our way on this route down the Rhine. We downloaded a guide for the "Rhine Route", written by a British author that is very detailed, literally with turn by turn directions. We got the electronic version of the book to avoid the weight of a paper version. It is very good.
I use the app MotionXGPS on my iPhone. This amazing app has terrain maps of every inch of the earth. Most surprising, it has every bike path, foot path and cow track (okay, that's an exaggeration) on the planet. It has our EuroVelo 15 route on the map. As long as I keep the blue triangle (us) on the red line (the route), we are golden. Or should be. But sometimes the book and the red line deviate and we have to pick which one to follow, the book or the GPS.
Our third method are the signs that mark the entire route. At nearly every turn there are signs pointing out which way our route goes. I would rely totally on these, except if I miss one and get off route it can be confusing to remember the last time I saw a sign and then backtrack to get on the right path. But, equally confusing, is when the book, the GPS and the signs all disagree. Then we have to decide which to follow, and hope they all come together again at some point in the distance.
Today, as we entered our largest city to date, Basel, the number of turns and chances for taking a wrong street or path multiplied, and often our three choices did not agree. We did a fair amount of backtracking today. All were short, maybe half a block or so, but those soon add up, and make for slow progress.
We left our campground this morning rather late, about 8:30 am. Our first destination was the Roman ruins outside Rheinfelden. The Romans, in their northward conquests, built a city here, complete with gladiator arenas, 10,000 seat outdoor theater, Parthenon type buildings and the like, in 50 BC. Our route goes right through the former city, so we stopped and walked through the differing structures, scattered over an area of a square mile or more (it was a full sized former city with a population of 20,000).
A couple of quick twists and side turns got us confused leaving the roman ruins, but we were soon on route. At a junction the signs pointed left, but the book and GPS said go right. We invoked the democratic process and went with the majority opinion, book and GPS. This led us to a road closure that required a work around and soon we left the book direction behind and were solely on GPS. The nice thing about the GPS is you can see where you are and where the route is taking you. Although nothing in the books descriptions match what we were cycling through and we had left the road signs behind long ago, we were sure we would end up in the correct location, eventually, the cathedral in downtown Basel. After a few miles book landmarks started matching what we were seeing and a little later the signs showed that all three were in agreement.
Basil is Switzerland's only port city, and the end of navigation on the Rhine from the North Sea. We saw low profile shipping boats slipping under the bridges as they moved up and downstream.
We did a quick walk through of the cathedral, a mini Notre Dame, then started cycling north. At Basel, the Rhine does a ninety degree turn and heads north, instead of west. We bid Switzerland goodby for the final time. Now the Rhine divides Germany and France.
We wiggled our way through the streets of Basel, past the giant Norvartis Pharmaceutical company and found our campground in the northern suburbs.
We got to talking with a 30 year old education student from London who was cycling for his summer break. He was headed for Milan. After a half an hour of comparing educational philosophies and ideas I turned to set up the tent. Meanwhile, Sally was over talking to an Irish couple camping in their motor home. His name was Ansley and I'm sorry to say I cannot remember hers. I met with them later in the afternoon. They were a scream! He was so happy, had such a sense of humor and was so kind and thoughtful. She sounded just like Shirley Valentine, from the movie. Sally told her so and it turns out it was her favorite movie, just like Sally. We recorded her saying lines from the movie. Instant laughter.
After we returned to our tent to cook dinner Sally told me that while I was in the motor home helping her to get her internet going, Ansley told Sally that he was dying of bone cancer. He said he had all the money in the
world, but now no time. He encouraged us to spend money and live life while we could. Both Sally and I were tempted to throw out the cycling plans and just travel Europe with these two. As they would say, "They were Splendid!"
It is July 31st. Just across the river from our French campsite is Switzerland. August first is its national celebration day. A cruise ship moored to the opposite shore had incredibly loud dance music blaring all afternoon. It could be heard for miles up and down the river. We decided no one could stop them because they were anchored right where Switzerland, Germany and France meet in the middle of the Rhine, so no jurisdiction wanted to take responsibility. I wonder, did they use GPS, a guidebook or signs to find their anchor point?
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