This was another extra ride we had to do because we clearly had not done enough climbing on this trip. So…up we go into the Alsacien hills (Vosges) and vineyards on another sunny hot day. The climb was steady over 800m of elevation gain but doable without all our luggage.
We encountered many cyclists today and enjoyed the interactions, getting passed by the e-bikes going up but passing them on the way down.
A significant stop was at a memorial to a dreadful first world war battle between French and German troops at Linge. They were at it in the trenches for 4 months in 1915 and 17,000 soldiers lost their lives. It reminded us of the Vimy Ridge memorial, with much pause for thought.
Cycling down we got terrific views (“no view without the climb”) of the valley which comes out back at Colmar. We rested at a café in Munster (home of the “Maison du Fromage”) and I noticed two storks with their nest on a nearby roof. I thought this was cool as I hadn’t seen nesting storks on the trip. I got up to get closer for a picture and looking around I began seeing that storks were nesting on the rooves of all the buildings around us. It reminded me of that quiet scene from “The Birds” just before they attacked. Crazy.
Storks with their huge nests
A place marker where a body was recently exhumed from the Linge battlefield
The tallest hill is called le petit ballon. Le grand ballon is somewhere in the hazy background. They are so named because of their smooth rounded shape. Munster is below.
Another reminder of the ‘circus’ imminent approach. We rode today over part of the route.
German trenches at Linge
At the top of the climb with many cyclists and hikers
A relatively recent collaboration between France and Germany created a single home for multiple anonymous german military gravesites. A lot of effort went to identifying the fallen and putting names on the crosses
One of the beautiful buildings in Colmar from the middle ages
More storks…
geeteetravels 
I like the bicycle hanging over the balcony!
The bicycle “decorations” are everywhere around here as one leg of the tour de France comes right through here. We rode on parts of the route from Colmar all the way back to Strasbourg. See our last couple posts.