May 1, or May Day, is an international holiday that I had never heard of until moving to Germany. It is a Feiertag in Germany - German Labor Day- and fell on a Wednesday this year. It was awkwardly awesome having a holiday in the middle of the week. It's just like, cool, I won't go to class or do anything productive this Wednesday solely because the German government says I don't have to, and so, I did just that. In fact, I don't even think I turned on my computer Wednesday, which is a major WHOA moment for me.
The eve of May Day, Maggie and I decided we needed to take advantage of the day, but the weather was looking a little iffy (welcome to Germany), but in spite of the forecast, we made plans to meet at 11 am for a bike ride to France. This was attempted once last year by our crew. We made it to the city center and decided our picnic was best fit for the Schlossgarten (aka we were hungover) so we basked in the sun with 1L wine bottles...but Alas! May Day 2013 was different and we were determined.
Biking is HUGE in Germany. Karlsruhe has bike lanes everywhere and most people I know do not even own a car. Between the bikes (a lot of people have multiple) and tram and train systems, it's just not necessary. There are also trails carved out all through the country side for longer hauls.
May Day 2013 in Karlsruhe was an overcast one with temperatures sitting between 48-60 Fahrenheit. Although I would have appreciated some sunshine, I was more thankful for no rain. We decided to set out for a bike ride to Lauterbourg, France around 11 am, which means we ended up leaving just after noon. The trip originally included just Maggie and me, but the Freund decided to join us for the first part of the ride (and then never left). He picked up the pace of the trip a little, which was probably good because otherwise Maggie and I may have never left the first beer stop. All-in-all, the trip totaled about 50 kilometers (32 miles).
A very rough sketch of our route: on the way there we biked over a Rhine River bridge crossing the Baden-Württemberg - Rhineland-Palatine border (two German states). On the return, we took a quick ferry across the Rhine.
Our first stop of the trip was about 18 kilometers into the ride for a Radler (beer + Sprite/lemonade) at the Lautermuschel, a restaurant on a ship floating on the Rhine River. There were also a ton of tables outside riverside and it seemed to be a very popular stop for bikers (and not the Harley kind), serving up a variety of fish and typical German dishes.
It wasn't much longer before we were crossing the French border. Earlier on the ride, Maggie had asked if we were in France yet and then quickly retracted saying oh probably not because Alex hasn't screamed and/or stopped for a photo. So of course, we were sure to get photos at the border.
Lauterbourg, France, our border destination, is a small town in the Alsace region of France, home to just over 2,000 people and some very colorful, wood-framed houses characteristic of Alsace.
And of course Lauterbourg had the famous Alsatian food, Flammkuchen (German) / Tarte Flambée (French), which I freaking love. It is composed of a really thin dough topped with a sour cream mixture, sprinkled with onions and ham, and cooked in a wood-fire oven until crispy.
Tarte Flambée Traditionnel at A La Charrue - Chez Gilbert in Lauterbourg, France
To mix things up a bit, we used a ferry to cross the Rhine River, the longest river in Germany, on our way back and switch up our route a bit. The ferry cost 2,30 € for a ride that took less than 10 minutes, but it was certainly a neat experience. There were about two cars, 1 motorcycle, and 100 bikes piled on the ferry that seemed to float at a diagonal across the wide river.
In the evening, we rested our legs and watched Bayern München kick some FC Barcelona ass, and move on to represent the Bundesliga along with Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Finals (think: Super Bowl) in London on May 15.
What'd you do for May Day?
23 comments
That looks so beautiful!!! I love France :)
ReplyDeleteGreat to see you had an amazing Time!!!!
xoxo
How fun! I love that you just biked to another country.... that is awesome. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteLove your pics! You should've biked a little further to come visit me :)
ReplyDeleteI am not even going to tell you what i did on may day because it it nothing compared to yours. This is just flat out awesome and i can't believe you biked 32 miles. i'm moving in.
ReplyDeleteAnd now all I want to do is eat Flammkuchen. Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteholy cow, 32 miles??? on a bike???
ReplyDeleteare you secretly Wonder Woman in disguise? I bet the blonde hair's been throwing everybody off for years.
Flammkuchen is SOOOO good! I only had in once while I was in Germany, and i'm seriously regretting not eating it more. I miss the bike trails too! Oh, and beergartens. I pretty much miss everything about that country, LOL. So happy you had a great day :)
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that you did this! INCREDIBLE!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that it's in the middle of a residential neighborhood - it's the same when you pass from Irun in Spain to France. All of the sudden, the words on the signs change!
ReplyDeleteOn May Day, I ate and drank and took a looooong nap. Work schmerk.
That looks so fun! I wish NBG was closer to a border so we could do something like that. I just love the idea of saying, "Oh, I'm going to France for lunch." Sehr cool. :)
ReplyDeleteChampions League Final is actually May 25 :)
ReplyDeleteSo cool that you finally biked to France!!! looks like it was a great day!
Looks like so much fun. I love all the small French towns! And I miss bike paths!
ReplyDeleteI live in The Netherlands; we don't celebrate Labor Day but we did celebrate King's day this week. Also; we have a lot of bikes and bike lanes. i too only own a bike ;)
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe you biked that far! I would have died! But I love that you got to see pretty Alsace and ate Flammkuchen! :)
ReplyDeleteso awesome!! goes to show im just one American stereotype -- not realizing how close germany and france are! but, that also applies to the good ol US of A bc when I moved to NYC I had no idea that people COMMUTED from a different STATE to work in NYC!! #floridaproblems.
ReplyDeleteLauterbourg is pretty, right? A bike ride is always fun (especially if there is no rain). Glad you enjoyed yourselves :-)
ReplyDeleteyay biking to countries!
ReplyDeleteWe did that exact same cycle trip once purely to eat Flammkuchen. It was my first time on a bkie for about 5 years and I genuinely thought I was going to die!! I'm still traumatised.... all those roads, with actual cars on!! Scary.
ReplyDeleteMad props, girl! Gotta love how close countries are in Europe- biking to a whole new country just sounds awesome in and of itself ;-)
ReplyDeletethat's so great!
ReplyDeletei wish i could bike anywhere here in indonesia,
bali is starting to get to biking, but still not that huge yet.
Oh wow! Is there no biking at all or just no long distance, using it as a form of transportation, biking?
ReplyDeleteNext time keep on peddling south until you reach The LPV. I'll have a glass of Rosé waiting for you :)
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine who loves bilking is hell bent on utilizing that 12 euro biking coupon of his. So I suggested he bike to France. Now of course, I don't know the directions, but I know someone who has done that before and guess what, she has a blog!
ReplyDelete