Weather much better today for our ride. We picked up the start of the Route de Crete, just north of Cernay, and followed this twisty mountain road as it climbed up to its peak of 1325m at the Grand Ballon. The road was quite steep in sections and had many hairpin bends. Some of these were paved with cobble stones and demanded Vince’s full attention. This road was a military supply line in WWI and provided us with breathtaking views of the valleys below and the distant mountains.
We took a deviation and headed down to Gerardmer, and stopped for lunch in this quaint little village. We had crepes for lunch and a group of teenage boys approached us and chatted. Only one spoke English but he enthusiastically translated our answers to many questions, to his eager companions. We headed east towards Munster, along the D417 and had a blistering ride! In Munster we stopped for coffee in the village square and chatted with 3 German riders who were keen to offer riding route advice.
From Munster we retraced our path back along the Route de Crete and headed South back towards Cernay, stopping to pay our respects at the Hartmannwillerskopf Memorial for French Soldier who died in WWI. Just under 1300 were buried in the Cemetery and 12,000 unknown soldier are interned in the crypts of the memorial.
