We were first to breakfast, again! In fact, no one else turned up whilst we ate. Sleep in Saturday in Germany it seems.

Not much happening outside either. You can just spot a man near the cathedral working on his chalk drawing.

We slid out of Cologne far more easier than we entered.

Nice forested paths providing some coolness to what was going to be another hot day.

We crossed a bridge around a port area, a side canal off the main river, stopping to watch this boat full of shredded used metal.

Bow thrusters pushed it in closer to shore, but it seems the river is quite shallow given the amount of mud being churned up.

We have seen numerous of these scrap metal boats today.

Nice church beside our river path.

Peaceful vistas across farmland to another village.

We stopped for a breather outside this closed pub, enjoying sitting in the shade.

Another flood marker. This pub will have suffered numerous inundations it seems.

Today we were on a lot of roads, as the path either does not go down on the flood plains, or there are alternative uses such as industry preventing river access.

In this village, we liked this statue.

Back in the open space we enjoy and prefer. One lonely poppy.

We rode smack bang through the middle of Düsseldorf. Not the nicer old town part, but the modern.

We did not enjoy our Düsseldorf traverse. It was slow, continually punctuated by red lights. Thankfully being Saturday there was less vehicular movements. However, there were cyclists and walkers out and about.

One of the bridges we crossed in Düsseldorf.

Another cute statue.

On the outskirts of Düsseldorf we pulled into a beer garden, seeking liquid and a toilet stop. As toilets are not plentiful again today, we become a customer and use their clean facilities.

Sitting outside we noted this barge transporting new tractors.

There is a constant stream of boats.

This is better. Peaceful.

I’m not sure what kind of trees these are, but we have seen many. They are cut back heavily and are reshooting. Bikes everywhere again today.

So many people ride here. All ages. Electric bikes are very popular.

Roundabout of the day, a global feature.

More open parklands as we approach Duisburg, our overnight stop.

A fairly industrial area, but some decent options overnight.

We are in a 14 story hotel. We have a balcony and given it is still 28C our washing drying beautifully.

Something new for us here in our bathroom. Adjacent to the toilet is this bar code capture. I clicked it and it is an interesting site with many different magazines and newspapers from around the globe.

We opted for an early dinner here at 5 pm and it was a superb meal. We sat outside on the terrace where it was still very warm.

80 km today. Tomorrow, is a longer day and we will end up in The Netherlands as we cross the border in the latter part of the day.

We are ready for bed.

A tasty breakfast and the promise of a warm day ahead.

This is the view as we woke, looking out from our balcony overlooking the Rhine River. The sun was riding behind the palace.

We fiddle farted our way out from Koblenz via the river path, inland laneways, a bridge, a caravan park, before finally settling into the route to Cologne.

The first part of the ride was not as scenic as the Moselle had been, primarily as we needed to skirt around many industrial sites.

Eventually cute villages returned.

We liked this statue outside a hotel.

Looking up the Rhine as the day heated up.

Chilling here and there. This seat was surprisingly very comfortable.

There are numerous river barges transporting cars, walkers, cyclists across the river.

We saw lots of castles on the far side.

Some nice distant rural vistas.

Statues of horses on a boat.

Fortifications and churches.

We spotted these castles high in the hill.

A closer view.

The large German city of Bonn was on our route today. You’d hardly have known as there was not a prominent riverside feature and we passed through as if the very outskirts of a small village.

We turned off to head to a supermarket to grab some lunch supplies, predominantly cold fluid as the temperatures were now in the high 20’s and we were sweating.

I made a new friend. Pooch was there when we arrived, and still there when we left which did concern us.

We failed to note the inappropriate writing in the wall at the time of taking the photo. Should have been in German too!

Riding through this forest for many km gave us cooling relief.

The locals were feeling the heat too. I have wondered just how clean the water is this far up the river.

The sand seemed quite nice. Not sure if it is ‘natural’ or a local council initiative.

Closing in on Cologne. You can just see the spires from the famous cathedral. Our hotel is very close to the Dom.

The last few km flowed well in a busy city of 1.1 million people. Good bike lane and road crossings.

The hardest part was the last km through hoardes of tourists taking up all available space.

There were a series of zig zags up a hill towards the Dom and I nearly gave up in frustration. Tight left hand and right hand bends and the tourists stood there just watching….not moving, just watching.

Got to our hotel, high fived, checked in, secured the bicycles safely.

Arriving in our room, there was a parcel with my name on it. Opened it up …a jersey from a local club, Tony’s favourite snacks. All famous German items.

Wow, later found a message from Marcus a local Zwifter who thought we had arrived last night and turned up at 8 am today to ride with us. Aaagh, wires crossed and we felt super bad.

He sent me a photo of his nice Trek bike outside the hotel. Marcus is a faster rider than us!

We then headed over to the cathedral, just 100 m away, and visible from our bedroom.

The photo does not do justice to the sheer size of this cathedral.

An aerial photograph showing the sheer size.

The site on which the cathedral now stands was once part of the Roman city.

The first church was built around the 6th century.

The cathedral is the most visited monument in Germany, and is free to enter.

Unfortunately for us, timing was an issue as when we arrived they were preparing for Mass, thereby limiting access to the church.

The church is 157 metres tall, and is the tallest twin towered church in the world.

Construction of the current church began in 1248 and continued until around 1560. Work did not recommence until the mid 1800s. The church was completed to the the original plans in 1880.

A few photos from our position near the cathedral rear.

After another Italian dinner, we were hunting for icecream as it was still 26c.

We went past the old Rathaus. At the rear there are extensive renovations under way and only this older section visible.

The tower was completed in 1414.

I need one of these signs. We saw this at the entrance to a local pub.

Back outside our hotel, there is this interesting fountain. Heinzelmannchenb is an ornate 19th century fountain commemorating a local legend about house gnomes!

Looking more closely at our hotel, you can pick our room! The Yaxley flag is flying.

We’ve stayed in lots of different overnight rooms during all of our cycle tours. I cannot recall any with this kind of ‘art’. There is also a Fruh shop at reception.

A bit more research revealed this is the local brew, with a long history here in Cologne. The original brewery can be seen two doors down in the photo two above.

So here we are. Day 8 and another 105 km, bringing our total to 797 km.

Hopefully we can get some sleep. It is super noisy outside still with activities and restaurants around the cathedral.

A solid day, lots of sights and water consumed. People often think that because we are Australian we are used to the heat. Aussie yes, but Tasmanians which is the coolest state….in so many ways.

❣️❣️❣️

Today we completed our ride from the source of the Moselle near Col du Bussang in France, to Koblenz in Germany.

It started with a trickle, and ended up a long, large river, 545 km in length.

The day started off warm, a word I’ve not used yet this trip.

We could see blue sky and the criss cross of the many aircraft overhead.

There were cute villages.

There were vineyards to traverse.

Roads and roundabouts.

Our route even took us up over Moselle villages.

More roundabouts with interesting sculptures.

Churches.

Long stretches of cycle path.

More villages, with castles higher in the hills.

Fancier castles. this is in Cocham. It is the largest castle on the Moselle. Historic artefacts dates a castle on this location back to around 1000 AD. The castle as seen today has been heavily restored, in the late 1800’s.

This pole pays respects to the many medieval craftsmen of the region.

Looking towards Cochem, a busy tourist hub. Multiple tourist canal boats, everyone else on an e-bike.

Interesting buildings.

Toilets have provided some issues along the river. For Tony it is easier, he just heads bush.

More castles and villages.

About 12 km short of Koblenz we were sweating. The temperature was in the high 20s and we wanted something cold. We found a kiosk but they only took cash, so we wandered over the road to the local pub.

We sat under a large umbrella, in a soft chair, and enjoyed a super cold bottle of carbonated water.

The flood levels from the Moselle are marked on the wall. Christmas 1993 would have been awful for the region.

Koblenz, our overnight destination is a larger city with lots of traffic. Interesting buildings but you can’t really appreciate them as you concentrate on what the traffic is doing, safety first.

I’d mucked up navigation with us arriving at a street with similar spelling, but …not it. So we wound our way down to the Rhine river, going the wrong way down a one way street, but on the footpath. Slow crawl but we got to the right hotel.

Annoyed with myself after 105 km, but hey, what’s 106 km!

After showering and laundering, with our washing drying on a sunny balcony with views directly to the river, we headed off to eat.

We found an Italian joint next door, demolished our main course and went walking.

A side view of St Castor cathedral, the oldest church in Koblenz, with the first church built in the 800’s, this one circa 1200’s.

The bells were pealing as we walked past and thought we’d pop in on the way back. Mistake as it was closed on our return.

Deutschen Ek, or German corner as otherwise known, is where the two mighty rivers meet.

Aside from that it is hard to miss given this massive statue.

The original statue of William 1, the first German Emperor was dismantled by the French military after WWII, leaving only the plinth.

Following German reunification a replica was erected on the original plinth.

These three thick slabs of cement are original sections of the Berlin Wall. There are a series of visual panels telling the story of the fight for reunification. Very sad stories.

Across the Rhine Ehrenbreitstein Fortress dominates. This current structure was built in the 1800s, but many earlier versions were constructed. It has never been attacked, and has served many purposes over the years.

There is a cable car from near our hotel across the Rhine that we took.

Looking across the two rivers. The Moselle to the right and back, Rhine to the left.

Looking to the right and the Rhine, where we head off tomorrow.

It is an interesting fortification, partly museum, partly ruins, partly current function centre and concert venues.

Have to finish today with this giant thumb. probably the ugliest thumb ever, placed in a random position. But thumbs up, another great day, 106 km ridden, to a total now of 692 for our first week.

Thanks for reading ❣️🚴😊

We smashed breakfast. The stern Egyptian walked through multiple times smiling at no one. Just get his coffee cup filled up. Coffee did not improve his disposition.

We ensured we had plenty of snacks for the day too from the breakfast bar!

Leaving I threw my rain jacket on, as it was spitting, but also warmer than the trip so far. I had bare legs for the first time!

Retracing our steps back to the bridge crossing over the Moselle River, passed by four tourist buses next to one Vikings boat. They sure fit a lot of people on those boats.

Today we rode through many villages. Weaving our way through narrow lanes. We fancied this sign.

In Pfazel there is an old Roman fortified palace, or sections thereof.

Interesting statue crossing the river.

Do you fancy some chemicals in your wine? A very imprecise science watching the helicopter dumping its chemical load, on the far side of the river, particularly given it was windy.

We stopped to stretch here, admiring the calmness of the river. Vineyards both sides of the river, interspersed by villages.

A local school project. These plots were planted by local students, whose names were on the sign on the left. Each had a little insect box.

Francis of Assisi overlooking his vineyards and rubbish bin.

So many lovely villages.

Interspersed with lovely vistas such as this. We were heading in this direction through the forested area.

This section of path winds its way through a vineyard. You can see they make the most of space, regardless of the slope.

A closer view of the sundial?

This narrow machine fitted in between the rows of grapes and cut the grass.

That is Tony ahead. I stopped here as it was a magic spot, little church to the left, wooded hills in the far side, grapes growing to the right.

The next village with narrow lanes.

Lots of places have wine presses outside.

Local hangout.

Villages and vineyards

The castle high in the hill above Bernkastel.

The Romans built a large fort high on the hill. The aim was to protect the valley from barbarians. under Frankish conquerors the fortress became a castle. It was then besieged, conquered and rebuilt.

I’ve taken this aerial photo from a Mosel tourism site as it highlights above the valley showing where we had ridden earlier. We followed the left bank here.

More villages and vineyards.

Multiple options for eating or drinking. We chose a small cafe and I ordered two hot chocolates. 10 euro cash only. I had 9.85 euro cash and nope, no 15 cent discounts. So I ordered one.

We rounded the final river bend and see our overnight destination Traben-Trarbach. Two towns, either side of the Moselle joined by one big old bridge.

We had planned to walk back into town after settling in but then it poured with rain and we decided to chill. then the sun came out but we still chilled.

Super friendly staff here, nice and welcoming, great room, good bike storage, great dinner.

Clothes drying. Socks, bra are drying on the heated towel rack in the bathroom. Everything was dry within a few hours.

Just before bed, I stuck my head out the window and that is the river lower left. Lovely coloured forest above the river.

Tomorrow night we will be at the confluence of the Moselle and Rhine having travelled its entire length.

Today was 94 km, and we have now ridden 579 km in 6 days since leaving Ben’s place in Switzerland.

Another super chilled riding day along beautiful pathways and villages.