This is the way.

The Eurovelo 6 bike path that we will be following most of the way to Istanbul is one of 17 long distance bike routes that have been laid out across the EU. Each route has a theme, EV 6 is the rivers route as it follows the Loire, Rhein and finally the Danube river as it crosses the continent east to west. Somewhere in Romania we will be switching to the Iron Curtain Route to travel south to Istanbul. The paths are in different stages of development, the 6 is mostly bike path, is well marked and has lots of path side amenities like camping and ice cream shops.

Well it turns out that 50 days after Easter is Pentecost and Pentecost Sunday was yesterday but today is Pentecost Monday, a national holiday in France and Germany and Switzerland. With nothing open it will indeed be a rest day here in Basel. It will be good when the Holy Sprit finally settles down and stays in one place for longer than 10 days.

We are staying in the French city of Saint Louis which is right next to the German city of Weil on Rhine which is right next to Basel the Swiss city. There is officially no border between France and Germany and the Swiss are not staffing their border crossings. Last night we rode our bikes into an organ concert held at the Basel cathedral, crossed into and out of Switzerland like traveling from Rotterdam to Princetown. Tomorrow we leave on the way to visit my nephew who has been studying this past year at the University of Constance, and has graciously been our shipping address and resupply point for the first part of our adventure.

For the next 2000 km this is the way.