Day Trip in the Vosges

[sfwo79]

So last Sunday I took my F800GS from home in Stuttgart, Germany to the Vosges Mountains in the French provinces of Alsace and Moselle just west of Strasbourg. It was a last-minute trip so I was solo, and was out the door and on the road by 9 AM.
I took the Autobahn there, opting for the fast route through the Black Forest to Karlsruhe, then south to Baden-Baden and west across the Rhine into France. The weather was perfect and by 11:30 I was through Saverne and winding my way up a valley into the mountains.
I had picked up a local map that showed several very small roads that wound up into the mountains outside Saverne. These turned out to be forest roads that were open to vehicles that at one time served as access roads to some ancient chateaus, the ruins of which lay at various places along the route, usually atop sandstone bluffs that rose from some of the peaks. Barely one lane wide and a combination of paved and gravel, they provided a beautiful slow ride through the deep green forests.




After a couple of hours on the forest roads I hit some nice twisties on secondary roads and went in search of lunch. Rounding a corner I was stunned to see an old church sitting high on top of a bluff over the town of Dabo. As luck would have it, there was a restaurant up there that turned out to be popular with other motorcycle day trippers like myself and I enjoyed a nice meal in the company of other bikers that included some Dutch, French and Germans.





After lunch I hit the twisties again and rolled down out of the mountains. By now the temperature was pushing 90 degrees F and I was reluctant to leave the cool green valleys of the Vosges.

The Autobahn was a mess and I opted to take the old State road 28 across the Black Forest through Freudenstadt and back home to Stuttgart. It's a road I've traveled many times and it's a blast every time as long as you can clear the Sunday traffic.

Cheers,

Dave

[roadholder]

Very nice Dave.
I was lucky enough to ride through there years ago and really enjoyed it. Nice and quiet on the French side, yet equally interesting to the Black Forest.
Must go back!

[GB]

Great ride, thanks for taking us along

[JethroDog]

Dave's trip to the Vosges piqued my curiosity, so I made a late start on Labor day and headed to France from Mainz, Germany. I followed the same route pretty much and since it was a Monday I encountered barely any traffic. The castle road outside of Saverne (circuit de chateaux) was about 28 kms of single lane twisting pavement/potholes/gravel. I made my way to the Chappel du Dabo and snapped this picture at one of the highest points in the Vosges at about 600 meters. Nice ride!

[sfwo79]

Originally Posted by JethroDog

Dave's trip to the Vosges piqued my curiosity, so I made a late start on Labor day and headed to France from Mainz, Germany. I followed the same route pretty much and since it was a Monday I encountered barely any traffic. The castle road outside of Saverne (circuit de chateaux) was about 28 kms of single lane twisting pavement/potholes/gravel. I made my way to the Chappel du Dabo and snapped this picture at one of the highest points in the Vosges at about 600 meters. Nice ride!

Outstanding! Let's go back and make a weekend of it. There are more single lane roads to discover.

[IslandMonkey]

Rode through these regions last year. Thanks for the report.

[BusyWeb]