From Kembs to Colmar and Strasbourg

'Little Venice' in Colmar. The waterway running through is having repair work done so has been virtually drained - so not looking quite as beautiful as it usually does

We made it! After a hectic couple of weeks of long days and occasional short tempers we can now ease off on the pace and relax. The spectre of The Rhine is behind us and of course it was, in the end, nothing much to worry about. The locks, whilst huge are easy to negotiate as they have floating bollards. This means that you secure yourself to a bollard which then floats with you as the water level drops (or rises if you are in the unfortunate position of going upstream). My main concern had been the current, particularly after the recent storms and torrential rain. Our last stop before joinng the Rhine was Kembs where we were made very welcome at the port. The man living on the boat next to us kept us updated on the changing river level which he meant kindly but it just contributed to a similar rising sickness level in my stomach. The next morning it was still pouring so we decided to put off our departure for a day. A reprieve.
To cheer ourselves up we went out for dinner at the restaurant at the port. This is inside a beautifully converted peniche (large barge) onshore and is called, unsurpringly, La Peniche. The meal was excellent.
The weather wasn't looking much better the following day. The rain had eased but the cloud level was so low it obscured the hills on the German side of the river. However, a booking had been made for us to pass through the lock at 9am so we were committed.

Book a Rhine cruise and you'll be on one of these. First ship we met.

My fear that the Rhine would be as busy as the Dutch Amsterdam - Rijn canal with huge vessels roaring past every couple of minutes was unfounded. There were large barges but they were quite infrequent and there was plenty of room for everyone to keep away from each other. They did cause quite a bit of turbulence which tossed us around but nothing too unnerving.

The weather began to clear and it was almost relaxing

My other worry regarding the current proved to be a complete waste of nervous energy. We were moving along at a brisk pace but there are no obstructions to worry about on this section of well maintained waterway and the current drops completely away at the lock approaches.

Sharing a Rhine lock with a Dutch cruiser

-and another lock with a commercial as well

We decided to break our journey with a detour to Colmar, the capital of Alsace. The small canal leading there is little used and very weedy but full of bird life. One swan that we saw had 7 cygnets. There were hundreds of ducks - and virtually all female for some reason. We were accompanied by birdsong all the way so it was a most pleasant journey except for one thing. In the last lock of the day the keeper asked us to wait for another boat as she was about to close. They came hurrying in and, because they had weed around their prop, failed to stop and carried on straight into the back of us. Fortunately the damage wasn't severe.
The medieval town of Colmar itself was an absolute delight, its historic centre filled with beautiful, coloured, half timbered buildings which fortunately survived being damaged during WW2.

Narrow streets of Colmar

Then back onto the Rhine for a couple of hours before turning off for Strasbourg. We are now peacefully moored at the Bassin de l'hopital which is a very friendly club nautique close to the centre of this lovely city. This is the beginning of the summer festival and last night was the opening of the cathedral illumination show which everyone in town seems to have turned out to see.
We'll spend a couple of days here until we are joined by friends.

Strasbourg cathedral light show