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period was over, for a while anyway. It wasn’t long before the skies opened unleashing the mother of a thunderstorm that lasted throughout the night. Although it wasn’t still raining in the morning, everything was saturated and the air was full of heavy damp mist. Our route took us through Titisee and onto the southern section of the B500 but no fun today, the wet misty weather staying with us across the Rhein, through Obernai where we stopped for lunch, over Mont St Odile, the Col du Donon and through the lower Naturel Régional Lorraine; a distance of some 150 miles, not lifting until we approached Verdun. We have visited our final hotel in Marre several times, it’s quirky, the owners are a delight and tonight was to be no exception. Unbeknown to us, it was Madame Hergott’s Birthday so she and Monsieur Hergott were sitting on an adjacent table enjoying a celebratory dinner with wine; plenty of wine and Champagne which, to our amazement, was opened with a kitchen knife! The cordial atmosphere warmed the evening and we wondered what was in store when John Parker asked Madame for another bottle of Champagne so she could teach Audrey the cork removing trick. Obligingly the Champagne arrived Madame placing it on our table in front of Audrey. Madame had had a few so we were surprised, concerned
even, when the ‘very large’ kitchen knife arrived. To much amusement and continued concern, she adjusted Audrey’s stance, her grip on the knife wielding it swiftly demonstrating the stroke and where she should hit the Champagne bottle to achieve a successful uncorking. Four minutes of hilarious tuition accomplished, Audrey went for it but only knocked the bottle over. A couple more minutes tuition and Audrey tried again, this time with much more confidence and determination and ‘wham’, off flew the cork, complete with the neck of the bottle, to rapturous applause. A great evening and great finale to a truly fabulous motorcycling holiday. We saw stunning scenery, shared wonderful experiences and rode some of the best roads Germany has to offer. Our thanks to John and Margaret Kidman, Malcolm Kentish, Vanessa Gilder, Kevin Davis, Roy Becken, Ron Luke, John Parker, Graham Lowe, Richard Nash and Colin Snow (Snowy) for making this such a memorable ride. Look out for Part 2: Higher Mountains, Steeper Passes and Great Riding in the February issue of TUG.
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