Today was another wonderful day! Nice and warm, no rain, bright blue skies. We decided today we’d go south to evaluate the area closer to Switzerland for next year’s ride. The Rhine bike trail is supposed to meander from the Swiss Alps where the headwaters of the Rhine springs forth, across northern Switzerland into France before it slips into Germany and heads north.
Going all the way to Switzerland seemed a bit impractical so we decided we would go to the Strasbourg, France area. While looking at a map to see the best place to go, I happened to notice “Ligne Maginot Museum” near the Rhine canal where the trail runs. So we decided that might be a good place to start our survey.
It was a 2 1/2 hour drive down from the hotel, complicated by a massive traffic jam (“Stau”) in the area around Karlsruhe. 
But we eventually made it, crossing into France. The museum was a short distance outside the town of Marckolsheim and easy to find. 
A piece of history….. part of the Maginot Line, this museum was one of the actual Casements used by the French as their primary defense against German invasion. It was a huge bunker…. 28 soldiers manned this position in two shifts of 14 each. And one officer commanded this position. 
Interestingly, the father of one of the volunteers at the museum was stationed at the Casement. But fortunately, he was off the day the Germans invaded….. many in the casement died. 
Bunks for 14….. 28 were stationed in the Casement. They were “hot racking”….. two men shared a bunk.
Inside of the turret….. periscopes or binoculars used. This was a firing position of machine guns.
A memorial to the fallen…. French primarily but also to German 
Graves of the French soldiers outside the Casement
Examples of weapons used in WWII
More weapons
On the wall on the left was a device which would fire grenades at attackers (basically fired them down at the feet of attackers!). On the right, a matchine gun emplacement hopefully preventing any attempts to breach the entrance.
One of the bell turrets… note the pock marks from weapons fire.
The area around this part of France is relatively flat with hills to the east on the German side of the Rhine being part of the Black Forest. The Rhine is quite large, with locks to move barge traffic. It really is a beautiful area. 
We stopped in a nice village Weißweil for a snack. Found a lovely restaurant/coffee and torte shop with outdoor seating. It was loaded with people….cyclists, motorcyclists and walkers enjoying the day. 
Apfelkuchen (apple cake… not like Mom’s but delicious)
Rhubarb Torte
Then, after a nice day out, we headed back to the hotel. After cleaning up a little we walked to a small restaurant and enjoyed a bier and dinner. And they even gave us a complementary schnaps at the end!! 
Jägerschnitzel, closest meal and Spargel (asparagus) with Schnitzel, far meal
Time for bed now! Tomorrow we get our vehicles and bikes getting ready to head out for the ride’s start on Monday.