We are in the middle of industry now, consequently the scenery is somewhat harsher than it has been although there is still a lot of green space.
On Monday, 2nd after leaving our overnight accommodation, we rode the short distance into Wesseling town where we breakfasted in a little cafe before starting the ride to Monheim. We had to ride through the town and past factories and manufacturing plants to reach the river but once we got there we enjoyed the ride.
It didn't take us long to reach the outskirts of Cologne and had a long ride through a large wooded area prior to entering the city,
Managing to avoid the pedestrians on the embankment, some of whom tried desperately hard to get run over,
we were soon through to the north of the city and were having a lovely time until....an enormous Ford factory got in the way! While we were stopped, discussing which way we should go (there were no signs about), we were joined by a Dutchman and then the Frenchman we'd seen earlier at breakfast, who were also confused, so for 5 minutes we held a 'conference' between our little league of nations. Between us we found the way round and rode on until reaching the car ferry we needed to take across the river to Monheim, but before we did that, we called into the cafe by the water for sustenance in the form of coffee, apple cake and ice cream.
Once across the river we had another 5 kms to ride to reach our accommodation and after a rest and when the day had cooled a little, we strolled into town for a look see and an evening meal.
This morning, Tuesday 3rd, we were packed and ready to leave early, calling at a bakery/cafe in Monheim for breakfast and then setting off for a cool ride.
The path left the river and went quite a way inland, through a nature reserve, past more industry, through woods and when following a misleading sign we encountered our Frenchman who'd also been misled, we felt as though we'd met an old friend!
We rode together for a little while, across a grassy track
and through a small town and then, through busy Dusseldorf. A visit to the Tourist Info office resulted in a room being found for us in the old town and as Mike spent a couple of hours this afternoon finding a bike shop and fixing his broken bike stand, cutting into tourist time, we will probably stay here tomorrow night too.
While patronising one of the many pubs here this arvo, we had an interesting conversation with an Englishman who lives here...45 years ago he met and married a Dusseldorf girl and has lived here ever since.
Despite being a large city, Dusseldorf has a charm which appeals so we look forward to exploring tomorrow.
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