Marckolsheim – Colmar

In the morning we did some shopping to stock up on food and sunscreen because my fair skin had proved too delicate for yesterday's sunny weather.

At 10.40 we were heading back south to the path along the Canal du Rhône au Rhin. 40 minutes later we turned west to follow the Canal de Colmar to our next destination. Straight ahead of us we could see the apparently snow-capped peaks of the Vosges mountain range.

After another 30 minutes of cycling we passed Muntzenheim where we found a bakery with cosy outside seating next to an intersection. We stopped for a 30 minute breakfast.

Yet another 30 minutes later the Canal de Colmar meets the river L'Ill and the cycle path turns south parallel to the river before joining a major road into the city. Since this was the 6th day of our tour it was supposed to be another rest day, so we were happy with the 24km we had cycled today.

The cycle paths in Colmar are uncharacteristically patchy for France and it was no fun at all to make our way into the centre. With the help of my special cycle sat-nav we arrived at the central tourist information at around 1.15 p.m. and spent half an hour trying to decide on a place to stay for the rest of our holiday.

As we had noticed before, gîtes were mostly available in rural areas, but only rarely in cities. After our positive experience with the Montemps budget hotel in Strasbourg we finally checked into the budget ibis at 1.50 p.m. The hotel was located next to a very busy, multi-lane one-way street that was pretty difficult to negotiate by bike and didn't feel very safe at all.

The room at the budget ibis was a disappointment in comparison to the one we had enjoyed in Strasbourg – there was no dining table, instead of a separate bathroom there was only a shower cabin and the bed wasn't retractable and took in practically all the room.

We spent the afternoon walking around the centre of Colmar and had dinner at a restaurant where tiny tables were squeezed onto a narrow footpath next to the road.