Germany at last

At last we have reached Germany, and tied up at the Breisach yacht club, just across the river from France. Mulhouse proved quite fun, though it was hot and humid. After our barbecued chicken leg supper, we walked into town to observe a massive domino chain thing – two and a half kilometres supposedly, although we only saw the last bit in the pretty main square. It took 28 minutes to complete, but the last section, which was supposed to be set off by a tile falling from the church rood, missed, and had to be tipped by hand.

Dominos about to fall:

After that, back at the harbour, we were entertained by an extraordinary acrobat on a rope attached to a 100 foot crane over the canal. He did all kinds of amazing things, and then was joined by a female acrobat for more suggestive stuff, which climaxed with her pushing him into the water. All a bit strange, but plenty of people turned out to watch. Here they are in reheasal:

In the night, the weather broke with a big thunderstorm – lashing raise which tested the repairs to our forehatch, and fortunately there were no drips. In the morning it was cool and grey and we sailed at 8.30 with our French companions of the past two days. A couple of hours down to the Rhine, then north with a good current under the keel – fun to be travelling at 16 kph rather than chugging along at the usual 8 or 9.

Here’s a French tank, pointing East:

Here’s a little traffic – only 200 metres long or so!

Our French companions in the lock

Breisach