Vosges in Spring - Advice Wanted

[Wapping]

Munster is certainly well named for a UKGSer tour to the Vosges

It also has the excellent possibility of one (or more) tourists pumping Munster into their GPS..... only to end up miles away in Germany.

 

[wessie]

It also has the excellent possibility of one (or more) tourists pumping Munster into their GPS..... only to end up miles away in Germany.

Heh. Apparently, according to a couple of friends returning from Germany there are 2 Hoeks in NL. One is "Hoek van" the other is "den Hoek" or somesuch. 100km apart

Going back to Munster in the Vosges. Further research shows the Hotel Bar des Vosges in the centre of town is run by a motorcycling couple and gets favourable reviews in a number of places. Nothing fancy, 2* Logis which is the type of place I like http://www.hotelbardesvosges.fr/index.php?Langue=En

 

[Rasher]

The Logis we used on this years Alps trip was awesome, punched well above it star rating and price point

 

[Wapping]

Heh, indeed.

There are, as a couple of punters on a Wapping Wander now know, two Agincourts in France....

One, spelt (to confuse Les Rosbiffs) Azincourt..... Famous for being the site of the great English victory in 1415 and reasonably close to Calais for a day out.....

.....The other spelt, Agincourt (to confuse Les Rosbiffs even more).... That one is famous for, um, nothing and is close to Nancy and Toul which (as any fule noes) are nowhere near Azincourt (or is it Agincourt).... It really is very confusing

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr...MrPRDZHyRzF1h06Qx8UJIw&vpsrc=0&mra=ls&t=m&z=7

Roughly 300 miles apart A push there and back for a day's social ride

 

[Wapping]

The Logis we used on this years Alps trip was awesome, punched well above it star rating and price point

Back on topic, following an excursion about places that are spelt or sound the same.

It's always worth checking the Logis website for suggestions, particularly if there is a limited number in the party. On the whole, reasonably good and a bit more fun that playing it too dead safe with a chain or 'Biker friendly' (whatever that means) British run guest house.... not that they are a bad thing, of course.

 

[Gipsy]

All great advice so far, especially the bit about the weather in the Vosges. As a region it has a series of local climates and can be seriously wet. Just a mention for Gerardmer, a largish town with plenty of hotels a lake with boats for hire, and easy access for the passes. If you're interested I've got a fabulous route cross county from Calais. French back roads with bends to die for.

 

[sven]

We stayed in Strasbourg in an Ibis right next to the lovely old town for about 37 Euros The facade of the cathedral was particularly impressive

The following day we rode the Route des Cretes as we headed down to Switzerland which was a fantastic road IMHO - much better than the Black Forest

 

[stolzy]

Case in point

Left Besancon for Basel this morning - 100% cloud, 14C, intermittent light rain. Vosges looked very wet as I drove past.

Arrived in Mulhouse/Basel to 21C 100% blue sky.

Back in Besancon this evening and still cool, cloudy and occasional rain.

It's only 100km from besancon Mulhouse

 

[Rasher]

I've got a fabulous route cross county from Calais. French back roads with bends to die for.

Indeed I would be, looking to have a few options for way in so we can make a call based on the mornings weather forecast. Probably going to be going from Verdun to Vosges and we can go around the left (Germany / Black Forest / B500) straight down the middle or around to the right.

Same goes for day out, if the Vosges look really bad and the Black Forest looks good we will head the other way and abandon the Vosges for another time, no point being silly about routes, although I want to show my postcode hugging mates some great mountain roads with hairpin switchbacks I would rather spend the day on lesser dry roads than fantastic wet ones!

All advice on routes / towns / hotels is much appreciated