Last night I had a good old chat with a Swiss guy who was pitched next to me. We talked about our travels and he was adamant he'd be up and away before me. I took that as a bit of a challenge and got all packed up and ready at the same time as him. I was on the road by 6am! He headed south and I headed north.

At that point, EuroVelo 15 actually runs on the other side of the river back in France. So I followed the river north on the German side until I could get across. I soon came across a big bridge, but I noticed there was a ferry crossing a bit further up. Ferries always trump bridges, so that's what I did!

When I got there I was the only soul around. It was still very early. Then three locals on bikes turned up and assured me the ferry would leave shortly. Which it did. So just 4 bikes and 2 cars turned up too. Just like yesterday's ferry, it was free!

Once back in France, I just followed the path. It ran mostly right next to the river - any visits to towns needed a deviation of a couple of Ks. I was thinking I'd do that at the next town I came to as I was starting to get pretty hungry. But then a town turned up on the route. And I was in Germany again! The change in signage was the only thing that alerted me to the fact that I'd just crossed a border.

I found a shop straight away and bought a big sandwich thing stuffed with all manner of things and an absolutely delicious apple pastry thing. Its name was far too long for me to be able to remember, but it was an 8/10!

After that I just kept following the signs (I also now have the whole route in my GPS too) for miles and miles. To be honest it was a bit boring, but I made good time.

My lunch came from a petrol station and was pretty good - proper sandwich counter thing in there. I ate it in the shade as it was getting really hot by now.

I'd picked a campsite based on the fact that it had the least bad reviews! All the sites in Germany seem to have really bad reviews - and these reviews are by Germans (Google translates them). The two I've been to so far have been fine, so maybe Germans just like to complain a lot!?

I continued towards Mannheim for the campsite in the afternoon, but it was on the other side of the river, so once again I got a ferry. That's three in two days! This one cost a Euro to use. Outrageous! It didn't even cross an international border!

I found the campsite easily enough. It's quite nice - right on the river. My only complaint would be the lack of shade. My tent will be like an oven by the time I get back to it later. It's still very hot.

There is a snack bar at the site, but I fancied something half decent tonight, so I've come to an Italian place and had some nice pasta dish with a side of salad to make up for all the chips I've been eating recently! I'm just waiting for my dessert, which is Tiramisu.

Tomorrow will be much of the same - bashing out EV15, although I notice there's a big bend in the river, so might take a shortcut across that bit.