Alsace & Lorraine 3rd day Saverne

Again we set off cruising at breakfast time and took a walk between some of the locks, so a few photos of the boat making her way along at a steady 3mph. At the beginning of the trip we were given a sheet that listed all the locks and the distance between them so we could decide which ones to walk as we could only get on and off the boat in locks.

	White Egrets out in the field

 

An old boat has been set up as a kiddies adventure toy on the banks of the canal

Most of the old lock cottages are derelict but a few have been modernised and are still being used

We arrived at Saverne mid afternoon and left the boat for another excursion. As you can see from the first photograph there are narrow gauge rail tracks along the side of the canal, more about them later. Our destination for the afternoon was to Chappe Tower, the only remaining optical telegraph that was built in Napoleonic times and designed by Claude Chappe and was in use for 60 years. More details HERE.

Rail lines beside the canal

The operating mechanism for the Chappe Tower fully restored to working order.

Right next door to the tower is a castle standing on a high rock called  Château de Hohbarr this was built in 1100 and is some 460Mts above the valley floor.

The view from the top was quite stunning and you could see all the way to Strasbourg.		Here I am standing on a wooden bridge between two of the rocks looking down on the coach parked bellow.

The Château even had its own         chapel up on top of the rock

When we returned to the boat there was quartet playing on a boat just slowly drifting round by the quay side.   
  

That evening was the only night we didn’t eat onboard but walked to a small restaurant called  Le Caveau where we were seated in the cellar. The reason we went there was to have a local dish called Tarte Flambée which looks very similar to a Pizza but we were warned not to call them that. There was two between the 6 of us and we had 4 different flavours after which you could then have more of the one you liked best. None of us got as far as a 5th one but between us we did finish off all 8 of them with unlimited wine.

After the flambée there was still room for a small pud