Kaysersberg

Our plan for today was to bike around the Alsace wine region on our nifty e-bikes, exploring the various towns, maybe tasting some wine, having a picnic -- and everything started off wonderfully before going awry at midday. But first: we bought breakfast from a lovely little bakery in Kaysersberg, a scenic old town.

Our apartment in Kaysersberg.

 We picked up our bikes in Riquewihr and headed out.

The entire area is set up for biking, with numerous bike roads and trails criss-crossing the vineyards. The views from the hillsides of the valley, the terraced vineyards, the old towns with castles and churches, is spectacular in every direction.

We found a town park in Hunawihr with a fun zip line and a soccer pitch (very grassy and unmowed, and a steep hill dropoff if you missed the goal by too much). We had a soccer ball from London and brought it  along.

And sadly, as we were biking down a gravel road to get back on our wine route, disaster struck. Steve's bike tipped over and he twisted his knee really badly as he fell. He couldn't walk or even put weight on the right leg. So Seb and I biked back to the car, checked in two bikes, and drove back to Steve, and then biked the other two bikes back to the rental place. And we returned home to assess the damage. Steve iced the knee and I ran to a local pharmacy for canes/crutches so he could have some mobility.

After a few hours, we ventured out again. Steve drove and the three of us biked some more beautiful countryside, making it to the town of Ribeauville. Seb called Steve and talked to him as he drove behind us for a section, which was sweet.

In the evening, Steve had made reservations for us to have a date night dinner at restaurant Alchemille in Kaysersberg. We had an 8-course tasting menu, with wine pairings -- all local wines, so we got to taste 6 different local varieties, and a very herb and vegetable-focused menu. It was spectacular from beginning to end -- wonderful food, wonderful service -- and the amusement of the excellent waitstaff trying to tell us about the ingredients and provenance in English (no one's second language is good enough to know the names of every last herb -- tansy?).

The "magic potion" (w herbs) that they gave us as a digestif.

Our wines, in order. It was a lovely end to a trying day.