Yesterday afternoon Maria and Roland took us for a drive to Tossegg on the Rhine River. We went via very narrow, one vehicle sealed roads through farming lands. It was a beautiful meandering trail around individual farms. Enroute we saw a crop of wheat being harvested by a huge machine going up and down a field of about two hectares. The machine heads and discharges straw in it's wake. We often see such small areas being hand raked prior to baling. The loose straw or hay is then often loaded onto trucks and taken to a commmunity baling facility. On this occassion I think the machinery was undoubtedly a contractor.
When we arrived at the river the name of the location became evident by the descriptive map. Toss is the name of a smaller river which juntions with the Rhine and egg is the word for corner. There is a distinct bend in the Rhine at this junction which I think is caused by the force of water and sediment from the Toss pushing out into the Rhine over time and eroding the far bank. This is my theory based on observation only. It is important to know that the pronunciation of Toss bears no resemblance to the spelling.
The scene there was idylic even if there is no sand beach. People were out on the water on every sort of floating device. The arrangement is that they launch quite a bit further up stream from this corner and drift down with the gently flowing water. They almost always seemed to link up two or more floats and there was quite a party atmosphere on some with drinks and music. The water is a beautiful light aqua and clear to the bottom where it is shallow enough to see the bottom.
No outing with Maria is undertaken without a walk. The length of the walk has become a standing joke between her and Bob because her estimates are sometimes short of the reality. Today the River bank walk was generously shaded by the trees which grow down to the waterline. The path was fairly rough and very up and down. It was beautiful walking and watching the array of watercraft. We did not see any beavers although this is an ackowledged habitat. Frankly it would have been amazing if any critter was silly enough to poke it's head out with all the activity and noise. The return trip was a comfortable three kms and then Finn got to have his swim. My feet were cooled in the Rhine but that was all that were wet.
For dinner Maria and Roland prepared Raclette which is a traditional meal of grilled cheese served with small sausages and various pickles. After dinner M & R filled us in on their proposal for the coming week. Today we are going to see Erich and Caterina and taking Finn to catch up with his Dad. Tomorrow we set off for the French part of Switzerland to the the MidWest. Home of the Jura Alps and a wine region around Lake Neuchatel. This will be for approximately 3 nights and on the way home we may well go into Germany for some shopping we have in mind.
So more to follow.
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