We figured if they wouldn't leave we'd just take them with us, so we loaded Joel and Cindy's bikes on board so they'd have a means of getting back to their camper and headed off up to the lift at Arzviller, or Plan Incline as it is technically known. The "Plan" is a bit of a tourist attraction across France, as billboards all over the country are only too pleased to announce, and people travel the world to pay 3€ so they can see the likes of us riding up and down (for free) in a tub of water.
It was a markedly different experience today, compared to our last visit, when we all hid from the rain, peeking outside to wave to the throng, braced against the cold.
Today was a top-down meander through the forest, smiles and waves as the Arzviller tourists watched and cheered as we slid gently sideways up the hill, and when I asked the keeper of the tunnel if it was OK for us to wait another hour or so while we had lunch, the reception was so positive I thought he was coming to set the table.
French people have very civilised attitudes to eating, and since our guests had thoughtfully brought lunch along, it was the least we could do to attempt to follow local custom by spreading lunch out for as long as we possibly could, but eventually, when we could hold off no longer, we pushed them off to scoot down the hill to their camper, and cruised once again weightless through fairy land that is the bowels of the mountain.
Actually it was Cindy who inadvertently provided the best summary of the day. It was late morning, and a couple of the waterways authority blokes had trickled past on the tow path in the midst of some important mission or other, and she wondered out loud:
"Do you think", she mused as they passed ," they ever wonder why everyone on this boat is smiling all the time?"
No comments
Post a Comment