The best traffic-free bike rides around Grüssenheim

From the bridge over the Ill River in Illhaeusern, you have an idyllic view of the gently flowing Ill and are well worth a short stop. The village of Illhaeusern has just over 700 inhabitants and lies in the Upper Rhine Plain in the Grand Ried region, between Colmar to the south and Sélestat (Schlettstadt) to the north, at the confluence of the Fecht and Ill rivers. The Ill is 217 km long, its source is in the Jura Mountains, and it flows into the North Sea.

On the D4, just outside Muntzenheim towards Wickerschwihr, a bridge crosses the Colmar Canal, offering a beautiful view of the canal to the east, with the silhouette of the Black Forest and to the west with the Vosges Mountains in the background. The Colmar Canal is a branch of the Rhine-Rhône Canal and was opened on November 13, 1864, after approximately three years of construction. It was built at the urging of the industrialists and merchants of the city of Colmar to connect the city to shipping, as the original route of the Rhine-Rhône Canal bypassed Colmar. The 13.6 km long canal connects the Rhine-Rhône Canal near Artzenheim with the Ill River near Colmar. The canal served as a transport route for about 100 years and then completely lost its importance as a water transport route, first due to the construction of the railway, later due to roads and finally due to the construction of the Grand Canal d'Alsace in 1959.

The D3-I departmental road between Riedwihr and the junction with the D300, also a quiet secondary route, carries almost no motorized traffic and is almost like a paved field track. You're immersed in a more pristine cultural landscape and are almost entirely alone for the approximately 3 km long stretch. Not quite halfway along, at a field path intersection, there's a bench surrounded by shady birch trees, a spot that practically invites you to take a break. There's also a religious information panel with the heading "4. Le Calvaire" ("The Way of the Cross"), which explains the wayside crosses in this landscape.

These resting benches are mainly found in the Alsace region, in the Bas-Rhin department. They date back to the 19th century and are made of sandstone. On market days, farmers would carry their goods in baskets or panniers to the markets in the surrounding towns. To rest for a short while, they would sit on benches and place their goods down. The upper crossbar was particularly practical for the women farmers, as they often carried their baskets on their heads. Trees planted around the benches provided shade. There are two types of resting benches, "Bancs-reposoirs": - those erected in 1811/12, named after the "Roi de Rome" (King of Rome), to commemorate the birth of Napoléon-François-Joseph-Charles Bonaparte, son of Napoleon Bonaparte - those erected in 1854, named after the Empress "Impératrice Eugénie" to commemorate her first wedding anniversary, married to Napoleon III. More than 400 of these benches, made from the sandstone of the Vosges, were erected, and a few dozen still remain. Source: - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banc-reposoir_d%27Alsace Location: - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banc-reposoir_d%27Alsace#/maplink/122 - 48° 15′ 23″ N, 7° 31′ 40″ E - D605, 1 km south of Muttersholtz

The Canal du Rhône au Rhin is the connection between the Canal du Colmar and the Canal du Neuf Brisach, so it goes along the canal forever 🤪

This bicycle service station is located on the D468 coming from Mackenheim at the entrance to Artolsheim.

For a little snack between meals

Rathsamhausen, an idyllic little village on the Ill River, just outside Sélestat, is accessible east of Baldenheim via the D209 and west via the D721. The village owes its name to the minor aristocratic family of the same name, originally from Schlettstadt (Sélestat), whose castle was located in Ehnwihr.