Ralph and I rode bikes to the neighborhood bakery to pick up rolls, fresh out of the oven, for breakfast.I borrowed Angelika’s bike and almost killed myself when I stopped and tried to throw my leg off, over the back. The bike is set up a little different than mine, and you have to get off the front.
After breakfast in the back yard, we got our stuff together and drove to Zons (“zoonts") a medieval walled town on the Rhine, about half way between Düsseldorf and Köln.
I have never heard of Zons before.
It is a nicely kept village, circled by intact, brick walls. The brick work is really nice, with arches and guard posts.
There are two gates into the town, and just a few streets on the inside. Some of the buildings are brick, some are half timbered buildings like houses along the border with France.
There is an old grain mill, part of a castle, several guard towers and two churches. It is very quaint, photogenic, and is the kind of place we seek out: lesser known, not really on the tourist route, old and quiet.
This fit the bill.
I think it would be a nice quiet base to stay if you wanted to avoid the cities and sleep in a small village and then drive in to explore Düsseldorf or Köln for the day.
We walked through the village, then outside the walls. It took about ten minutes to circle the outside of the entire village.
The windmill was spinning slowly, and some of the shops and cafés were open, but we walked along past the cottonwoods, looking over the yellow fields of grain being harvested, and up onto the levees built for flood control along the Rhine.
I love going along the big river, watching the long, low boats and barges moving up and down river. I think some day I would like to return to the area around Bacharach and spend a day sitting on this bench I know, drinking coffee, then wine, just watching the ships go by. Maybe when I am 93 and I need a rest day.
Today, however, we walked a ways along the Rhine, to where the car ferry crossing is. Sure enough, you can always count on the Germans to be reliable: there is a little beer garden there.
We pulled into a table and ordered up water and coffee.
Our next stop was Schloss Benrath, a “castle” that is really more of a French style chalet. It is kind of like a miniature Versailles; I mean about the size you might build as a playhouse for your daughter if you were rich, or a king, or whatever.
It is set at the end of an impressive, long and shallow reflecting pond, sort of like the Washington Monument. The Schloss is surrounded by woods, and there are a couple smaller gardens around it. There was a concert going on when we arrived, a sort of mix of American pop and old German favorites. Listening to their voices, they should really have been singing Abba.
We looked around at the statues, listened to some music, then walked around the front to have ice cream and coffee at the little café. The day was getting hotter.
We drove into Düsseldorf and parked down near the old city center. Some of the buildings are very modern, while others show the influence from Amsterdam and Belgium. We ended up down near the waterfront, then walked back into the core to Uerige Bräuhaus, which is Ralph’s favorite beer. It is not as light as the Bavarian wheat beers, but it is not malty either. It almost has a pale ale taste to it.
We walked along again, listening to a pretty good street band, walking by the canal, and looking in windows. Eventually we ended up at the waterfront again for dinner at the Goldenen Ring.
Gail had Grosse Ofenkartoffel, which is a baked potato, while I had the Goldener Ring Schlachtplatte with Nürenberger sausage, pork roast, kassler sausage, meat from pork knuckle, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. I did not eat the sauerkraut.
After dark we walked back to the car along the canal, then headed back to Neuss for drinks and to sleep.