Col de Bussang - Villé - Bitche

Left this morning around nine, blue sky (at least a bit, at last blue skies!) and no one on the roads :)
Col de Bussang, Grand Ballon and co. here I come :D
As the roads were dry and empty, the road up to the Grand Ballon was a pure pleasure.
The last hundred meters to the top were a bit broken due to loose wild animals:

 Up there, a restaurant, Vue des Alpes it's called ... again ... and what a pitty, again nothing to see due to clouds.

I met a German women called Kerstin on the top, she was riding back to Hildesheim after four weeks of motorbike trip on her own. She and her GS Adventure went to Spain and back :) Lovely women :) we exchanged motorbikers forum and nicknames and wished each other a nice trip.

At that point, the GPS told me I would be in Villé before noon. Way too early to stop and yet so much to see in that region. So I decided to stop following my route and headed up for the Petit Ballon and some more Col's in the area.
Around 11h30, on my way up to Les Trois-Epis on the D11 the sky broke open and it rained gazillions of liters of water during two hours!
Very convenient name for this Col:

But even if it's bad weather, you have to choose :) :) :)

I made it to Villé around 14h00, a wee less rain and I was exhausted.
As I entered the town (back on route with the GPS) I encountered the hotel where I had planned to stay. Their kitchen was still opened so I decided to stop there, eat, take my time and let my gear dry up a bit.

Around 15h00 it was time to get back on tracks, the sun was still well hidden but the rain had stopped. I shortcutted my roadbook after Breitenbach and headed up for the D214 to get some air through my rain combi and try to dry things up a bit more. Very nice idea that it was, the D214 is a very nice and fast road (but yet very curved and with a great view).

Passed Niederhaslach the sky cleared up and the roads were drying. It gave me a smile again and started to feel like holiday again.
The D218 to Dabo was very nice eventough there were loads of loose shippings. Thank the French they always warn you before!
At 17h00 I made a short pause at the Rocher de Dabo were I had a very nice viw on the valley, with the lovely sound of racing motorbikers in it :D

 
The D98 to Lutzelbourg was brand new and a real pleasure to ride :)
The uphill from Saverne to the Col de Saverne (D604) is a pure pleasure, long and wide curves that allow you to go very deep with the bike :) habba, habba, habba!
The rest of the roads untill Bitche were a real pleasure too :)
I finally arrived here around 21h00, found a hotel after a while and really glad I could still have a meal :)

Planning for tomorrow: maybe go and visit the Ligne Maginot :)
If the weather is nice I might continue to tour a bit :) after all, I'm on holiday :) :) :)


(more pictures here: Motorbike Trip "Summer" 2011)