Germany - Switzerland - Germany - Switzerland

We follow the Rhine as it flows out of Lake Constance, a beautiful clear blue/green colour and we are soon at Stein am Rhine: the best preserved of mediaeval towns untouched by allied bombing. We have breakfast here and find out when we get the bill that we are in fact now in Switzerland as the bill is in CHF. There were some clues - preponderance of army knife shops and Lindt chocolate in the Patisserie but we cycled seemlessly into our ninth country. We then cycle back into Germany as the border snakes around in this part. It starts to rain torrentially and we take shelter, the off road sections now soft and hard work. We then visit the Rhine falls a few kilometres out of Schaffhausen, which are incredibly impressive. After an early lunch in Switzerland we set off in heavy rain and manage to miss a crucial EV sign. Rather than retrace our steps up a long hill we decide to improvise, but after prolonged pedalling we find ourselves high (unfortunately) up in the German Black Forest. We manage to pick up the South Black Forest Trail which leads eventually to the Rhine again. It's now getting quite late so the search is on for somewhere to stay. Our first choice of possible villages turns out to be a nasty industrial town, so we nip across to Switzerland where we have seen what looks to be a quaint little village. The only place to stay is a ghastly gasthof next to a busy railway line, so we press on to Laufenburg. On the Swiss side the hotels are either closed or full, so we cross the bridge to the German side and eventually find a fantastic place right on the Rhine, with fantastic views of the river. (Gaienhofen to Laufenberg - 65 miles)