The Gasometer didn’t open until 10am so very fortuitously ( for Christine anyway) an inter club tennis match was just getting underway beside it.
This tank was built in 1928 to hold coal gas to power the Oberhausen iron works. At 117 metres high it’s the biggest in Europe , probably in the world because of course they don’t use coal gas anymore( to my knowledge ) It became obsolete in 1988 and by 1993/94 had been transformed into the largest , most spectacular exhibition hall EVER. The current exhibition is called ‘The call of the mountains’
The 2 bottom floors , dimly lit inside, told the stories of the most spectacular of earths mountains on these 3 metre by 2 metre high resolution photographs. Beside this one of Everest base camp was a heap of rubbish and a quote from Sir Edmond Hilary that this was the highest rubbish dump in the world.
Impossible to show properly but in the main body of the tank was a replica of the Matterhorn, suspended upside down !. A huge mirror under it made you feel you were floating over the top of the mountain. The light changed as the sun shone on it at different times of the day. UNBELIEVABLE!
“Hey we can see our bikes” we’d let the tennis players watch them for us
and that’s where our room for tonight is , over there somewhere past those 2 power stations
It’s only 20 kms away and mostly through little back roads. It’s nice and cool in the shade . 
cemetery’s are a nice cool place to stop for lunch and they are all beautifully kept. This one is a reminder of the bombing that took place around the steel plants on the Rhein. These are Soldiers, they all died around the 23rd of march 1945.! Historians ?
Aptly named for today. The Art Inn. Looks crap on the outside but nice and new in our wing. Christine’s ‘photo of a photo’ puts things in perspective though doesn’t it. At least we’re not sleeping on the side of a vertical rock face
Paris to Paris 