BR67 The potter's villages and the forest of Haguenau

Between the Haguenau Forest and the banks of the Rhine, the route takes the cyclist through green countryside before turning off to the west. After Sessenheim, where Goethe experienced a romantic idyll, you come to the 'Outre- Forêt' (the other side of the forest), a slightly undu- lating plain, with its typical villages such as Betschdorf, a centre of traditional pottery. The road is open until Walbourg, where it enters the Haguenau Forest, one of the biggest in France. This remarkable expanse of wood- land is hikers' territory, with the best known trail leading to the great oak of Saint-Arbogast, which has a circumference of seven metres. The route then leads to Soufflenheim, another town renowned for its pottery, where the famous Kougelhopf moulds are made.