Sunday June 30th - Slightly overcast then sunny and warm, 15°C to 25ºC
Ian loves his Samsung Notepad
Jan dozes - too many early starts
Gare de Luxembourg - ready to rock and roll at last
Luxembourg cycle paths on lanes
Luxembourg countryside
Old train track down to Remich
Moselle vineyards
After lunch, vitamins for cramps
Promenading on the Moselle
Flanny off, sun on arms
Picturesque Moselle River
Dinner at the Kiste Kartoffel
We're on the Moselle (Mosel in German) River at last. No more trains for a few weeks. An early slow train from Brussels to Arlon and on to Luxembourg, then a cycle from Luxembourg across the plateau and down to the Moselle at Remich followed by a 50k cycle along the Moselle River to Trier where we stay at the Hotel Constantin.
Another early start. Awake at 6am. Pack, shower and Facetime/Skype home. No time for a coffee or tea before we leave. We ring Benjamin, who opens the back gate for us and we slide out into the backstreets of Brussels and I follow Ian through the maze of streets down to Brussels Zuid. We already have our tickets to Luxembourg, bought when we were in Brussels a week ago, so we head off straight to Platform 13. There's no way on to the platform except up the escalator. I'd love a photo as I try to hold my bike straddled across the escalator steps as we rise up to the top of the platform, but it didn't happen. Ian was busy holding up his bike as well.
We're greeted by a very friendly Belgiann guard who helps us load the bikes into the baggage car and tells us we still have time for a coffee. Ian orders 2 Capuchinos whilst I pay a quick visit to the Carrefours Express at the Station. It's so early, there's no bread on the shelves, but 2 apples, a round of President's Camembert, a packet of dried ham and that's breakfast.
Ian juggles the coffee's up the escalator and we find our seats on the train as it rolls out of the station. We have to change trains once, but not for 3hrs. Time to relax. The coffee's are pitiful. We decide that ordering half strength is interpreted as half a cup, but better than nothing at this hour of the morning. The apple, ham and cheese make a good breakfast when you're starving at 10am. Ian plays with his Samsung notepad, I doze. After 3 hrs we reach Arlon, the last Belgian town and change to the Luxembourg train - this is the easiest changeover yet. In 2 minutes, the guards help us off the train, across the platform and into the waiting Luxembourg train, and then suggest we sit in First Class to keep and eye on the bikes. It's only an 18 minute trip sitting in First Class but it's the helpfulness that's impressive.
Finally we're at Gare de Luxembourg and ready to cycle. After being trapped on the roundabouts at Charles de Gaulle Paris, totally lost in Brussels and stuck in the middle of the Mardi Gras in London, getting out of Luxembourg was a piece of cake. Probably because I didn't have a map, and we had to rely on Ian's GPS - so he thinks. In no time at all we are following the Saars/ Luxembourg cycle route out of the city. Luxembourg is quite high up in the mountains, so to get to the Moselle River was nearly all down hill. A couple of German cyclists explain the cycle path system and the small signs to look for, and we're away. We go through Hassel and a few other villages, all very prim and proper, before following an old converted train track down to the Moselle River.
After 30k of cycling, we arrive at Remich the Moselle River at 2.30pm. It's Sunday and the town is full of day trippers and tourists, but we manage to find a spare slab of concrete with a large anchor set on top, and spread out our lunch. In 2 minutes flat we've eaten. We were starving, so the photo after lunch only shows empty packets of ham, green mache, tomatoes, Camembert cheese and capsicum. But I need to take my vitamins - mostly Magnesium, Calcium and Multi B to prevent cramping after a long days ride.
There's thousands of people on this stretch of the river, many just promenading along the cycle track on a lazy Sunday afternoon. So after lunch, it's a slow start dodging people, but so nice. And the weather has taken a turn for the better - blue skies and a warm wind. The cycle path follows the Western bank of the river. There's also one on the eastern side, as we can see many cyclists over there. it's hard to know which side is better. It's all so nice. It's getting so warm, I take off my flannelette shirt, and roll my sleeves up. It's the first time in 10 days I've had sun on my arms.
I wanted a map. I like to know where we are going so I don't finish up like an American tourist who doesn't know where they've been, where they're going or what country they're in. So we stopped at a Texaco garage. We've been to Germany many times in the past, though not cycling, and I've found the language is not familiar and the people less friendly than France or Belgium. Frauerline Texaco just reinforced my views. "Achtung, Vot dhu yhu vont" she asks. I just want a map of the Moselle please. "Vee av a map of Shermanie. Dats it." I look at the map and see it's a scale is 1 to 1 million, about as helpful as a piece of toilet paper with a floral design. "Yhu vont it?" she asks. It's ok thanks, and I leave wishing the Moselle River wasn't in Germany.
The Moselle meets two rivers, the Sauer from the West and the Saar from the East, very confusing names, and together with the Moselle River, there's a cycle route called the 3 River cycle path. We're trying to follow these signs up the Moselle to Trier. A few times we lost the track, but it was easy to find our way back, given than all we had to do was look for a big river to follow. By 4pm and 20k still to go, it's time for a cup of tea, but of course we don't have our gas can to boil the billy, it was confiscated on the Eurostar, so we pull in to a little cafe and have a tea and coffee. I'd love a wine and Ian would love a beer but we'd never get to our hotel in Trier which is at least an hour away if we started drinking now.
The break and tea/coffee was a good reviver and the last 20k was just a beautiful trip along a very quiet cycle path along the river right into Trier. It was so nice, we could have kept going for ever when our Hotel Constantin popped up on the other side of the river. We crossed the bridge and go in. There's nothing about the German language that's familiar and it's difficult to know the difference between the entrance and the exit. But I'm really pleasantly surprised when the lady at reception speaks enough English to make us feel very welcome, shows us where to lock up our bikes in the car park downstairs, draws a map of where to eat and I'm hoping Frauerline Texaco from this afternoon is a one off.
The room is on the noisy side of the road. That's the minus. The plus is that it faces west and if we do our washing and hang it up in the room , it will dry really quickly. And so we do, and it does. It's after 8pm when we walk into the town where they have had a week long festival that no one seems to know what it is for. Our lady from the Hotel Constantin has marked a nice restaurant on the map - Kiste Kartoffel - House of Potatoes. We can't find it, and it's bedlum moving through the town flooded with people celebrating no one knows what. But a young girl takes us in hand and we walk with her directly to this restaurant in the main street. We would never have found it ourselves. It's like a big German beer garden spilled out onto the streets and they serve pork sausages, potato and sauerkraut done 119 different ways.
We sit down in the midst of the street party and Ian has a beer and I have a moselle and order Number 119 and 117 - variations of the same stuff, and then we realise that someone has forgotten the camera - not mentioning any names - I'm just the blogger. The meal is really German, and really nice. Such a change from ham, lettuce, tomato and cheese. I grab the menu so the photographer can take a momento when we get home.
There's only one way home - and that's downhill to the Moselle River and a walk along the river until we spy our Hotel near the bridge. We're full. And tired. But it's still daylight at 10pm, so I blog for a while and look forward to no more trains for at least two weeks and no more Frauerline Texaco's.