Day 23 – Wed 02 Jul 14, Nancy to Metz (France)

Forecast: 12-26 deg C, fine and sunny; Listed distance: 64km; Actual distance: 72km; Cumulative distance: 977km; Av speed: 15.5 km/h; Nancy: 16 deg C, sunny; Metz: 36 deg C, very sunny; Wind: ENE, 6-8 km/h; Start time: 8am; Stop time: 2:10pm; Ride time: 4h34m

As breakfast cost Euro 9.50 each, we decided to pig-out to fuel the body for the ride ahead.  We were also fortunate enough to be able to make some lunch and sneak that out and even managed to sneak a chocolate croissant!  We were on the road by 8am, again and it wasn't long before we were on the canal cycle path which was a pretty good one.  However, given our recent experience on French canal cycle paths, we decided to not hold our breath for it to last.  Just as well, or we wouldn't be writing this!   The path very quickly turned onto a road, the D49, which actually wasn't too bad as far as traffic goes; and at least it was smooth.  About 10 km later, Mr Google Maps directed us onto a canal path from hell.  It was a gravel road with pot holes big enough to lose someone in.  And there were lots of them.  Then that became a very narrow path through some very close forest which was all a bit spooky!  We were so looking forward to an easy ride (Map My Ride said it would be easy) after the hilly ride yesterday.  Well, the route was slightly downhill and kinda flat if you take away the potholes.  However we stayed positive and enjoyed the sunshine, the birds, wild flowers, a very surprised snake and forest setting.  Anyway, about 20km from Metz, we stopped for some lunch and found a nice smooth, recently constructed, bike path that lead us all the way into Metz.  There were a couple of missing pieces along the way however.

Greg navigated to the hotel (Novotel Metz Centre) without any hassle and we arrived at 2:10pm none the worse for wear and feeling reasonably good about the day, albeit a little disappointed with French cycling infrastructure. 

After unpacking and doing a spot of washing, we wandered to the central station to buy train tickets to Reims.  We had decided during the day that due to the lack of cycle infrastructure in this part of the tour we would catch the train.  We were reliably informed that we could take our bikes and no reservation was necessary.  So we bought our tickets which cost Euro36 each which we thought wasn't too bad, especially as we are cutting out 2 stops and therefore 2 hotel costs.  Catching the train also cuts out 3 days of riding. These 3 days just happen to be 3 of the toughest in terms of 'hilliness'.  So Wendy was very pleased about that.

We then just took a slow wander back to the hotel and managed to stumble into a supermarket where we bought milk (you only get 2 tiny little UHT milks in the room) and beer (cheaper to drink your own and have a quiet drink before going out).  Metz is a lovely city with lots of ancient buildings and structures. It also has a nice feel about it with a lot of traffic-free streets, cafés and restaurants.  We have two nights in Metz so plenty of time to explore tomorrow. 

Dinner was had at a pseudo-Irish pub called 'Le Pub'.  All the wait staff spoke mainly French but we made our desires known and got what we asked for.  We both had fettuccine carbonara and it, together with beer, was good.

Lights out by 9:45pm.


Aqueduct of Jouy aux Arches - built to transport water over the Moselle river


Our Novotel Metz hotel room #318


The 19th Century Metz Central Station

Porte des Allemands (German Door), built in 1230

Porte des Allemands (German Door), built in 1230

Feeding the swans on the way to Metz

The Google Maps designated cycle path

Modern transport in Metz

Porte des Allemands (German Door), built in 1230

A covered restaurant walkway in Metz, and our dinner venue on the left


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 46 – Fri 25 Jul 14, Haarlem

Image
Forecast: 17-21 deg C, cloudy with showers and thunderstorms; no riding Just because we did not need to get up early, we were both awake before 6am, so had a cuppa in bed and then went downstairs for breakfast.   It was another good spread, but for a 4* it could have been a little better, ie. it could have a bigger selection of cereals than only 2.   There was a good selection of meats and cheeses though. The bikes stayed in the bike park today as we explored on foot.   After brekky we caught the train to Alkmaar to watch the world famous Friday Cheese Market in the 'Weighing Square'.   It first started about 400 years ago and the tradition has continued to this day, albeit with some theatrics for us tourists.   Judging by the enormous crowd it is a very popular spectacle.  In short, a whole stack of cheese is carried onto the square on a shoulder slung platform by blokes dressed in traditional kit.   The buyers then negotiate a price with the selle...
Read more

Day 45 - Thu 24 Jul 14, Leiden to Haarlem (the Netherlands)

Image
 Forecast: 16-25 deg C, mostly sunny; Listed distance: 33km; Actual distance: 40km; Cumulative distance: 1811km; Av speed: 13.2 km/h; Max speed: 26.3 km/h; Leiden: 20 deg C; Haarlem: 26 deg C; Start time: 9:15am; Stop time: 1:30pm; Ride time: 3h02m Another fine day in the Netherlands. We spent a while having breakfast this morning in order to kill some time before leaving for Haarlem.  We then packed up and checked out after 9am, which was a record late time for us!  We found our way quickly and easily through town to the outskirts and really took our time as evidenced by the slow average speed.  We also had a fairly strong side to head-on wind which was quite blustery and if you weren't on the ball kinda blew you sideways for a bit.   We stopped often to take photos and stopped for mornos in the town/village of Lisse (we purposely went via this place to see a castle and tulips; the castle was closed and the tulips had been reduced to bulbs - bugger!). We did...
Read more

Day 47 – Sat 26 Jul 14, Haarlem

Image
Forecast: 17-23 deg C, cloudy with showers in the afternoon; Listed distance: 0km; Actual distance: 58km; Cumulative distance: 1869km; Av speed: 15.3 km/h; Start time: 8:45am; Stop time: 2:30pm; Ride time: 3h43m As it was such a lovely day, we decided to ride out to the airport to make sure we know which way to go on Monday and don't get lost and then panic.   We were originally going to follow the numbers, but found an actual “Airport” sign instead and the route was much more direct and probably a better/smoother path.   At one stage we were directly under the flight path and stopped to watch a few planes come in.   We found the entrance easily and Greg then went to check on bike box availability.   As we were leaving we saw an Italian who was unpacking his bike to set off for Copenhagen and he was getting rid of his packing material so Greg disposed of it into his saddle-bag as it will be handy for us on Monday. On the way home Greg decided we should go via Ams...
Read more