It was a hard first day. Trains and train stations and stairs and dance music and handlebars and pedals and panniers were not my friends. I’m sure the bruises will heal some day. All that matters though is that in the end I got to Metz. Seeing Suzanne and Janos at the station, meeting them in person for the first time, immediately made everything all better. Adding Susan to the crowd for dinner perfected it.
I don’t think any of you who have been following these three on this site will be surprised to learn how easy it was to be in their company.
During dinner we had to discuss what we wanted to do during our time together. We had already decided to change our original plan to ride along the Moselle to Trier, then return via the Saar back across to Metz. It had rained very hard in the area the previous two weeks and both rivers had flooded villages and bike paths. We were following the Barletts’ travails; they were a few days ahead of us on the Moselle and had a couple of hard days. The upshot was that we would start with an easy day ride north along the canals out of Metz, see how far we felt like going and then return. We’d figure something out later for the rest of our time.
After dinner, Suzanne and Janos retired to their room while Susan and I walked around Metz a bit. The light was wonderful so we were taking lots of photos while we learned more about each other, such as what subject did Susan specialize in? Horse viruses. Huh. I have a sister who studied chicken viruses. And off we went into the ins and outs of the academic world.
My apartment for the next three nights was adequate but not completely clean. To be fair, I’m not sure how much was dirt I and the bike tracked in. I decided to keep my shoes on. The rest of the place was pretty clean though.
Don’t forget to add the 300 meters to the Ottweiler train station.
Heading out to the Ottweiler train station to start the adventure. The first train left without me because I couldn’t find the bike car. But no panic - there’s always another one. Which was only a few minutes later.
On the next train. Not heard: the spectacularly loud dance music some youngsters were playing as they drank some beers. The start of this adventure has not been exactly restful so far.
I missed my next connection because of confusion about which platform my train was leaving from. I watched it leave as I got to the top of a set of stairs. Next one in an hour, no biggie. But that one was leaving from the platform I had just been on, I learned 45 minutes later. But eventually Big Red and I got to see the countryside near Metz.
Kathleen JonesTo Scott AndersonBy the grace of the Church of the Great Outdoors, I never did, this trip. I did play hide-and-seek a lot, though. Reply to this comment 5 months ago
