June 9, 2023
Thionville to Luxembourg to Triers, Germany
It was our longest day on the bikes this trip, cycling 91km, but so beautiful beside the Moselle/Mosel as we traversed three countries- France, Luxembourg and Germany.
We started from the Thionville train station as we first thought we could shorten the day by taking the train 45 kms to the French border. Unfortunately, this train only runs on the weekends, so no break today as we pedalled away.
Over the pedestrian bridge one more time and north along the river. A little out of town we thought we could save time by cutting straight on the road, away from the river where it makes a big bend. But this time it didn't work in our favour: after a few km on lovely quiet paved roads, the route turned onto a horrid bumpy track and then dead-ended in a newly ploughed field. After backtracking, then working out a new route we had a few unpleasant km on a busy road trying to make up time before we gladly returned to the Voie Bleue beside the river for our last great cycling on dedicated paths after six weeks in France.
We hadn’t realized until looking more closely at the map, that the Voie Bleue goes through Luxembourg. It added some spice to our day as who doesn’t like exploring a new country, even if it is only a couple of hours! And it was different from France. Our first stop crossing the border was the town of Schengen.
The largest settlement within the commune of Schengen is Remerschen after which the commune used to be named. The name of the commune was changed in 2006 to take advantage of the Schengen's name recognition after the signing of the Schengen Agreement there in 1985.
By now temperatures were in the low 30’s so we were happy to find a shaded sitting area beside the river in Schengen to have our picnic lunch.
Cycling in Luxembourg from what we saw is ideal. We followed a smooth, paved, well-marked cycle path beside the river. On our left were hills with vineyards. Just beside us was the road and as we cycled along we went in and out of the villages and towns. It was idyllic. Luxembourg seems prosperous, clean and organized. We enjoyed seeing more river traffic; barges, day cruise boats, motorboats and swans. As an indication of their modernity, instead of a classic chateau, some of the vineyards had an architecturally eye-catching building, up on the hillside for wine lovers to visit, to buy wine and to sit, sip and enjoy the view.
After 20km we switched countries again and cycled into Germany. It was busy for a few minutes as roads and traffic converged at the border. We were surprised to find a police blockade stopping traffic and speaking to drivers. They ignored us cyclists and soon we were over the river and spinning along the east side the last 16 km to Trier.
We are excited to be back to Trier and this part of the Mosel once again as we cycled it in 2018, our last summer cycle trip before retiring. There were tons of cyclists out, the Lycra crowd, families and couples and many were on e-bikes.
When we left France our cellular data didn’t follow us, so we arrived in Trier, lost, looking for a map and a phone store for new SIM cards. Good thing we remembered to look for those analogue signs and made our way downtown. Success!
A quick stop for groceries to be sure that we arrived at the campground before 7pm closing and zoomed across the river from the city. Ah, we love France’s campgrounds but Germany’s are great too, sparkling clean facilities and organized. As we were biking over the Roman Bridge to the campground, we suddenly remembered exactly how to get there and found the turnoff to the bike path. Check-in went quickly and just as on our previous stay, we found a prime tenting spot right beside the river. We had our tent up in no time and, equipped with access chips, strolled into the showers and then made dinner with a lively view of the barges chugging by and scullers doing their training runs right in front of our table.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 91 km (57 miles)
Total: 1,958 km (1,216 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 6 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |