July 6, 2022
Biked through 3 countries today....
France, Luxembourg, Germany
So! Our first ride along the Mosel river! Quite different from the Rhine, for sure. For one thing, there were so many little towns right on the Rhine, and along the Mosel, they are mostly back in a km or two from the water. So, fewer opportunities for a cafe latte as we biked. But first, a quick view of our neighbour from 1180 before we slept last night.
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After threading through the city for about 2.5 km on cobblestones and bricks, we emerged to our first view of the Mosel. Not so small!
The pathways for the most part started out very close to the river, and were paved. Yay!
Lots of sunflower fields along the way.
Mostly flat, and light industrial usage - quite a few barges plying the waters - and the Mosel has been split and there are several separate channels. Lots of bikers along the route.
An extensive lock system in play.
I started noticing these "balls of vegetation" on trees. They weren't specific to a tree: I saw them on Black Locust, on Willow, and on Beech for instance. We could not find any vine trailing to the ground. Any ideas? These were very common.
edit: I had a few people tell me this is Mistletoe. It uses a "haustorium" to burrow into the tree and suck out moisture and nutrients. It is a hemiparasitic plant, since it also has chlorophyll (you can tell by the colour green) so it also supports itself somewhat. Thank you everyone!
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If you look at the elevation profile at the end of this entry, you will see a "little" bump near the end. We have just finished that bump, and are heading down to the river, and entering the town of Schengen (of the visa fame), in the country of Luxembourg. We are excited, as that makes a sixth country we will ride through on this trip. Alas, we are in Luxembourg a short time.
Exiting Schengen, you see this sign which shows how close the two other countries are here!
About 500 m further, we entered Germany and the town of Perl, where we are staying the night.
This is a way stop really, as we plan to stay a few days in Trier (Treve in French), which is about 50 km from Perl. However, this Gasthaus is again quite nice - they are a hidden secret as they are much more cost effective yet give you all the amenities you need, usually including a restaurant, and are easy in/easy out cause they are in a smaller town.
I have to say that this segment of the ride was not nearly as picturesque as our previous rides, so a little disappointing. But the grapes have begun! Funny that in Metz (only 60 km by winding river away), when I asked for Riesling at the Citadel, they recoiled and told me "this is not Alsace!", so they gave me a mediocre local blend of Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc. Here, the little Gasthaus had 2 kinds of Riesling - a trocken and halbtrocken (more on this next entry) and both were good - and local!
Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,121 km (696 miles)
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