July 7, 2022
Trier - 9 Unesco WH sites in the city!
Perl to Trier today
We left Perl later due to the early rain (I am running out of excuses why we don't have to leave early!). We were out of town completely within 500 m - about 3 minutes - not the 20 minutes it took to get out of Metz. These smaller towns are definitely the way to go. The grapes started soon after the town limits. Luxembourg shadowed us all day on the other side of the river, and their side was SOLID grapes the whole way - probably due to the steep slopes providing good sun angle.
A thought here about the grapes and their value. They are planted everywhere. Above train tracks on near vertical rocky slopes (how the hell would you pick those?). They are in backyards, front yards, side yards, and for endless - and I mean as far as you can see to the horizon - fields of grapes. So what does this do to house prices (when riding, you have time to think of such things). Each smallish house here replaces ~150 grape plants by my estimate. Each grape plant produces about 1 bottle's worth of grapes - this was true in the Loire, it is likely more here as they use irrigation, but useful as an estimate. Say the farmer gets 5 euros for each bottle's worth. That means each house has an "opportunity cost" of 5x150 = 750 euros, since you could have planted grapes there. Not much you say, but its an annuity. You get that every year. How much would you need to invest (say at 4%) to get 750 euros? About 18,750 euros. So, not much really. My friend Sinan would be proud of me figuring this out, he loves doing estimates. Anybody see an issue with this calculation?
Our friends Lyle and Kirsten post great blogs of their cycle tours, and one item I always appreciate is the photos of the trails themselves, so that you get an idea. So you will see lots of trail photos on my blog too! This was the start out of Perl, we soon got to the Mosel. Train tracks to the right are a good thing, because trains are short (~4 cars) and whoosh past at ungodly speed, but rather quiet. Hiways are a bad thing, cause the noise is loud and constant.
I mentioned the plentiful grapes here, check out how many you get on one plant.
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2 years ago
After a while you get a feel for the labour involved in these plants. Across the river here (Luxembourg) you can see the exact row where the leaf trimmers stopped work for the evening.
The town below is on the "wine route" of Luxembourg, and that hill you see beyond the town is completely covered with grapes. I thought they were Riesling, but they are not.
It started to drizzle, and we thought that a light jacket would be a good idea.
That lasted about 1 km, and then rain started to come down and we put on the full regalia.
With our new idea of stopping for lunch, instead of waiting for our destination and being starving, we stopped in Oberbillig at a Gasthouse (Zur Fahre - meaning The Ferry; and right when we worked out that translation there was...a ferry coming across.) So I broke a rule and had a petite verre with lunch - okay .2 litres. I asked for a local wine and he pointed them out in the menu, they were all local. This region for about 10 km along the river, and on the Luxembourg side too, plants a grape called Elbling. Absolutely delicious. And I will probably never get to drink it again as it is only grown here, an extremely small area, and I sincerely doubt they export to Canada! I went for the halbtrocken - be prepared for winespeak here. Trocken means dry. Riesling (and this Elbling) comes in Trocken (dry), halbTrocken (half dry, or what we would call off dry), and Spatlese (sweet-ish). We typically assume dry is best, and I made that mistake for a while. But as the wines are a touch sweeter, they are much more flavourful. I think the "sweet spot" is the halfTrocken. Wonderful nose and mouth on the wines.
We noticed on the Rhine, and now on the Mosel lots and lots of swans. I have never seen so many. They are sure ungainly when they take off, dragging their landing gear in what seems desperation to take flight for a long way. But graceful in the water!
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2 years ago
You will notice that we took off the full rain gear fairly quickly, as the clouds cleared a bit, the temp went up, and the rain stopped after maybe 20 minutes. Can't complain at all, and these beautiful shade trees lining the pathway are a bonus.
We have a kind of rule that if you stay one night, you go functional. The Gasthauses have become my go-to spot for those short stays. You are really on the way to somewhere else. When you spend 2 nights, you upgrade a bit, and are probably in a town anyway. We are staying 3 nights in Trier, so ...our own private balcony! The Romantik hotel in Trier with a view of the Dom - another Unesco site - and of course that necessary feature - a/c!
We parked our bikes in a Fahradgarage, kind of an underground storage for bikes with a guard. Tomorrow I need to get out my bike and take it to a shop as the front brakes have developed a scraping sound. I think the discs just have some crud on them (that's a technical term), but without the tools, sandpaper, and solvent, I will just take it to a shop. Should be quick and cheap.
Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 1,171 km (727 miles)
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2 years ago
2 years ago