It was last November that Suzanne mentioned that fellow CBer Kathleen Jones would be coming to Europe in 2024 and was interested in doing some cycling. I was keen to meet Kathleen as she had always been someone in tune with the obscure references and jokes in my journals. After much back and forth, we found a week in late May to all meet up in Metz for a week-long tour. The original plan was to head up the Moselle River to Trier and return to Metz along the Saar River. If you’ve read Suzanne’s journal, you’d know those plans were tabled due to flooding. But the tour would continue!
After two days of laundry and journaling, Vivien George and I wound our way through the streets of Paris to Gare de l’Est, bound for Metz with a transfer in Nancy. The first leg was on a TGV with the old-fashioned bike space alongside the handicap seats. We were joined by a couple of other cyclists returning from a bike-packing trip along the Loire, but all went smoothly. As did the second leg – there were elevators for each platform in Nancy, the TER conductors had no questions regarding a bike ticket, and all of the other cyclists were most helpful in getting Vivien George on and off the bike hooks. I rolled out of the Metz station and greeted Janos and Suzanne with big smiles and hugs. I’d left them in Merida back in April and it was so wonderful to see them in good health and with working bikes.
At Gare de l'Est in Paris, ready to start another Cycle Blaze Meet-Up tour with old and new friends
Kathleen’s train was due in about an hour after I arrived and the plan was to wait for her at the Metz station. However, she had a bit of trouble with transfers (I’ll let her give you the details) so Janos led the way to our hotel where I checked in and spent the afternoon working on the journal, trying desperately to finish up the last tour. It wasn’t until dinner that we all were finally together, bonding over tajine and couscous on the terrace outside our hotel. Afterwards, Kathleen and I strolled around the Cathedral and along the Moselle, reflecting on our past and current lives and eagerly anticipating the days to come.
Kathleen shows off the rusty shutters of her hotel room. She was unable to extend her booking at our original hotel and so had to resort to some decidedly downscale digs close by.
