Suzanne, Janos and I shared our final breakfast at Hôtel de la Cathédrale Metz, a very nice hotel with a wonderful and helpful staff. We said our good-byes with big hugs and promises to meet up again, hopefully before I return to the US in October.
My train to Paris did not leave until almost eleven, so I made a quick trip to take a long overdue look inside Cathédrale Saint-Étienne, commonly referred to as the Metz Cathedral. Mass was underway when I entered the ornate gothic interior and I did not linger long, spending most of my time in awe of the stained glass, which "range in date from the 13th century to the 20th century, and cover an area of 6500 square meters; the cathedral has the most stained glass of any medieval religious monument."
The Saturday morning market was underway across from the Cathedral so I took a quick spin around the wares, shopping with my eyes but not my wallet. I returning to the hotel to check out, running into Suzanne and Janos one last time before I was off to the Metz train station.
A last look at the western facade of the Metz Cathedral on a sunny morning
These modern stained glass windows of Chapel of the Holy Sacrament were designed by Jacques Villon, brother of Marcel Duchamp, and were installed in 1957
I arrived at Gare de Metz in plenty of time to make the two trips up to the platform – one for Vivien George and one for my panniers – and find my way to the bike car at the far end of the train. I was joined by one other cyclist in the old-fashioned bike car and and we worked together to secure the two bikes into the bike/handicap space. Harrad was from Germany and was embarking on his first bike tour – he’d recently been laid off from his long-time job at a Swiss bank in Luxembourg and was taking advantage of his six-month severance pay.
It was a nonstop trip to Paris, lasting just over two hours. As befitting the rest of this weeklong tour, it was raining when I exited Gare de l'Est. I donned my rain jacket and helmet and joined a stream of humanity as I made way across the city to my apartment in the 15th, my home for a bit before the next adventure begins.
