May 30, 2024
To Pont-à-Mousson
Today we began making our way back to Metz. Our destination was Pont-à-Mousson, a city on the Moselle River that was recommended by Michel, our water-bearing friend from Puxieux. It wasn’t a long ride, about 25 miles, and there was talk of a short detour to Lac de Madine along the way. Kathleen, Suzanne and I were making the trip on two wheels while Janos drove the car, taking most of our gear except the items needed for the day ride. The cloudy and cool weather pattern continued so we layered up for the steep descent down from the castle and hoped it would it warm up later in the day.
The descent from Hattonchâtel took us south to the small town of Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel where we stopped at a local bakery for provisions down the road. I was following about fifty yards behind Suzanne, thinking idly of nothing when I took note that she carried her single pannier on her left side while I carry mine on the right. That thought induced a series of neuron firings which led me to question if my pannier was on my rack. Sure enough, I stopped and saw an empty rear rack. I caught Suzanne and informed both her and Kathleen that I had to go back for my pannier, that they should continue on as planned, and that I might see them later in the day, perhaps before we got to Pont-à-Mousson.
It was only a four mile ride back to the castle, but one that involved climbing back up the hill, just over a mile averaging 6.4%, according to RWGPS. Also, there was the possibility that the castle gates might be locked and I would have no access to the barn and my pannier. I stopped in Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel and left a message on the hotel answering machine and headed up. The climb was fairly tame on the unloaded bike and I was soon staring at a closed and locked castle gate. Looking around, I spied an open delivery door through which I entered to courtyard, retrieved my pannier, and enjoyed my second descent into Vigneulles-lès-Hattonchâtel.
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I’d decided not to worry about catching up with Suzanne and Kathleen but to instead enjoy my ride and hoped they were doing the same. I did skip the detour to Lac to Madine, but stopped in Nonsard-Lamarche to enjoy my almond croissant in the sun. Yes, there was a little bit of sunshine that occasionally broke through the cloud cover. Suzanne texted me with their location, about three miles ahead.
The ride was quite enjoyable, rolling along on farm lanes through a variety of agriculture landscapes that included cows, flowers, more cows, and a variety of grains. The route dropped into the village of Euvezin and began a long gentle climb through fields of rapeseed and into a short stretch of woodlands. I spotted a bright flash of yellow ahead in the woods – Suzanne. I raced to catch up but gained little ground on her ebike. I let out a yell and when I got no reponse texted “I c u”, hoping she and/or Kathleen would hear the ding of a group message.
I’m not sure which, if any, of my strategies caught their attention but they stopped and soon we were all together on a lonely stretch of road in the middle of nowhere. We stood chattering away when a bright light appeared in the road ahead – it was Janos! He’d dropped off the car and had come to join us for the last miles into Pont-à-Mousson! We had a fine little reunion there on the road, munching on sandwiches and cookies, taking selfies and happy that the whole team was together again back on the road.
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Fittingly, the sun broke through just as our reunion celebration wound down and we got back underway. The multicolored spring fields were dappled in light as we made our way up to the village of Viéville-en-Haye and swooped down through Villers-sous-Prény to the river at Vandières. We joined the Canalway and made our way south to Pont-à-Mousson where Janos and Suzanne crossed the river to their lodging at the impressive and historic Abbaye Des Prémontrés. They’d booked the last room, leaving Kathleen and I to share a two-bedroom apartment located right on the river, almost directly across from the Abbaye.
There were a few navigating dead-ends trying to find our lodging, but our lovely hostess found us just as we were beginning to despair. She showed us the back way to the spacious apartment and gave us a recommendation for a delightful little restaurant across the river, a small family run established that took great pride in serving high quality and delicious meals. After dinner, Kathleen and I ventured over to the main square of Pont-à-Mousson, which was pretty dead on this weekday evening. It had begun to rain, a sure sign that our wonderful day had come to an end.
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Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 1,196 miles (1,925 km)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 2 |