Phew, a bigger day than expected. We planned for 84kms, after our very relaxing Friday, and we had a good route along the canals. We even had a map from reception for it. We got up early, had our cereal and packed up, and head off about 10am.
Nice easy warm up for our day. Beautiful scenery.
It was easy to find the canal path, we'd done the reconnaissance yesterday, and away we went. Feeling great, the weather was a bit cool, but we warmed up nicely and cruised along for about 15kms before we stopped for morning tea. Oh, we'd already stopped heaps for photos and personal stops (me, it was cold, ok?). At this rate, we'll never get there.
One of the locks, it even has a couple of boats in it, coming through.
There were heaps of locks, getting closer together, we're going up hill. It was a gentle way to do it. We came to a road junction, and our awesome signs just stopped! Huh! This is not unusual for France. So we consulted the map, which did show a break in the cycle path, and was a bit confusing. At this point, Will says "We just need a rider to come by who can help us." And voila, he appeared.
Hey, Mum, they named a region after you, that's how good you are.
What a bridge. It's for the trains, pretty cool.
We showed him our map, and he directed us up the road where we would find the signs again, and they would take us to Sarrebourg, and then we could find the other canal path that went all the way to our destination. Great! Yeah, well, not really.
Found ourselves on the old canal, it was very pretty.
The next 10kms, through some beautiful old forest and what must of been the original canal, a very nice ride, still going up hill, and the old locks about 200mtrs apart. We went through a few small villages, that is when the rolling hills started. First through some farmland, some more villages (One called Bhul Lorraine, after my mum?), and some thick forested area.
Green, green and beautiful.
Rocky cliffs are a surprise in this forest area.
When we came to Sarrebourg, the signs stopped, and Dave GPS took us through the town, which was not pretty, bit scary, and we crossed the canal, got on the path, which seemed positive, then off that path, through some dingy back blocks, up a couple of long hills, and from there we stayed on the minor road D95.
Huh, wonder if it actually works?
The lovely rolling hills of France....enough now, really!
Searching all our devices, maps and Davo, we decided (after going through three or four small villages that where right on the Sarre canal), that the French had thought about this cycle path, and got as far as making maps for it, but not quite got to finishing the whole idea.....ugh! Typical of France. Nothing is quite finished.
Halfway up this mongrel and we paused at the prison....not for too long though.
It was very pretty countryside, and there was a little village every few kilometres, with nothing open, and lovely rolling hills.......up up up, down down down! Very tiring, and soon Will and I are saying things like " yeah, yeah, yeah, another field, yep, some more cows, oh another great view....pptthh!"
Bloody hell, it's still not the top.
There was nowhere nice in any of the villages to stop for lunch, and we were getting grumpy, so just stopped randomly on the side of the road in the long grass and sat and ate our rolls we'd made this morning. So good!
Onward we cycled, until finally we came to Wittring, and found the canal path. Yay! Only another 14kms to go. Ugh, we were both ready to stop, but there was no accomodation that we could find here, so carry on we did. There was a head wind, so we took turns in front as we were both tired.
Finally found the path along the Saar again. With 14kms to go.
Push, push, push! Not far now.
Yay, we made it somewhere we can stay. Happy days.
We managed to maintain about 22kms/hr and made it to Sarreguemines, just before 6pm. We located a little hotel in the centre of town, and carried our crap up four flights of stairs. Ugh, that was tough on the old knees. After showers, we went back down the stairs, and around the block to find dinner. Lots of closed restaurants, only serving "Midi" (lunch), and finally one who did dinner. By this time we're starving. We ate, had one beer and made it home. Slowly crawled up the stairs, and I crashed, straight to sleep. Totally knackered. Great day.
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