The Moselle

Sun : 6^th July, 2014.  Where has this last week gone, I ask myself?  Mostly along the lovely Moselle River in Germany, I answer…but first, back to Saarburg:-

on Sat. 28^th June, where after a night of rain the day looked promising so we embarked on a bike ride along the Saar River.  It was an easy ride, or would have been but for the drizzle which began shortly after we left camp and accompanied us for the duration!  We stopped along the way to don rain jackets and continued on, reaching the lovely town of Kanzem only slightly wet through and after shaking off as much moisture as we could, ventured into a hotel/café for a warming snack lunch.  The rain had eased a little by the time we were ready to leave but became heavier as we rode so we were wet again when we returned to Boris and the rest of the day was spent indoors, staying dry!

Leaving Saarburg on Sun. 29^th June, we drove to Trier on the Moselle, weren’t impressed with the motorhome site there so carried on up the river to Schweich and booked in to the camp site there, a lovely spot overlooking the river.

A couple of hours after we arrived, we were joined by Shirley and Les from Luton, whom we met last year in Annecy, France. We have spent the week travelling with them along and on the river, by motorhome when we moved camp, and by bikes and ferries, staying a couple of nights in Schweich, two nights in Neumagen, just one night in Alf and two more in Ellenz. 

It’s been a wonderful week, cycling along the river and through rows and rows of grape vines, enjoying stops in lovely villages on the way, a cruise one day from Neumagen to Bernkastel and back, crossing the river by passenger ferries where there was no bridge and returning from one long, hot ride by ferry, meeting interesting people on the way including a northern NSW couple who’ve travelled through China, several Asian and eastern European countries and Scandinavia in the last seven years, Marcia and Kevin from the Nelson Bay area in NSW who have been on the road since last October, and an unexpected meeting with friends from the U.K. for Shirley and Les, and numerous people from various countries, all with a common interest.  Mike and Les revisited their inner youth with a toboggan ride at Riol,

 pronounced great fun by both, while we girls sampled the delicious ice cream,

 and we have eaten and drunk our way along just part of this beautiful river region. 

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and end it did this morning when we said auf wiedersehn to Shirley and Les, drove through Luxembourg which took less than an hour (picking up a tank of cheap fuel)and are now in Han sur Lesse in Belgium for an overnight stop en route to the west coast for the ferry trip to England later in the week.  It rained heavily not long after we arrived so we will delay our wander into the town until the morning.