2005 - Greg's Europe Tour by Bicycle: Day 28: Wed 13 Jul

Ride: 76km

28 deg max, warm and fine

Fairly ordinary day as far as sight-seeing goes. Made it out of Nancy on river/canal paths and then onto busy roads. Like most of Europe the drivers were very courteous and generally pull right over to the opposite side of the road where possible. Out of Pont-a-Mousson I found a canal path but it was dirt and gravel and I don’t think I should have been there. Made one mistake by going down a dead-end but it was only 0.5km so no real harm done; there were no signs indicating it was a dead end so how is one supposed to know? On the minor roads, signs for directions and distances are very scarce/poor, many times had to guess and normally got it right.

My first impression of Metz was not a good one. However, I found a nice old hotel in the centre of the city for €52/night. I will catch the train from here to Luxembourg tomorrow. Watched the TDF on TV and fell asleep for a while and woke to see the finish. Decided I needed to go for a walk and as I did I realised that the more I saw of Metz, the more I liked it. Came across a big Military “do”, basically a extensive parade in the city streets of all the Military hardware. First an armoured group, then anti-aircraft, logistic support, etc. I walked on further to see a parade where all forces were represented in front a bunch of generals and dignities. I continued to walk around town, took a few photos, listened to a couple of bands and buskers and generally had a relaxing time. Eventually I’d had my fill so went back to the hotel and hit the sack a little after 9:30pm – late for me!