Day 21 – Which Country Are We in Anyway?

We’ve pretty much accepted that we’re going to be wearing all of our warm clothes and rain gear for the rest of the trip now. Last night I was cold, but mid-way through the night, found that if Viki and I sleeping-bag-spooned, it was just enough heat to be able to sleep. Luckily we were sheltered from the wind, so even though we could hear it howling in the trees, it didn’t buffet the tent like the night before.

Today was cold and windy and dreary. Virtually the whole day we followed canals on dedicated paved bike paths. At 20km we stopped (in France) for our last French coffee and pastries. At 35km we passed by the German city of Saarbrucken. At 60km we had German coffee and cake in Saarlouis (nice, but not amazing). At 80km we stopped in a bus shelter for lunch (delicious multigrain baguette from the bakery this morning with prosciutto and two cheeses). Some of this section we had a headwind, some a little rain, all relatively cold.

The most interesting part of the day was the final 30km. We left the canals and found ourselves climbing up through farmland on the French/German border. We found many stray fruit trees lining the dedicated bike path and indulged in (somewhat underripe) plums, apples, and pears. We battled fierce headwinds in a desolate landscape of empty fields and windmills in the hilly terrain between the two countries.

So we woke up today in France. We had afternoon coffee in Germany. We passed back into France in the hilly farmland. We crossed into Germany again just before Schengen. Finally we crossed into Luxembourg, noticing a huge jump in wealth and fancyness of the buildings as soon as we crossed the border. We’re camped on a cycle path right by the river, nicely secluded.

We hope to cross the whole of Luxembourg (~107km) tomorrow and be sleeping in Belgium!

Day 21 Europe Cycle Tour

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