Heidi Hi

We have been off-line for a few days so lots to catch up on – the quick version is that we are fine and enjoying ourselves. We discovered the source of the Moselle last Saturday and have spent the week slowly following it downstream to Metz, where we are now.

The longer version for those with the stamina to read it!

Plan A was going jolly well till we decided to stop off at Nancy.  We didn’t really want to go that way, but the route from Troyes up into the Vosges to the source of the Moselle is quickest via Nancy.  A seemingly reliable Dutchman had recommended the campsite there, so it seemed an opportunity to tick Nancy off the list.  We arrived at mid-day all ready to get the bus into town, to find that there was a bus strike, so we sat it out in the crowded and not very wonderful campsite (in our view) only to find the next day that the bus strike had been (unexpectedly) extended.  It was so frustrating as we were only about 5 miles from town, but too far to walk sensibly and not good for cycling as the way back was steeply uphill all the way (a Dutch person said not to try!!).  So we shook the dust of the outskirts of Nancy off our feet and made for the hills.  The campsite gets the prize for most amusing health and safety instructions so far, which read: ‘if there is a flood you won’t be half as surprised as us!’

Just to prove Ray is on this trip

Across the Moselle

Maybe it was all for the best because we enjoyed glorious weather for the next four days, which we spent walking and cycling in the Vosges national park.  This is real Heidi country – even if she technically lived in Switzerland – all forests and meadows and log cabin houses.  You could just imagine grandpa coming round the corner with a bowl of fresh milk, which would instantly make everyone well again (I think the story was something like that).  The young Moselle actually flows through the camp site, and there is a 30 km tarmac cycle path (the now disused railway line) from the back gate, so we used it to cycle up to the source of the river;  the photos prove it.  Our last night in the Vosges was at a France Passion site at over 1000m, which in winter is the base station for a ski tow.  The views were incredible.  We did a lovely day walk from there (some serious up and down), spent the night camped in the middle of nowhere and felt very adventurous!

View from France Passion site

Next we followed the young Moselle down the valley to Charmes – it widens out very quickly, but doesn’t look very deep.  It has also been extensively exploited over the centuries for industry, with all sorts of canals, mills and navigable bits running alongside, making a real jumble of waterways.  Charmes is a very small town with, it turns out, an interesting history.  We called into the Tourist Info Office to ask about cycle routes and were invited to a special evening at the local eco-museum.  As it was just down the road from the campsite we decided to go, and of course we were the only visitors apart from the staff.  The guy we had met at the TIO was there, and a real enthusiast, so he gave us the whole tour in broken English - it was just as well we had got a late pass from the camp site.  But at the end of the tour we helped launch 15 lanterns into the night sky in celebration of 150 years of industry on the site.  The museum was the remains of an industrial complex that was partly built over a small canal that powered, firstly, a waterwheel and then two electricity generating turbines.  Originally a tannery, then an electricity generator for Charmes  -  the second ‘city’ in France to have electric lights (110V DC – so no change there then).  Finally, it was an engineering workshop and is still full of some very scary lathes and drills powered from overhead belt drives.  Along the way (our Franglais conversation stuttered here) it included a brewery, button factory and a few other ventures to boot.  So no one can say we aren’t sampling the French night life.

Moselle at Charmes