Moselle to Mosel end to end September 2019

[scousebird]

When we stayed in the site at Metz the aire outside was disgusting and occupied by some old caravans and some badly home made crusty vans, it was very dirty and unkempt.

While on the site we dog sat for a Dutch lady who was cycle camping on her own while she went into town for the post office.

 

[DavidG58]

It’s looking like we might just give Metz a drive through, looking for the next village beyond with quiet Aire ? and bread shop of course?

We do have a mixed forecast from here after today for a few days save you all rushing north for our sun ?

 

[scousebird]

It’s looking like we might just give Metz a drive through, looking for the next village beyond with quiet Aire ? and bread shop of course?

We do have a mixed forecast from here after today for a few days save you all rushing north for our sun ?

Metz is nice and the site was lovely, right on the riverside.

 

[DBK]

It’s looking like we might just give Metz a drive through, looking for the next village beyond with quiet Aire ? and bread shop of course?

We do have a mixed forecast from here after today for a few days save you all rushing north for our sun ?

Given the forecast for tomorrow I wouldn't advise coming to the site. It is dry and dusty now but it will be mud tomorrow. And the ground doesn't drain well. A UK van dropped all its grey water on the pitch before leaving this morning and there is still a big puddle there now.

The aire is hard standing but I think you might struggle with a long MH on the available spots.

 

[DavidG58]

Thanks both, not moving on till Monday now, will review as we move , favouring a village next anyway, only about 150 more Moselle miles to the source and a week left

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[cliffanger]

We went to the Metz site, booked in, we’re told which pitch we had. Was told No ACSI, and the cost was €21.60. We didn’t like the pitch - right under a tree with no sun. We went back to ask for another pitch (whilst watching a Dutchman hand his ACSI card over) and was offered one right amongst some UK travellers.... complete with white vans, shiny caravans and BMWs. We politely declined and are now sat on a lovely aire, outside Liverdun, on the side of the Moselle. sipping a white port and tonic!

 

[DBK]

We went to the Metz site, booked in, we’re told which pitch we had. Was told No ACSI, and the cost was €21.60. We didn’t like the pitch - right under a tree with no sun. We went back to ask for another pitch (whilst watching a Dutchman hand his ACSI card over) and was offered one right amongst some UK travellers.... complete with white vans, shiny caravans and BMWs. We politely declined and are now sat on a lovely aire, outside Liverdun, on the side of the Moselle. sipping a white port and tonic!

We were lucky I guess, got a level pitch with sunshine. A lot of the pitches are seriously sloping.

That's a nice looking aire.

 

[DavidG58]

cliffandger we will look that up as a good option for us for Monday night

You might find the ACSI card is only being used for identification, we have used ours twice for that on this trip, no discount, they have not even noticed yet that it is a 2018 card ?

Did you get your money back from the site?

 

[cliffanger]

cliffandger we will look that up as a good option for us for Monday night

You might find the ACSI card is only being used for identification, we have used ours twice for that on this trip, no discount, they have not even noticed yet that it is a 2018 card ?

Did you get your money back from the site?

I’d agree David, but he went out to his van to get his drivers licence!

Luckily we hadn’t paid anything. It’s probably a good site for visiting the city, but I think we’ve done with big cities for this trip. Weren’t over impressed with Trier, although the aires was ok, and only a cycle ride into the centre.

We head south tomorrow or Monday .....

 

[DavidG58]

A walk round Thionville today

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[scousebird]

We went to the Metz site, booked in, we’re told which pitch we had. Was told No ACSI, and the cost was €21.60. We didn’t like the pitch - right under a tree with no sun. We went back to ask for another pitch (whilst watching a Dutchman hand his ACSI card over) and was offered one right amongst some UK travellers.... complete with white vans, shiny caravans and BMWs. We politely declined and are now sat on a lovely aire, outside Liverdun, on the side of the Moselle. sipping a white port and tonic!

We liked the aire at Liverdun but the guy running the little Proxi (I think) was a right grumpy git ?

 

[DavidG58]

We liked the aire at Liverdun but the guy running the little Proxi (I think) was a right grumpy git ?

That will do for me then, no idea what a little Proxi is though

Next stop decided ?

 

[cliffanger]

We liked the aire at Liverdun but the guy running the little Proxi (I think) was a right grumpy git ?

Helen, what’s a Proxi?

 

[scousebird]

That will do for me then, no idea what a little Proxi is though

Next stop decided ?

Helen, what’s a Proxi?

A little supermarket chain.

 

[cliffanger]

A little supermarket chain.

Ok ta for the warning, although he couldn’t have been much worse than the Kamp Kommandant at Metz! She threw the rejected pitch tag on the desk when we said “Merci, mais non Merci”!

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[Brendan]

That will do for me then

Are you busy searching out all the grumpy gits this trip David?

It was great catching up with everyone, enjoy your travels.

Goodbye from me, til the next time.

 

[Garfields]

Ok not the Mossel but Monschau
We are on way home now will Monday anyway
Nice village but this was only photo I took with phone that I can attach
Enjoy your trips folks?

 

[cliffanger]

Are you busy searching out all the grumpy gits this trip David?

It was great catching up with everyone, enjoy your travels.

Goodbye from me, til the next time.

View attachment 333388

Lovely to catch up with you Brendan. Safe onward trip home, and I hope the skies aren’t too full of repatriated Thomas Cook Hollibobbers on Monday! xx

 

[tonka]

Are you busy searching out all the grumpy gits this trip David?

It was great catching up with everyone, enjoy your travels.

Goodbye from me, til the next time.

Yep nice to meet up Brendan . A good afternoon and evening of beer tasting
Safe travels.

 

[DavidG58]

Another beautiful day in our bit of northern France, moving on tomorrow still at Thionville today

Been for a walk today as some of Bev’s geo caches are on footpaths not easily reached by bike. One was on top of this random mound

Which I now know hides the towns sewage works, I spent most of my working life surveying such places so have an interest even though now retired

They have a viewing board explaining the process, virtually no smell at all, but that is due to half the process being completely covered over, something the UK could learn from

But hidden by the board was the geo cache, the paper you record on housed in this cute little plastic toilet

Something else the UK sewage system could learn from was this idea, the outfall instead of going straight to the river goes through this man made nature reserve, giving a final polishing treatment and a nice area with full public access

Back to the geo caching and a lovely little village

On our way back alongside the Moselle I noticed another number board, saw one at Riel, think it said 160 or there abouts , now at 267 which I now am sure in km from the mouth at Koblenz, only about another 150 km to go but doubt many more will be navigable

Back at MH for a beer , even on Sundays the commercial barges keep going by

Had this one yesterday on bike ride too long for one photo

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[DavidG58]

We have moved from our little holiday within a holiday that was Thionville municipal camping, not quite sure but we given this as we left by a very enthusiastic manageress

We were also very pleased with the bill for three nights with electrics €46 ??

We opted to pass Metz on the bypass but then picked the Moselle back up just below, stopped for basic provisions and went to Liverdun Aire for lunch an option to overnight

I tricky location to get to sat nag taking us to what I think is a newish road configuration to give a one way loop to the camping area and Aire, unfortunately not this way, so we turned round followed the diversion signs which include turning into town with a sign saying 3t limit except for buses

Took our chances and found the site and adjacent Aire, stopped for lunch but after I decided to move on , the Aire area is a bit drab, quite a walk back to town and it was raining, I think we had been spoiled at ‘our’ site with lively position and full sun

Moved on a few miles to Toul a chargeable Aire, full but with an overflow lay-by, quite close to a marina but Aire location not nice enough to want to stop

So we move on again, this time to Richardmenil, a potentially pretty little spot in woods next to a canal, that I think is now the navigable bit of the Moselle, little more research needed there

A disappointment of today has been that we can no longer follow the river by road, when we do get close it is still quite a sizeable river, with weirs and locks

This will make an OK overnight spot, although with hindsight either of the previous were maybe better

Covered another 87 road miles so probably more river miles, we only have one more page of road map to the source near Bussand, weather will play a big part on how many days we take from here

It is looking like the V power diesel does make a difference to our mpg, although the route has been hillier and twistier today so still could be due to that

There is a hint of sun in the sky, off to investigate the canal ?

 

[DBK]

We have moved from our little holiday within a holiday that was Thionville municipal camping, not quite sure but we given this as we left by a very enthusiastic manageress

View attachment 333908

We were also very pleased with the bill for three nights with electrics €46 ??

We opted to pass Metz on the bypass but then picked the Moselle back up just below, stopped for basic provisions and went to Liverdun Aire for lunch an option to overnight

I tricky location to get to sat nag taking us to what I think is a newish road configuration to give a one way loop to the camping area and Aire, unfortunately not this way, so we turned round followed the diversion signs which include turning into town with a sign saying 3t limit except for buses

Took our chances and found the site and adjacent Aire, stopped for lunch but after I decided to move on , the Aire area is a bit drab, quite a walk back to town and it was raining, I think we had been spoiled at ‘our’ site with lively position and full sun

Moved on a few miles to Toul a chargeable Aire, full but with an overflow lay-by, quite close to a marina but Aire location not nice enough to want to stop

View attachment 333910

View attachment 333911

So we move on again, this time to Richardmenil, a potentially pretty little spot in woods next to a canal, that I think is now the navigable bit of the Moselle, little more research needed there

A disappointment of today has been that we can no longer follow the river by road, when we do get close it is still quite a sizeable river, with weirs and locks

This will make an OK overnight spot, although with hindsight either of the previous were maybe better

View attachment 333912

Covered another 87 road miles so probably more river miles, we only have one more page of road map to the source near Bussand, weather will play a big part on how many days we take from here

It is looking like the V power diesel does make a difference to our mpg, although the route has been hillier and twistier today so still could be due to that

There is a hint of sun in the sky, off to investigate the canal ?

I think that will be the Canal de Est, which is the navigable part. On Google Maps the actual river has a few wiers so navigable by canoe only.

 

[DavidG58]

We have had a nice wAlk out to the village, I say walk, more of a route March which happened to involve more geo caching ? so took a lot longer than a 5km wAlk should ?

The village or possibly the town has virtually nothing, so typical of many French places now, a chemist but no boulangerie even ?

I now have some more info on the canal, we are parked next to what might have been the equivalent of a canal like a UK version, but now not used

But very pleasant

This is where we will reappear in a couple of hours

A steep path from the Aire that seems to be very new based on Marie notices along it’s route, takes you along the back of local houses with a nice view out over the valley

Then into the town

I like church towers ?

Then back down to a second canal, as John suggested canal de l’est, my google maps agree but the local notices call it something different and in french explain why it was changed but I can’t Remember why now and have even forgotten what they think it is now called. But it is the navigation route for the Moselle which is a few hundred metres away from us the other side of some lakes formed by gravel extraction

So back at Aire, gins poured and nearly drunk (the first gin I mean not us ?) ? early night and early move on, just looking at where to now ?

We are more jammed in here than we like to be, but that’s Aires for you I guess, free to stay, even free electrics which we haven’t bothered with, they ask for voluntary donation at Marie which will go to support local children, given how far away that is I doubt many do

 

[DavidG58]

We have driven 81 miles and are now parked at the source of the Moselle ?

Mpg is a bit battered today, partly normal diesel , mostly as I had no idea how high part of the Alsace region of France got ? didn’t expect so many skiing references that there around here

But we have just refuelled for only the second time since landing 9 days ago, a record lack of fuel used for us ? put premium Total diesel in this time

The next leg might be rather skewed as we definitely have gravity on our side for the first bit ?

A nicely presented feature, built in the 1960’s even with a stone channel to carry the flow for the first few yards, it then vanishes below ground under someone’s garden ?

This map shows the whole route of the Moselle through France, it also helped tidy up the canal names , close to where we stayed last night the canal l’est appears to merge with the canal de la Marne becoming the canal des Vosges a few miles south of last nights stop over ?

Just looking at this map we have inspiration for our return north, Brendan mentioned the Meuse as did DBK on his thread, it must be the longest river I had not really heard of , it virtually merged with the Moselle at Toul, so we will retrace our steps to there, then follow the Meuse back to Belgium

Just starting to rain here and forecast to stay till the morning so will head back a bit today

 

[DBK]

We have driven 81 miles and are now parked at the source of the Moselle ?

View attachment 334186

Mpg is a bit battered today, partly normal diesel , mostly as I had no idea how high part of the Alsace region of France got ? didn’t expect so many skiing references that there around here

But we have just refuelled for only the second time since landing 9 days ago, a record lack of fuel used for us ? put premium Total diesel in this time

The next leg might be rather skewed as we definitely have gravity on our side for the first bit ?

View attachment 334181
View attachment 334182
View attachment 334183
View attachment 334184
A nicely presented feature, built in the 1960’s even with a stone channel to carry the flow for the first few yards, it then vanishes below ground under someone’s garden ?

View attachment 334185
This map shows the whole route of the Moselle through France, it also helped tidy up the canal names , close to where we stayed last night the canal l’est appears to merge with the canal de la Marne becoming the canal des Vosges a few miles south of last nights stop over ?

Just looking at this map we have inspiration for our return north, Brendan mentioned the Meuse as did DBK on his thread, it must be the longest river I had not really heard of , it virtually merged with the Moselle at Toul, so we will retrace our steps to there, then follow the Meuse back to Belgium

Just starting to rain here and forecast to stay till the morning so will head back a bit today

There are some nice cheap and free aires on the Meuse in France. The bit where it flows through the Ardennes is interesting too and the bit where it flows into Belgium is probably the nicest part of that country. I suspect it gets a bit industrial further downstream but I would go and have a look. The Dutch like their gin.

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[cliffanger]

Lovely photos David. We’ve headed south. Staying in Avignon tonight then St Tropez tomorrow - definitely setting up camp for a few days.

What colour pashmina did you want from St Trop market on Saturday Mousy ? Maybe I can find a nice pearlescent one .......

 

[Just smiffy]

Lovely photos David. We’ve headed south. Staying in Avignon tonight then St Tropez tomorrow - definitely setting up camp for a few days.

What colour pashmina did you want from St Trop market on Saturday Mousy ? Maybe I can find a nice pearlescent one .......

You must stay and do Avignon Geraldine, we were there last week and it’s beautiful.... the noddy train that leaves from the palias des papes is a great way of seeing some of it....

 

[DavidG58]

Thanks DBK ? we are relatively restricted by return crossing next Monday night from Zeebrugge, certainly will not be going as high as Holland this trip

Before we set off we headed up to the col de Bussang hoping for a view, that has to be the most disappointing col I have ever visited , no view at all, everything around seems to be higher

For now we have trundled back down river for 46 miles along the main road rather than through all the villages as we did going up, annoyingly we have probably seen more of the river coming back down ?

Mpg already recovering ? mostly downhill all constant speed driving and now on premium , still no conclusive answers ?

We are parked up at a free Aire although CC suggested otherwise, there is no barrier and no pay point, so free it is, which also might account for why it is so full

Thaon les Vosges alongside the canal , I am presuming now canal des Vosges ? and it is full here, miles of it have been empty

We have noticed masses of this vegetation in this area, clearly not taken as seriously here as at home, it is Japanese Knotweed ?

Tea consumed, washed down with gin and route planning now commencing for tomorrow ?

 

[cliffanger]

You must stay and do Avignon Geraldine, we were there last week and it’s beautiful.... the noddy train that leaves from the palias des papes is a great way of seeing some of it....

View attachment 334243

Hi Garry - we visited it seven years ago, so will cycle in tomorrow to see if they’ve repaired that old bridge.

The last time we had to walk miles from the campsite to cross the river.

yodeli Frankie - we got this scratch card from Aldi. I’m dead excited, never having bought a scratch card in my life. Problem is it’s all in French!

Can you tell me which bits to scratch, and if we hit the jackpot , I’ll split the winnings with you! ?

 

[yodeli]

LOL ! If you win, I mean you know a good amount then .... give a bit to Katie Hospital!

Now you scratch: Jeu 1 (game 1) case 1
If you win something, you can either keep it and so stop there. Or you can choose to try and win more OR loose it all by scratching case 2 . Whatever you'll discover will cancel your previous win of case1. Gambling !!! lol

Then Jeu 2 (Game 2)
Scratch it and you will discover a 7 letters/numbers code that you will enter when connecting on www.anniversairealdi.fr when they ask you to. Game must be played before the 14th of October.
Careful if you win a big lot you'll be asked your ticket and original invoice of your shopping that day. So make sure you didn't throw it away!!!

And now for good luck (keep Jim away from here he's going to tell me off for swearing!) MERDE !!!!!!!!!!!!

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