Unexcused Absences France 2015 - Week 5 Recap (he said)

France 2015 – Week 5 Recap (he said)

by Kent 21 Jul 2015

A quick look at the numbers at the end of this post confirms that we didn’t go very far this week. Metz is such a great place that we just decided to stay twice as long as our original three days. Of course the fact that you are supposed to pronounce it “Mess” takes nothing away from this fantastic city.

Sunday we just hung around the port, visited the covered market to buy some grilling meat, met our boat neighbors, and watched the street comedy routine “Slip Expérience” (underwear experiment) again. The port was a mini United Nations; from the end of the quai, in order, we had New Zealand, Belgium, Netherlands, Australia, United States (us), Canada, Germany, and Luxembourg. We totally bonded with the Australians Tim and Heather, in their second summer on their boat Chamamé, who were so much fun to hang out with. We had a happy hour Sunday that turned into a pot luck dinner that turned into a terrific evening on their back deck that lasted ’til 1am.

The “Slip Expèrience”

The underwear guys again

Roast chicken and potatoes at the market

Monday we hit the covered market again (more meat) and then did some actual work during the afternoon. Our friends from Dijon, Jean-Pierre and Marianne, drove up to visit and spend a couple nights. After dinner we walked about 30 minutes to a nearby suburb of Metz that was holding its July 14 feu d’artifice (fireworks) display on Monday July 13.

Fireworks in Montigny-lès-Metz

Tuesday we drove with Marianne and Jean-Pierre north about 40 minutes to the Luxembourg border, where we passed through on Après Ski in the middle of Week 4. We found a very pleasant 3.5 hour loop hike that took us up into the hills, past the cliffs, through the vineyards, and back to town.

Our hike near Luxembourg

After returning to Metz, the four of us invited Tim and Heather to join our dinner on the dock (we had an ulterior motive – Tim has a terrific BBQ grill), then settled in to the front deck of Chamamé to watch the Metz July 14 fireworks, which were actually held on July 14.

Dinner on the dock with Jean-Pierre, Marianne, Heather, Heather, and Tim

The fireworks were completely amazing, and it didn’t hurt that our parking spot was on the edge of the lake where they shoot the fireworks. So we truly had a front row seat. The display was right up there with the Dijon show we saw last year. If you plan to be in Lorraine in mid July, you really should watch the Metz fireworks. You also need to save a place for us at the dock.

The outstanding Metz fireworks

Marianne and Jean-Pierre left early Wednesday morning to get back to work, and after lunch Tim and Heather invited us to join them on a tour of the countryside in their rented car. At their suggestion we visited the American Military Cemetery of Lorraine, about 30 minutes east of Metz. This is the largest American World War II cemetery in Europe, bigger than the more famous one in Normandy. Very moving to remember that each of the more than ten thousand white crosses represents a person, each with their own hopes and dreams cut short by the Third Reich 70 years ago.

Lorraine American Military Cemerery at Saint-Avold

Thursday was forecast to be HOT, so Tim and Heather proposed that we join them and their car in their quest for shade and swimming. We found both on the shores of Lac de Madine, a big artificial lake in between the Mosell and Meuse river valleys. That afternoon, Tim expressed a pressing need to grill a huge steak, so on the way home we stopped at the supermarché for supplies, and on returning to the boats Tim grilled up the most amazing, incredible, delicious side of beef we’ve ever eaten. Always trust the Australians to know grilling. And somehow the evening again stretched until 1am.

The United States of America, proud of the achievements of her sons, humbly erected this monument as a tribute to their sacrifices and their memory

Sunrise Friday morning came a little to early, so we rolled over and went back to sleep until about 9-ish (and it was a bit more “ish” than “nine”). We said our goodbyes to Tim and Heather, who were planning to stay in Metz a few more days, and that afternoon we found blessed shade just upstream of the Pagny lock, a few hours cruising south of Metz. We were originally headed for Pont-a-Mousson, an hour farther along la Moselle, but the sight of a line of shade trees along a mooring quai was enough to stop us in our tracks; it was yet another 90+ degree day.

A first-century Roman aqueduct near Metz

Saturday morning we took it easy, then continued upstream to Pont-a-Mousson and stopped there for a few hours to provision and visit the local brewery (me) and go for a run (favorite wife). I also stopped into the Intermarché Hyper for a provision run, and on my way back I turned the corner into the main square and came face-to-face with hundreds of bike riders out for some kind of rally. It wasn’t the Tour de France, but it might as well have been. There were easily 500 cyclists in team jerseys, singing and carrying on as if it were one of the stages of the famous annual race.

The big bicycle race/rally/gathering in Pont-a-Mousson

Late that afternoon we cruised the final two hours to Millery, a rural pontoon on a side branch of the river. We grilled an amazing piece of pork we bought at the Metz covered market. Heather marinated it with her secret rosemary rub, and we cooked out on our little Campingaz grill. A terrific end to a fantastic week.

Week 5 Numbers