Guiding Saar
Nipped back to the Europa museum as had to retrace steps from the campsite anyway.
Forecast is rain of doom, and though it did rain a load overnight, bigger problem first thing was the load of ants I seem to have attracted during the night.
Anyways, clouds are threatening but its hot, humid, sunny, windy.
Steady climbs out of the Moselle valley and over to that of the Saar, passing giant with turbines and a sequence of bizarre menhir based sculptures, somehow significant in the context of the old Germany France border.
Great view from up here of the dark clouds gathering, distant rain etc. A nice Luxembourgeuse? Lady I met at the top warns of " impending hurricane - aren't you worried about getting wet?" Well it just kept not happening, a few light drizzles maybe, as I made good time along the flat with a brief stop in Saarlouis. And then I stopped at a service station to buy some bread, and when I came out again 2 minutes later it was like a monsoon had hit.
Had a good chat with a German cyclist (a teacher of physics and engineering) also waiting the rain out under the service station roof, and then when half an hour later, the downpour slowed and blue skies emerged, continued on along the river to Saarbrucken . The riverside path is also unfortunately the motorwayside path for some of the way, but on the other side a mixture of rusting and functioning iron works, graffiti covered freight wagons, forest, massive locks.
After Saarbrucken, uninspiring apart from its river side beergardens, which are mostly not yet open, things get prettier, until I leave the river at Sarreguimines and head into the rolling countryside.
Didn't find a decent campsite so wild camped in a lovely peaceful quiet meadow!
Layers of sound
Quiet hilltop you say?
Crickets
Busy road in the distance
Music floating up from nearby village
church bells
Wind rustling the leaves of nearby trees
Closer by single car on a small road
Owl hoots
Jet plane
Dog woof
Still crickets
Always crickets. Its a white noise after a while. Or is there a rhythm to it, are they all in sync? Or am I imagining it.
After a nice morning packing up and setting off, the rain found me, waiting until I was halfway up hills with no prospect of cover before unleashing sudden heavy showers. Then letting me dry out before repeating the process. Until lunchtime anyway. Lunch being courtesy of Lidl, which is literally the only food shop open today.
Still criss crossing the border so often that have to check the road signs to have any idea which country I'm in.
And then I arrived in Bitche. Yes, with an eponymous citadel to boot, which refused to surrender during the Franco Prussian war, even after the rest of the fighting was over everywhere else. Interesting tour. And then onwards into more steep wooded hills and valleys of the Vosges du Nord / Alsace, and a string of mediaeval castles built on ridiculous precipices.
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