Our day off in Luxembourg was a great delight. We all had no idea it was such an attractive city, much of it perched on a dramatic river valley. We left our bikes behind and went into the centre on the 192 bus from our campsite in  the suburb of Alzingen. We spend most of the day admiring the views from the Ville Haute. And we said hello to the sun which seems to have deserted us for the last few days.

Yesterday’s sun was short-lived. As we woke up on day 34, it was grey and drizzly and this was to be our fare for most of the day. Phil handed me the important task of using the GoPro camera en route so we swapped helmets to make this easier. It didn’t take me long to turn the camera on and watch Phil in action straightaway, even though it will take me a little while to get the filming angle right but I loved playing with the voice command control.

Our objective today was to reach the French town of Thionville situated on the mighty Moselle river. We could have gone on a direct road and had a journey of less than 20 miles. But in the spirit of Bath to Rome Phil preferred to follow quieter roads and byways and enjoy the ride rather than being constantly buffeted by speeding traffic. Soon we were on a great cycle route and the rain got worse –  even messing up the GoPro lens. And it became obvious I am still an apprentice with the GoPro.

It’s fun to ride with Phil, especially as he zooms up hills so much easier than me.

As usual we were prone to getting lost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlxwMehB6Ao

We left Luxembourg at the village of Mondorf Les Bains. We noticed a lot of bikes parked on roundabouts and in people’s gardens. It turns out this village was the start of stage 4 of the recent Tour de France. I knew I should’ve taken a photo. Soon the landscape changed and became more hilly – But we were given a big clue as to the way we should go. But still the GoPro was taming me and not the other way round.

Eventually we reached the big power station at Cattenom near Thionville. We were in good spirits despite the rain.

After this we hit the Moselle cycle path and cruised along the river bank to the campsite which is situated right by the water. While we recovered from our exertions we could watch the huge barges gliding by.