Saint Avold to La Petite Pierre

I put on the new bike computer this morning and due to much laziness didn't leave until 9:20. It is sunny for a change I had to use a yellow road for a little while to get out of town, but it was quite wide and almost all of the traffic was going into town, not out. When I came to the town where I turned off onto minor roads again there was a monstrous climb to get up to the town :( 5 kph to get up it. Fortunately once at the top the road undulated rather than just dropping back down again.

I bought some groceries at the town of Insming but there was nowhere to sit for lunch so I rode on, very French with the baguette on top of the pannier :) I eventually stopped at a nice chair in the sun just outside of the next town. I had to change my plan here, I was too tired, I think I need a rest day. I hadn't realised the ride was quite so far today, or would be quite so hard. So no Col :(


Another set of nice quiet roads and I came to the town of Munster. It has a Gothic church, reminds me of Freiburg, a much smaller church though. Later I came to the town of Fenetrange, it used to be a walled town so I went into the inner walled area and there was a nice little 13th century church and a charcuterie. So I bought some pate (a la compagne maison) and sat outside the church and ate the last of my baguette. Lunch number 2. It was a bit too much pate but I finished it all anyway :) I went into the church for a quick look. I was going to take a photo of the nice stained glass when I realised I had left the camera sitting by the bike. Oops. Still there. I didn't bother going in again.


I had picked a nice green route to get me out of town and then a bit of a windy route. Just out of town there was a monster climb, but my route turned off here. Phew. Around a bend and an even longer climb :( At the top I stopped for a couple of photo's, now I can see why the day was so hard, I seem to be at a high point here. In the distance the mountains that are next to the Rhine. I'll be there next week for the tour!



I had a lovely descent then into the town of Postroff. Alas there was then a huge climb up through the town. Then a huge descent and climb into the next town and I think you can guess what came next :( One of them was a triple chevron, uphill that is. In due course I got to the town, looks very nice from a distance. I tried tourist info for somewhere to stay. There is a Gite, but there is no one there until 6 pm :( Only 12 Euro's too. Not worth the risk. The best she could offer was the camping ground. It is 3 K's away at the bottom of a huge descent. Not much use. I was thinking about a hotel, but 60 Euro again, seemed a bit much. Then I found a chambre/zimmer frei. Only 33 Euro. Not too bad. So I am going to stay there for 2 days, it gives me a good chance to see the town tomorrow.

The room has a very nice bathroom, no TV though. So after showering etc I went in search of a bar with a TV. I found one and managed to see the last 20 K's of the tour. Then I had a walk up to the walled town area, had a walk around, then I went for dinner. I had reduced the options to two hotels and in the end decided on the one which offered a menu with a regional speciality, a chicken dish. I think I have chosen one of, if not the, dearest restaurants in town. The menu is 28 Euro and of course with a drink it will be 31 or 32 Euro. Training for when Paul gets here :)


Before I had even ordered they brought around a very small plate with a tiny piece of chicken in a very nice sauce with some lettuce, tasty. Obviously an up market restaurant :) The entree was a terrine with salad and some vegies. There was even a bit of foie gras on top. I like terrines and that was actually what had made me pick this restaurant. It came with bread too, and they topped it up.

When I was ordering I decided to have some Riesling, after all I am almost in the region! I asked for a half carafe, I even pointed, she said a demi and I said Oui. However she meant a demi-litre, not a demi-carafe. I struggled valiantly but I couldn't drink it all.


The main was wonderful. It was chicken in this thick, no fat spared, sauce, with lovely tender mushrooms. There was also some pasta and these odd light little deep fried things. It turns out the deep fried things were apple croquets. They were quite nice but there was so much chicken and with the sauce it was so heavy I just couldn't finish the pasta or the croquets. So I couldn't finish all of the main or all of the bread either.


Then they brought out a small plate of 3 biscuits, I saw them earlier today they are a regional speciality, and 3 little meringues. I couldn't eat all of them now, especially since dessert was coming, so I popped several into my pocket when no one was looking :) Then came the dessert! The picture doesn't quite do it justice, there was a large wafer thing in the top and I'd already taken a bite. Delicious of course. After all that I needed a cup of tea and a bit of a sit before I left.

All in all 40 Euro. (39.40 but I left a tip!) Well worth it.