A few facts should be mentioned first, especially because we did not ride the whole Voie Bleue, but only a part of it - from Schengen to shortly before Dijon. Instead, we started in Koblenz and took the entire lower course of the beautiful Moselle.

• Length Voie Bleue Schengen - Lyon: 700 km
• Length our cycling tourKoblenz - Dijon: etwa 805 km
• Length of the section Koblenz - Thionville: 278 km
• Driving days of our tour: 12
• 3630 metres of altitude up and 3453 metres of altitude down
• Website Voie Bleue: https://de.lavoiebleue.com/
• Website Moselradweg: https://www.visitmosel.de/
• Continue from Lyon via Eurovelo 17 to Marseille: Eurovelo 17
• Dijon - Basel: about 340 km on theEurovelo 6

The metres in altitude sound a lot, but the Voie Bleue is as flat as a bike tour through Emsland. In large parts of the route, these metres in altitude are only reflected in bridge ascents and descents. Only between Corre and Scey-sur-Saône-et-Saint-Albin and on the detour to Dijon does the Voie Bleue make noticeable metres in altitude away from the river banks.

With its almost invariably low gradients, the tour is technically undemanding, and with its course away from roads on cycle paths and towpaths, it is also eminently suitable for families and senior citizens. Both the Moselle Cycle Path and the Voie Bleue are very well signposted. Accommodation should be booked well in advance in summer and at least two months in advance in autumn. Good places to start are Booking.com and Airbnb as well-known accommodation platforms.

Voie Bleue - how to get there?

The Voie Bleue starts in Schengen. If you want to travel by train from Cologne to Schengen, it takes about 4 hours. If you start from Koblenz, as we did, the journey time from Cologne to Koblenz is about 1 hour by regional train. From Frankfurt you can reach Koblenz by train in about 1 hour 30 minutes.

Voie Bleue - how to get back?

Important to know: If you travel to Lyon and then want to return to Germany via Paris and with the Thalys, there is still no bicycle transport in the Thalys.

Which is also possible if you have 4 to 5 days more time: You can cycle 340 km from Dijon along the beautiful Doubs river via Besançon and Belford back to Basel. The travel magazine Schwarzaufweiß has written a travelogue about this section.

How to navigate?

In the planning phase I had a very good experience with Bikemap, I even decided to pay for a Bikemap subscription for the trip, but in contrast to the easy-to-use website, the app is not. I didn't get on well with it on the trip. When cycling, unlike in a car, I don't use apps for left- or right-turn instructions, but to inform myself about the route section by section, because when cycling I don't want to look at a device, but at the road in front of me and the landscape around me.

And the app doesn't do this information function very well. The Voie Bleue website, which is available in four different languages, can be helpful for planning. And in retrospect, I also think it's quite possible to do the tour without an electronic map, only away from the Moselle and Saône it might be difficult.

And finally: we only went as far as Dijon, but the Voie Bleue even takes the traveller as far as Lyon, in the Rhône-Alpes region. From here, EuroVelo 17 along the Rhône even allows you to continue to the Mediterranean. And in a very comfortable way.

Instead of 10 a.m., we arrived in Koblenz at 12 p.m., because nothing worked in Cologne-Eifeltor due to power failure and the train then - after many breaks in which we had to let the important coal trains pass - the display in the train suddenly switched from Cologne-Koblenz to Cologne-Rehmagen. No announcement. Nothing. Then shortly before Rehmagen: "For technical reasons we have to end our journey in Remagen". No connection information, nothing. In Remagen no lifts functioning, no announcements on which track the next train to Koblenz is running. We practice French forbearance, it is holiday after all.

From the station in Koblenz, it is easy to get directly to the Rhine and is rewarded with a beautiful view of Ehrenbreitstein Castle. We turn left towards the German Corner. Before that, we stop at a plaque that is very significant to me: not far from the German Corner, Valéry Giscard d'?Estaing, who later became French President, was born on 2 February 1926. We have him and Helmut Schmidt, among others, to thank for the Franco-German friendship that was so important after the Second World War and for this friendship, including French lessons in German schools and German lessons in France, for the fact that I have been running this blog in three languages since 2019, with all the effort that entails. Unfortunately, in 1985 the city of Koblenz demolished the birthplace directly on the Rhine promenade against the protests of the citizens. We cross under the cable car to the castle and briefly I have to think of the cable car disaster in Wuppertal, better only briefly. The German Corner is closed and we don't get to enjoy this obstructed memorial that is so wrong in every respect, with its reminder of the Teutonic Order and the equestrian statue of Wilhelm I that commemorates the founding of the German Empire in 1871, which went hand in hand with the occupation of Alsace-Lorraine. More about this later in Metz. With Kurt Tucholsky, you can bear it:

From Koblenz we now drove up the Moselle, fully aware that autumn (September 2022) is harvest time and wine festival time. Besides the Rheingau and the Middle Rhine, the Moselle is probably the traditionally and internationally best-known wine-growing region in Germany. With 5,393 ha, the cultivation area is the largest Riesling cultivation area and the largest steep slope cultivation area in the world. In the six areas of Burg Cochem, Bernkastel, Ruwer, Obermosel, Moseltor and Saar, a distinction is made between 19 Großlagen and around 520 Einzellagen. The individual vineyards on the steep slopes along the second longest tributary of the Rhine (with 544 km of flow), which are bathed in sunlight for so long, are what make this wine-growing region so special, and connoisseurs can also taste them. Important for connoisseurs and oenologists are the soils of the Moselle wine region, which consist mainly of slate and only in the Upper Moselle also of shell limestone, which also visibly comes to the surface before Schengen, with its almost white colour. Hugh Jonson's great wine atlas devotes three pages to the wine-growing regions along the Ruwer and Moselle, with a focus on Piesport and Bernkastel.

The dominant grape variety on the Mosel, with 60.5 %, is Riesling, which tends to be more acidic, followed by Müller-Thurgau/Rivaner, which, with 14 % cultivated area, is so dependent on the slate to develop its fine note. Pinot Noir and Dornfelder, as well as the white and grey Burgundies, are relatively new varieties in the Moselle. The wine-growing region has to face the challenge of climate change, because the Riesling, the typical Riesling with its acidity, as it has been appreciated for a long time, does not like the warming of the climate.

The path along both sides of the Moselle is excellently signposted and we make excellent progress. My wife marvels at the steep vineyards, I look at the parched early autumn view and worry about the water supply for the trees on the steep slopes.

The layer of soil above the slate soils is thin, the summer was very very dry and so the trees above the vineyards look like a dried up version of Indian Summer, with the fresh green vines in between. How can that be, I am asked. It's because of the root system of the vines, because it has been proven that they can bore vertically up to 30 m deep into the slate-covered slopes.

At the end of the day, there was real Moselle romance with the Reichsburg near Cochem.

We got a simple but relatively cheap pension room in Ellenz-Poltersdorf, breakfast cool on the covered, historic terrace the next morning. Beautiful weather again.

Data: 

Places along the route: Koblenz, K-Rauental, K-Metternich, Güls, Winningen, Belltal, Kobern-Gondorf, Lehmen, Kattenes, Löf, Hatzenport, Moselkern, Müden, Karden, Pommern, Clotten, Cocherm, Sehl, Ernst, Ellenz-Poltersdorf

Overnight stay: Weingut Pension Hammes-Krüger, Weinstraße 13, 56821 Ellenz-Poltersdorf

Link to map: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10168806/

We were looking forward to seeing Ediger-Eller again and the sight of the ruins of the Augustinian convent of Stuben on the right bank of the Moselle, and in the most beautiful sunshine it turned out that way.

Ediger-Eller really is one of the more beautiful places along the route and it is worth making a detour into the centre of Ediger up to the parish church of St Martin. Behind the railway bridge over the Moselle, the Calmont, the steepest vineyard in the world with a slope of 65°, climbs to 378 m in pure southern exposure. The almost 300 m difference in altitude rises imposingly above us as we follow the cycle path below to Bremm.

Everywhere along the Moselle you can have a wonderful rest, but unfortunately the shopping possibilities are limited to the supermarkets. Vegetable shops, butcher's shops or bakeries are unfortunately not to be found.

The highlight of the day was the small ferry across the Moselle between Alf and Bullay, whose fare you only find out about once you're on board.

Later we stopped opposite the large camper van site in Enkirch and asked ourselves how one can voluntarily go on holiday in this way. Like canned food, one white motorhome stands next to the other, only those directly on the Moselle have a nice view, all the others, squeezed between white plastic, only look at themselves. Nothing for us, and that's good to know.

We spent the night in the Gästehaus zum Moseltal, a family-run business that doesn't have a big menu, but a nice terrace, its own wine from a top vineyard in the Erdener Herzlei, a small micro vineyard of only 0.4 hectares, with a very nice view from the terrace. For dinner, the hotel offered fresh chanterelles with ribbon noodles and it generated an advantage that the kitchen did not go for breadth but for freshness. It tasted excellent.

A very nice day came to an end.

Data

Places along the route: Ellenz-Poltersdorf, Nehren, Ediger-Eller, Bremm, Neef, Bullay, Zell, Pünderich, Burg, Enkirch, Traben-Trarbach, Rißbach, Koppelberg, Wolf, Lösnich

Overnight stay:  Gästehaus zum Moseltal, Am Moselufer 18, 54492 Erden / gasthaus-moseltal.de

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10168818/

After breakfast, a difficult conversation with the landlady: she is burnt out. The laundry company no longer washes the hotel linen. The cleaning lady has quit, but at 64 she can't still cook every evening, then make breakfast and do the rooms. And another 90 year old mother to look after. The food was very very good, but there were only 2 dishes - actually a quality feature, a relative served very nicely. I thought that was good about the few choices, but there were also loud complaints about it. She said that in Bernkastel-Kues you would no longer get a room for less than 5 days. That would be the end of hiking, cycling and stage travel.

Then we finally set off - who doesn't know the morning scuffle with the feet - in the direction of Ürzich, a place that is known beyond Germany for its single and large sites. I only mention the Ürziger Würzgraten with the Ürziger Maxberg, the Urglück or the single vineyard in the Kranklei.

After Ürzich comes the greatest disgrace that the transport policy of the old grey white men has brought upon the Moselle, the Hochmoselbrücke.

The day was very nice, wine festival in Bernkastel-Kues, but we got through that before it started. In between, very beautiful places and very beautiful views.

Behind Bernkastel-Kues, we finally found a regional butcher's shop, that of Karlheinz Sopp's family, where we bought delicious homemade salami with walnuts, which should last for a few days as a lunch picnic.

Unfortunately, all we can say about our hotel is: location, location, location. It is badly located because it is too far from the banks of the Moselle, it is badly located because it is very noisy on the A1 and apart from an ok hotel room it has nothing to offer. Unfortunately, we did not find anything else.

Data

Places along the route: Erden, Ürziger Mühle, Zeltingen-Rachtig, Graach an der Mosel, Bernkastel-Kues, Andel, Mühlheim an der Mosel, Brauneberg, Wintrich, Geierslay, Piesport, Neumagen-Dhron, Neumagen, Leiwen, Köwerich, Thörnich, Detzem, Mehring, Schweich

Overnight stay: Hotel Leinenhof GmbH & Co KG, Leinenhof 5, 54338 Schweich

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10168846/

From Schweich we went to Ehrang, where we crossed the Kyll on the railway embankment towards Trier. From here you can cycle along the beautiful Kyll valley and then come out in Gerolstein. From there it is not far to Daun and here theMaare-Mosel cycle path leads back to the Moselle.

Keinesfalls entgehen lassen sollte man sich den kleinen, Trier vorgelagterten Ort Pfalzel, mit seinen hübschen Häusern und der historischen Befestigungsanlage. Sehr schön!

Jetzt ist es nicht mehr weit bis Trier, nach Koblenz der ersten größeren Stadt und unserem ersten Highlight, auf das wir uns sehr gefreut haben. In der Tat gibt es in Trier wirklich genug anzuschauen. Angefangen über das im Untertitel genannte Tor des Mars, oder bekannter als Porta Nigra, über Konstantin-Basilika, den Trierer Dom St. Petrus, die Römerbrücke über die Mosel, die sehenswerte Innenstadt mit ihren schönen Plätzen, die Kaiser- oder die Barbarathermen, genügend Stoff für einen Ein- oder Zweitagesaufenthalt.

Unbedingt erwähnt sei noch der Heilige Rock, die kostbarste Reliquie (Überrest vom Körper eines Heiligen oder Gegenstand, der mit ihm in Zusammenhang steht und verehrt wird), die der Trierer Dom aufzuwarten hat. Mit ihm wollten die Trierer die bis dato kostbarste Reliquie des Klosters Prüm, die Latschen (Sandalen) Jesu Christi (die Überreste eines reich verzierten Stoffschuhs aus der Merowingerzeit, nach anderen Angaben aus der Karolingerzeit, in den Reste der Sandalen Christi eingearbeitet worden seien) übertrumpfen, die Pippin III., Vater Karls des Großen im 8. Jahrhundert dem Kloster zu Prüm geschenkt hatte. Schon damals ging es dabei ganz profan ums Geld, und zwar das der Pilgerer. Mit der Wallfahrt von 1524 zum heiligen Rock gelang es den Trierern zum ersten Mal die Prümer auszustechen.

In Trier konnten wir aus Zeitgründen nur ein paar Stunden bleiben und machten uns entlang des linken Moselufers auf zum nächsten Highlight, dem Schloss Monaise, das unweit der Mosel auf einem heute leider stark beschnittenen Stück Land liegt und in dessen kleinem noch erhältlichen Wäldchen ein sehr schöner Monopteros liegt, ein kleiner Rundbau mit Säulen, der über keinen geschlossenen Innenraum verfügt. Das Schloss Monaise gilt als besterhaltenes deutsches Beispiel einer außerstädtischen Villa des 18. Jahrhunderts und ist im Stil des Frühklassizismus errichtet. Monaise leitet sich vom französischen Mon aise ab, was so viel wie meine Muße, meine Leichtigkeit oder meine Ruhe bedeutet.

Von Schloss Monaise ist es, die Saarmündung passierend, nicht mehr weit bis Wasserbillig und der Grenze zu Luxemburg, in dem ich zuvor noch nie gewesen bin. Hier kann ich nur dazu raten die Fähre auf die rechte Moselseite zu nehmen, da sich die Fahrt entlang der luxemburgischen Rebflächen auf der linken Seite als ausnehmend heiß und langweilig monoton entpuppte. In Grevenmacher konnten wir dann endlich wieder auf die rechte Seite zurück nach Deutschland wechseln und erfolgreich bis zum Schloss Thorn, kurz vor Remich radeln.

Die Übernachtung in Schloss Thorn kann ich nur empfehlen. Nach Remich ist es ein gutes Stück und wir hatten abends keine Lust mehr auf den Sattel zu steigen. Also nahmen wir auf der Bank vor unserer Unterkunft Platz und machten uns ein einfaches, aber leckeres Picknick in der Abendsonne mit Blick auf das schöne Schloss.

Daten

Places along the route: Schweich, Quint, Ehrang, Pfalzel, Pallien, Trier, Porta Nigra, Trier-Altstadt, Schloß Monaise, Igel, Wasserbilligerbrück, Wasserbillig, Mertert, Grevenmacher, Wellen, Nittel, Wehr, Palzem, Schloss Thorn

Overnight stay: Schloß Thorn, 54439 Palzem

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295183/

In Schengen we leave Luxembourg and Germany behind and cross over into France. With - probably a lot of - public funds, an expensive but completely false monument has been erected on the Moselle to the promising but hardly lasting Schengen Agreement of 1985.

The core of the agreement is the statement: "Internal borders may be crossed at any point without checks on persons." Do you remember the identity checks around the Syria crisis? The checks on persons at the time of the influx of refugees after the Russian invasion of Ukraine? The monuments in Schengen, the listing of the many other important treaties of the European states since the founding of the European Union convey a discursive picture that splits my head. Let's get out of here quickly.

What will become of parts of Europe if we carry on as we are can then be seen impressively just over the border in Sierck-les-Bains, a place where poverty, flooding and a misguided policy of big business, relocated food markets have left an entire street in the middle of town completely deserted. Picturesque, but a reminder of why the right will continue to grow stronger if we leave so many people behind politically and socially.

Yet Sierck-les-Bains has many beautiful sides, a wonderful bakery, impressive castle ruins and a very beautiful location in the Moselbogen opposite the Stromberg at 312m above sea level.

After Sierck-les-Bains, the Voie Bleue changes sides of the river several more times and you can enjoy the different views with and without backlighting.

Before Thionville, the other interventions of man in nature become visible. The straightened bed of the Moselle is surrounded by many gravel pits, which now form a small lake landscape reflecting the sun, which is too warm for September. From afar we see the towers of Cattenom, an uncomfortable, eerie sight. Mordor. Quickly away.

Thionville, where we arrive far too early and a little listless thanks to the heat, is forbidding and not very accessible to us. We find the town too noisy, the city centre uninviting and unattractive. A place that closes itself off to us. My wife is still no better in the Airbnb accommodation in the Terville district, we do a little shopping, eat in the cool room in the basement. Sleep early.

The day was not unnice overall, good to drive and Sierck-les-Bains and Schengen were thought-provoking highlights.

Data

Places along the route: Schloss Thorn, Remich, Besch, Schengen, Grenzübertritt, Apach, Sierck-les-Bains, Contz-les-Bains, Berg-sur-Moselle, Malling, haute-Ham, Thionville, Thionville-Terville

Overnight stay:  Héléne & Yves, Airbnb Thionville-Terville

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295197/

The route is flat throughout, there are many birds to be seen at the quarry lakes, which lie sprinkled in the landscape like little mirrors in the sky. Large parts of the Moselle are canalised, sometimes the route follows the canals.

In Metz we cross the Moselle islands in front of the city and immediately afterwards we are already in the middle of it. No long passages along noisy roads, which makes the cyclist's heart happy. Already on the islands there is a lot to see, including the beautiful Platz de la Comédie, the Temple Neuf, which was built as part of the influx of Protestant imperial Germans to Metz from 1901. It is very worthwhile to read up on the eventful history of the city of Metz, especially because we Germans bear a very special responsibility for this history, after all the Germans occupied the city twice. Once after the Franco-German War of 1870/71, after which the occupation lasted until 1918; a second time, the city was occupied by the Germans from 1940 to 1944 during the National Socialist era. Especially the long period from 1871 to 1918 had a drastic influence on the population development of the city. 31 % of the original population left the city occupied by the Germans, among other things in the direction of Nancy further south, which then developed into an up-and-coming art and cultural metropolis.

It is not buildings that dominate the city in my eyes, but a colour. It is the Jaumont stone, a yellow, sandy limestone that gives many buildings, the whole city its colour. Quarried not far from the Orne river just a few kilometres northwest of the city of Metz, it still has a colour that appears bright in the sun and excellent workability.

Of course we visited the Lantern of God, the Gothic cathedral Saint-Étienne de Metz with its 6500 square metres of stained glass windows, as well as the 4th century basilica Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains, the market in a building next to the cathedral (with the most incredible selection of steak meat I have ever seen), which was actually meant to be the bishop's residence. We walked through the beautiful city centre, drank a lot of coffee like Fontane, bought the delicious sweets from the confectioners. It is a pretty town worth seeing and visiting, with a chequered history in which we Germans have played a large part.

Of course, there was not enough time for everything, even though we now only had 40 km to go to our destination Pont-à-Mousson. In Jouy-aux-Arches, we were all the more surprised by the Roman aqueduct bridge in Jouy-aux-Arches, which has been preserved to this day and once spanned the Moselle valley with a proud length of 1125 m, carrying water from Gorze, 20 km southwest of Metz, to the Lorraine metropolis.

South of Metz, the banks of the Moselle become hillier again and we pass green, abandoned overgrown canals, cross old iron bridges and in the late afternoon we reach Pont-à-Mousson in the department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. As I read today on Wikipedia, the inhabitants call themselves Mussipontains, an interesting name. The town has quite a few sights to offer, dominated by the former Premonstratensian abbey of Sainte-Marie-Majeure, built on the banks of the Moselle in the early 18th century in the baroque style. The abbey is one of the most important monastery complexes in Lorraine. In the 16th century, the Jesuits ran a university in Pont-à-Mousson, with which the monastery maintained close links. The University of Pont-à-Mousson is the predecessor institution of today's Université de Lorraine in Nancy and was moved there in 1769.

Our accommodation is on the right bank of the Moselle opposite the town centre in a spacious attic flat. We decide to treat ourselves today and dine pleasantly at the crowded Pierre Bonaventure restaurant on Place Duroc, which has archways almost all around under the houses on the square.

Data

Places along the route: Thionville-Terville, Château de Blettange, Metz, Le Ban-Saint-Martin, Corny-sur-Moselle, Novéant-sur-Moselle, Arnaville, Pagny-sur-Moselle, Pont-à-Mousson

Overnight stay: Arnaud, Airbnb: 333 Av. des États Unis, 54700 Pont-à-Mousson, Frankreich

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295213/

Like the entire Voie Bleue, this route was also very varied along the Moselle. The entire tour is characterised by the fact that you are largely independent of roads and thus have peace and quiet. Very pleasant.

And every now and then there are opportunities for a rest or lunch break with a view of the Moselle flowing northwards. Trees along the banks provide shade at many times.

Shortly before Nancy, we leave the Moselle, cycle a short distance first along the Meurthe and finally change to the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, which cuts through the city area parallel to the tributary of the Moselle. A quiet, almost roadless entrance to the centre of Nancy, an Art Nouveau stronghold in the Grand Est region. At Rue Lecreulx we leave the canal and enter the beautiful Parc de la Pépinière, where a beautiful statue of Rodin depicts the 17th century artist Claude Gellée.

We rest at the water feature in the middle of the park and take a deep breath. Watch the children and adults playing. We pause and recapitulate the beautiful day we have had so far. There must always be time for that during the day.

Our fantastic, luxurious flat right on Place Stanislas can't be opened because we can't find the key case two houses away. A neighbour kindly helps out. There isn't much room for the bikes, but we park them in the stairwell in the least disruptive way possible.

A good time to talk about bike storage. This is a point that the landlords at Voie Bleue should reconsider. A chance to present themselves as more service-friendly to the cycling traveller. We have parked our bikes in dark cellars, in hotel rooms, on back terraces, in stairwells, wine cellars, garages etc. Charging facilities for my wife's eBike were occasionally available, always showing how good it is that the battery is detachable.

Back to Nancy. A city like sugar. The Place Stanislas certainly one of the most beautiful I've ever had the good fortune to experience. Can compete in every way with the Campo in Siena and other piazzas around the world. This vastness, the bright colour, the kind of life, the decoration, the light, the dimensions, it is simply and completely enough just to be here.

After a trip into the city centre, we still made our way from our address at the beautiful Place de la Carriere towards the Porte de la Graffe, the dominating medieval city gate in the north of the core city of Nancy and find a shopping street with all the little shops that the traveller to France at home likes to hear himself rave about. Nice. Here, vegetable, pastry and bric-a-brac traders are still united with traditional businesses such as an upholstery shop or a butcher's shop in the neighbourhood. We can't leave two steaks lying around and make ourselves a delicious dinner in our flat with beans and potatoes on the side.

In Nancy, you can spend hours exploring alleys and little streets, corners and back houses, but there was too little time for the many Art Nouveau buildings, the consequences of the great École de Nancy.

Unfortunately, our beautiful flat had one major shortcoming: poor ventilation. Sleeping was possible, but unfortunately not good.

Data

Places along the route: Pont-à-Mousson, Autreville-sur-Moselle, Millery, Custines, Maxéville, Nancy

Overnight stay:  Le Petit Carrière, 39 Place de la Carrière, 54000 Nancy

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295377/

After a nice breakfast with the window open, we take the road back to the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, and turn off at Laneuville-devant-Nancy towards the southwest/south onto the Canal de jonction de Nancy, which is only 10 km long. It connects the Canal de la Marne au Rhin with the Canal des Vosges (until 2003 Canal de l'Est).

On arrival at the Canal des Vosges, the consequences of the dry summer once again become clear. Many canal basins have dried up, there is no shipping traffic and a few tired birds are strolling around in the silt. Although the connecting canal carries water, which is transported from the Moselle into the canal with the help of a turbine lift, it is still not enough for the Canal des Vosges.

There follows a section where the beautiful plane trees planted everywhere long ago are still intact and have withstood the fungal infestation that has affected plane trees all over France.

One of the most beautiful sections of the Voie Bleue lies ahead of us. Many locks and many still preserved, but unfortunately neither inhabited nor very well-maintained lock-keeper's houses lie along the canal stretch. This is another profession that modern technology has made redundant. Gone with it, however, is the culture of lock gossip, of lighting a fire for a cigarette, of asking questions about family and children, of talking about the weather and the lack of water, and of the hard work that was, however, loved. Instead, ships now radio the lock, everything happens anonymously and automatically.

Locks, lock-keepers and lock-keeper's cottages exist in every industry. Technological revolutions seem to happen automatically, but who says it couldn't be otherwise?

I admire the locks and the lock aesthetics. Out of time, but full of beauty and lovingly built details. Like the flower box holders on the lock railings.

It's a pity that the canal administration doesn't convert the lock cottages into small overnight accommodation. A dream for cyclists along the Voie Bleue.

We don't see many people. At this time of day, there are not many cyclists on the road. There are hardly any in our direction, but every now and then a couple comes towards us.

In Charmes we stopped for a rest just before noon. Charmes is a French municipality in the Vosges department of the Grand Est region. On the territory of Charmes, the Canal des Vosges crosses the Canal des Moulins twice, a very old branch from the Moselle to the mills near the old town centre, which were already mentioned in the 11th century.

In the late afternoon we reach Thaon-les-Vosges, where we spend the night privately at Capavenir Vosges. We have dinner with a magnificent view of the canal on a bench by the same.

Data:

Places along the route: Nancy, Jarville-la-Malgrange, Laneuville-devant-Nancy, Crévéchamps, Neuviller-sur-Moselle, Roville-devant-Bayon, Bainville-aux-Miroirs, Charmes, Châtel-sur-Moselle, Thaon-les-Vosges

Overnight stay: Airbnb: Francois, Thaon-les-Vosges, 88150 Capavenir Vosges, Frankreich

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295383/

The mileage since Koblenz was exactly 600 km on day 9 and it was from Thaon-les-Vosges to Corre in Franche-Comté. We actually wanted to ride around 60 km a day, but there was nowhere else for us to stay overnight, even weeks before. 
 
The section between Thaon-les-Vosges/Épinal and just before Corre on the Canal des Vosges (formerly Canal de l'Est) is definitely one of the most beautiful we have ever cycled. The canal really does run almost completely isolated and away from any civilisation, hardly a soul on the way, nobody offside at all. 

Unfortunately, we had to skip Épinal, the birthplace of Émile Durckheim, the sociologist, as a diversion because of the uncertain weather. Nevertheless, it didn't rain a bit the whole day.

According to the records of the historian Tacitus, the Roman Lucius Vetus was already planning a canal between the Moselle and the Saône. It was finally built to replace the transport routes that had been lost due to the German occupation of Lorraine. It was built between 1874 and 1882 and opened to navigation in 1884. Today, the canal follows the exact course laid down by the 17th century fortress builder Vauban.

The Canal des Vosges is 124 kilometres long and has 93 locks. The canal is entirely an artificial waterway and does not use the parallel rivers in the Moselle and Côney valleys. (...) After the branch of the branch canal to Épinal, the Golbey lock staircase begins with 15 locks at intervals of 150 to 300 metres. The staircase overcomes a height difference of 44 metres over a distance of 3.2 km. It leads from the Moselle valley up to the head of the canal, which is supplied by the Bouzey reservoir (built between 1879 and 1882 to supply water to the canal). 

Once you have climbed the lock stairs, you will experience a completely new canal cycling experience along the crest of the canal. You are at the top and, at 350 metres above sea level, have a partly wide view over the landscape of the Vôge, a sandstone plateau that adjoins the Vosges to the southwest. "The Vôge is characterised by large mixed forests (beech, oak, pine), small lakes and thermal springs, which are used in the spa towns of Bains-les-Bains and Plombières-les-Bains. On some older buildings you can still see the sandstone tile roofs typical of the region. The area is sparsely populated." (Source: Wikipedia)

In Chaumousey, which is reached through a tunnel under the canal due to the lack of a bridge, it is essential to buy pastries for the picnic at Pierre and Laura's café, which we take directly on a beautiful bench with a view of the town.

Shortly after Void de Girancourt, the lock stairs begin to descend into the valley of the Côney. 

It is lonely along the canal and we are awestruck by the peace, solitude and commanding silence amidst all the greenery along the canal. It's unbelievable how green it is here after the terrible drought on the Moselle.

To some, this section may lack highlights, but this undisturbed nature, unaffected by cars, leaf blowers, noise, cannot be experienced in many places in the middle of Europe any more. We are grateful for this day. An absolute highlight of our tour, I think.

Not far from the village of La Vôge-les-Bains, we left the canal for a short break and visited the Manufacture royale de Bains-les-Bains, which was founded in 1733 with the permission of the Duchess Elisabeth-Charlotte for the benefit of the brothers Jean-François and Claude Coster by letter patent.

In the course of the 18th century, the manufactory was able to develop into one of the most remarkable factories in France because of the production of tinned ironware.

The entire site includes several industrial buildings (tinning workshops (1736), coal shed (1779, 1859), etc.), workers' quarters (18th century), stables, the foremen's house, the chapel (1735), an ice cellar and the owner's chateau (32 rooms), surrounded by a park with numerous varieties of trees, including some rare species.

Most of the buildings were constructed between 1733 and 1737 (castle, chapel and workers' quarters) by the master blacksmith and tenant general Georges Puton5 (1679-1737) and later in the second half of the 18th century (e.g. the coal hall in 1779). In 1764, five commis and 125 labourers worked and lived in the manufactory. Like most industrial sites built at this time, it is situated on a river, which allows the use of water power, and in the middle of a forest, which provides wood and charcoal needed to heat the forges and furnaces. (More info and source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/)

One of Sierck-Les-Bains' highlights in terms of picturesque scenery is Fontenoy-le-Chateau, which has been abandoned in parts. Along the main road through the village, you can see dozens of abandoned shop windows, all of which must once have been full of life, shops where you could buy everything you needed for your daily needs from your neighbours and fellow villagers.

We continue to Selles, and the landscape opens up into the distance. Directly at the village of Selles, the last surviving swing bridge, built in 1881, crosses the canal. We cross the bridge and find the small bakery with the strange name SODEX ECOFFET with very tasty specialities. Nothing stands in the way of a break at the canal bridge. I wonder if the tinned cladding panels of the bridge keeper's house are from the Manufacture royale de Bains-les-Bains. They look beautiful and I admire them and the picturesque scenery at length.

Up to Corre, the canal runs harmoniously alongside the small Côney river, which becomes a watery body of water along the way. The little river and the Canal de Vosges merge here into the Saône, which is navigable from Corre.

There is a simple reason why we saw so few boats along the entire route. The whole water system Moselle, reservoir of Bouzey contains far too little water to supply the canal and therefore many intermediate stretches have gone dry.

Our accommodation is surprisingly spacious for the price and quite nicely situated on a former farm in the immediate vicinity of Corre. We get something to eat at the supermarket and cook ourselves something. 

Data: 

Places along the route: Thaon-les-Vosges, Chavelot, Kanalabzweigung, Les Forges, Sanchey, Chaumousey mit Bäckerei und Café, Girancourt, Méloménil, Les Forges d'Uzemain, La Forge de Thuniment, Manufacture Royale des Bain-les-Bains, Bains-les-Bains, Fontenoy-le-Château, Pont-du-Bois, Selles, Corre, La Baisse Vaivre

Overnight stay:  Metris Gaelle, 2 Faubourg Louis Boulanger, Corre

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295396/

On the 10th day of our wonderful tour from Koblenz to Dijon, we went from Corre to Ferriéres-les-Scey. Shortly after Corre, the path leaves the Saône for the first time and finally makes a wide detour to the west after Cendrecourt towards Jussey, where the biggest climb of the entire trip is to be found.

The landscape a mixture of Auvergne and England, many many more cows and cattle, in brown, light brown, black and black and white.

We cross Gevigney-et-Mercey and return to the Saône, where we have coffee in the marina not far from Fouchécourt. On the way, we stop at a roadside stall and buy some crisps for the road and start talking. Belgians who have moved to France and I meet a Belgian in the nowhere of Franche-Comté who knows the Morts Subite in Bruxelles.

Now it's permanently uphill towards Chergey-lès-Port and we get caught in the first rain of our trip and are actually quite soaked. Away from the Saône, the 295 m difference in altitude feels considerable, and now I'm already writing like a Dutchman.

In Port-sur-Saône in the Département Haute-Saône we go grocery shopping, it's not far to our destination Ferrières-lès-Scey. In the evening we go for a long walk and have the opportunity to discover the hidden beauties of this unspoilt place a little above the Saône.

A varied and very beautiful day comes to an end.

Data:

Places along the route: Corre, La Baisse Vaivre, Ormoy, Cendrecourt, Jussey, Gevigney-et-Mercey, Fouchécourt, Port-sur-Saône, Ferrières-lès-Scey

Overnight stay: Airbnb: 15 Route de Port sur Saône, Ferrières-lès-Scey

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295410/

The cycle path meanders with the Saône, and there are a few highlights on this stage that are worth mentioning.

Firstly, the two tunnel crossings, because both at Ferrières-lès-Ray and not far from Savoyeuy, the builders of the canal decided in the 19th century to cut two loops of the river enormously. The view from the top of the hill overlooking the tunnel of this engineering feat, which dates back more than 150 years, is a delight.

We haven't had a proper breakfast yet, so we cross the Saône at Soing-Cubry-Charentenay and picnic in the cool morning sun with the boat owners at the Port de Soing, sitting on their boats on deck. A lovely spot with a view of the water. Next door is the La Louvière campsite. In Soing-Cubry-Charentenay there is the small general shop Gadda Alain, which has everything that cyclists and boat owners need.

In Ray-sur-Saône (a village with character) we make a "little" strenuous but very worthwhile detour, uphill through the village, to the Château of the same name. The château of Ray-sur-Saône is a former castle from the 10th century, which was rebuilt in the classical style in the 18th century. Since the High Middle Ages, a defensive system consisting of castles has protected the upper Saône valley. The imposing fortress of Ray-sur-Saône was one of these strategic sites, but the Ten Years' War from 1636 to 1646 contributed to its destruction. The castle has belonged to the département of Haute-Saône since the donation by Diane Baconnière de Salverte on 29 May 2015. Diane Baconnière de Salverte was the 33rd generation of ten centuries of lineage to inhabit the château. Unimaginable. Ten centuries of family ownership. It is in a perfect state of preservation; the park can be visited free of charge. Due to its inner and outer richness, it is one of the most beautiful castles in the region.  (Quelle: https://fr.wikipedia.org/)

The beautiful park with its avenue and old trees is a good place for a picnic in the shade.

The pictures show how lucky we were with the weather, a dreamlike blue dome arched over us the whole day. Clouds like cotton wools in the sky and below us at least mostly quite fresh asphalt. How sensitised one is to the surfaces. After 800 km you are able to feel the age and quality of the surface with every single cell of the gluteus minimus on the saddle. And the pavements, except for this section and the link to Dijon, are exceptionally good and generally new and well maintained.

In Autet there was La Plage Autet, a small beach on the banks of the Saône with a very well-stocked snack bar, and we sat down among the large French families enjoying the Sunday outing with the entire family. The French fries were excellent. 

Not far from Quitteur, opposite Vereux, we had our first breakdown. We stopped at one of the many lock houses, where there was a tree right next to the lock and a nice bench in the shade of this tree. And at the end of the break, the tyre was flat. I almost rejoiced, to my wife's dismay, but that way I didn't lug all the tools around for nothing.

The canal house was one of the few inhabited ones and when the family saw our fate, they rushed straight to help. They asked for water? Coffee? Air pump? I gratefully accepted the large air pump. ÖH, yes, gladly. The hose seems to have a fatigue crack. I'll have to replace it when I get home. The event was sufficiently appreciated photographically by the family and details of my wife's e-bike equipment were discussed. Including a short test ride. Where are we coming from? From Koblenz. "Mais ce n'est pas possible !" 

In the late afternoon we arrive at our luxurious accommodation directly at the old stair-shaped jetty of Gray. After a refreshing break and shower in the air-conditioned flat, we explore Gray, a town that probably benefited more than any other from the navigable Saône and later the canal as early as the 16th century.

Gray, like many small towns in the province, suffers from the lack of financial resources of the lower and middle income groups in rural France, something that gives the right wing an enormous boost. It's a pity, Gray is a very nice place, was certainly once a very nice place, but suffers from too much vacancy. After a bit of searching, we find an open pizzeria and eat it in front of the beautiful 16th century Renaissance town hall. We enjoy the sunset from the beautiful arched bridge over the Saône, the right end to our penultimate day of holiday.

Data: 

Places along the route: Corre, La Baisse Vaivre, Ormoy, Cendrecourt, Jussey, Gevigney-et-Mercey, Fouchécourt, Port-sur-Saône, Ferrières-lès-Scey

Overnight stay: La Rose du Cédre, 20 Quai Villeneuve, 70100 Gray

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295420/

If you ever want to set up a luxurious holiday flat yourself, with transparent windows between the bedroom and the bathroom, please don't set up an automatic 100-watt light in the toilet that comes on when someone goes to the toilet at night.

Otherwise, we actually slept well for once, but for the whole trip through France, French beds are not ours.

Since we wanted to see something of Dijon before we left the next day, we actually got up at half past five and were already on the saddle of our bikes at six in the morning. We are rewarded a few minutes later with a magnificent sunrise over Gray. The ride through the cool morning along the Saône is wonderful, now and then grey mist swathes over the river. above us, not a cloud in the orange-blue gradient.

Just before Essertenne-et-Cecey we have to part from the Saône for the first time. The road takes us to Talmay, both sleepy places where the highest a sidewalk-sweeping madame gives a weary glance. We return to the river, which we follow until we reach Lamarche-sur-Saône. Here we sadly say goodbye to the Voie Bleue, with which we had a good time every day. We follow the Véloroute de la Marne à la Saône, partly over washed-out gravel to Tellecey, then with gentle sweeps through forests and an undulating landscape with harvested fields via Vaux-sur-Crône to Remilly-sur-Tille. Finally, after a few unnecessary detours, we reach Quetigny and finally the suburbs of Dijon.

Here we are!

One reason why I prefer the ride to a destination so much is that indescribable feeling when you reach it. It's hot, we have to cycle a good distance on a cycle path along a main road, but we've made it, there it is, the town sign, we're in Dijon.

We cycle through the noisy but beautiful city past the station to our car, hoping it's still there. "There it is," my wife shouts.

The catastrophe

But why is it so crooked? We see it moments later! Two bikes have been stolen! 

That's what gets us down. How can that be? The area looks so good! Looked so good, as I then knew an hour later. You remember? We wanted to go home by car.

We call the ADAC. My wife gets something to drink, meanwhile a Police Municipal car stops. Well, they parked their car in the worst area of Dijon. There is no worse area, there have already been shootings with machine guns here. Our car was parked opposite a kindergarten. All safe. I was wrong.

The policemen are nice and they take their time. We talk about the journey, their job, our jobs, our families. The tow truck is coming. Take a photo of the address. Who knows, says the policeman. We are a little traumatised. I naively assumed the tow truck would come with two spare rims, no such luck. He pulls this, our car onto the tow truck, yes, he says, he'll take care of it, rims, that will be difficult, there are none in this area of France. It could take up to six weeks.

Catastrophe!

We take selfies with the police officers, then drive to our hotel in the city centre, freshen up, make another phone call about the possibilities with the ADAC. Our bikes are in the hotel room, getting them into the lift was a bit difficult, but it worked. Luckily the room is big. What does it help, we try to enjoy the evening and I must say we actually succeeded.

We have coffee and tea in the cosy book café La Causerie des Mondes on the corner of Rue Vauban and Rue Amiral. A nice quiet, refreshingly well-kept café with a very nice owner, a little off to the south of Place de Libération. The cake is good, sugar helps against the shock. We are on the road without bikes, now looking at the city, enjoying the evening despite the hassle, strolling through the side streets, sitting around on benches and feeling good with 85 km in our legs. I feel this evening is a very very strong moment in my marriage and relationship with my wife. We are strong. The evening ends at the Bouillon Notre Dame, corner of Rue Musette / Place Notre Dame. In the evening light (see photo) it seemed most likely to promise the peace and tranquillity we were looking for and the restaurant delivered on its outward promise with simple, affordable cuisine. There used to be a pharmacy here, cars still drove in the square in front of the cathedral when Google Streetview made its last visit here.

My wife admires the gargoyles on the cathedral, the city centre of Dijon is exceptionally beautiful, quiet, cars are largely banned, an electric bus makes its rounds . very quietly and silently.

A crazy day comes to an end, a day that feels infinitely long, that consisted of three parts, like a Greek drama with exposition, peripetia, catastrophe - except that in our case, behind the final twist, a happy ending was still waiting. Or rather, it seemed to be waiting. We had no idea what would happen next.

I haven't written much about Dijon, yes, not even about the mustard. There are so many sources on Dijon, travel tips, city guides about this beautiful city, most of it has already been said and written.

Data:

Places along the route: Gray, Mantoche, Essertenne-et-Cecey, Talmay, Heuilley-sur-Saône, Pontailler-sur-Saône, Lamarche-sur-Saône, Le Payx Neuf, Tellecey, Vaux-sur-Crône, Remilly-sur-Tille, Bressey-sur-Tille, Quetigny, Montmuzard, Dijon

Overnight stay:  B&B Hotel Dijon Centre, 5 rue du Château - Place Grangier, Dijon Zentrum, 21000 Dijon, Tel: +33 380 302681

Link: https://www.bikemap.net/de/r/10295449/

It turned out that the tow truck had not done anything since noon yesterday, which is why the ADAC had the car towed to another workshop. They said it might be possible to get rims by the afternoon, but the chances were rather slim.

We asked the ADAC for a rental car with bicycle capacity. No chance. Not even in 4-6 weeks. There are no more rental cars, all because of Corona.

Today was our last day of holiday, but our chances of getting home today were zero, we realised.

What do you do on a day like this? We dawdled through Dijon, but the mood didn't really want to get going. I call the office, because I have to go back to work the next day, so I have to take a day off.

The hope for rims is dashed, we need a hotel and take the Hôtel La Bonbonnière in the beautiful district of Talant, northwest of the centre. Talant has a beautiful belvédère overlooking the first vineyards of northern Burgundy, the darkest church I have ever seen - from the 13th century - very impressive. There is a nice saying about the former fortress of Talant: "Qui voit Talant n'est pas dedans" - He who sees Talant is far from being in it. The prominent location made it possible to see the turreted castle from a very long way away; it is said that the view even reached the Jura mountains and Mont Blanc.

In the evening we don't do much more. We are tired and mentally exhausted by the uncertain situation. We walk through Talant, look down from the former fortress onto Lac Kir. Admire the church, eat some biscuits, baguette and salami in the room.

The next morning we have breakfast - very good - and call the ADAC, the garage. Nothing new. We go for a walk again, check out of the hotel.

We wait for the funeral, then we can finally visit L'église Notre-Dame de Talant, still closed the night before. Impressive, impressively dark. The smell of incense still hangs in the air, we are silent.

Not far from the church there is another very beautiful preserved house entrance from the Renaissance.

The ADAC calls, at noon the car will be ready. We are grateful and set off. And come into the worst downpour of our whole trip. It soaked us to the bone, at a bus stop the bus wiped the water into our faces with the windscreen wiper.

At the workshop, my wife changes behind a pile of tyres, we pay the hefty bill, load the car and start back towards Germany at 2 pm, arriving home at 11 pm.

Exhausted, happy, full. A great trip.

Data

Overnight stay: Hôtel La Bonbonnière, Dijon Talant