Saturday 6 July 2024 - Pont-à-Mousson

Sadly we bade farewell to the Engadine and to Hotel Maria in Sils, with its friendly staff and guests.

I realised that we have no pictures of any of the people we have met over the course of the past two weeks (apart from our old friends Markus, and Andrea and Thomas), so as we said goodbye I got a picture of Sue with Taea, one of Collett's brilliant hosts. Bella was probably out checking a route, whilst Taea was at the hotel checking that everyone was happy with their plans for the day, to which she could often add some useful advice.

We got going by 9:15 and changed over drivers after some exciting Alpine passes. It got to about 28°C on the sunny morning. 

The gradients eased as we approached Zurich, but the mountain views remained with us, together with tunnels and lakes.

Then it rained.

The weather cleared towards the end of our 330 mile journey to Hotel Bagatelle in Pont-à-Mousson, reached around 5pm.

A five minute stroll took us to a bridge over the wide River Moselle.

Beyond that, a pleasant town that is looking forward to the forthcoming nearby Olympics. 

A stage had been erected in the large town square. It was occupied by various band members and an assortment of vocalists.

We went in search of a restaurant, but everyone seemed to be either on holiday or opening later.

We passed a campervan site. There must have been about 50 vans. All near to a vast, empty restaurant. I took a picture for Mick and Gayle - if you zoom in you'll see 'COMPLET' written on the barrier.

Nearby, a rather arty roundabout.

Given the shortage of open restaurants, we opened a private eating house in room 109, stocked with goodies from a Carrefour shop. Not quite up to Hotel Maria standard, but very enjoyable as we watched the English footballers thrash Switzerland on penalties! The first TV we have watched since leaving home over two weeks ago.