Madame Moselle, que vous êtes belle!

After a somewhat fitful night (I guess the jet lat is not completely gone…) we arose (or, rather, I arose) a little later than planned and headed downstairs for our breakfast, the first real disappointment we have experienced on the trip. I have heard horror stories about German coffee; thus far I have had some very ordinary coffee and some extraordinarily terrible coffee. 

On the other hand, the region's other beverages are world-class. More on that later. 

Late to rise, late to start... after stocking up on a few groceries for lunch, we finally hit the road at 10:45. It was another fantastic day for cycling. Perfect weather, perfect location, perfect company. The Moselle truly is an astonishingly beautiful place, and the cycling is wonderful. We are in the heart of Moselle wine country now, and it's amazing to see all the steep hills covered in vineyards.

Moselle vineyards perched on a hillside.

But of course, the route can't be paradise all of the time. At one point in the morning, we rode a few kilometres inland through an industrial zone. When, after 20 minutes, we returned to the river, my reaction was "wow, it's so beautiful" (which is when the jeux de mots in the title came to me).  

So refreshing to get back to the Moselle (and drink some water). 

Our legs were still feeling Luxembourg's hills, so after about 35 km, I don't think Sonia was so disappointed when I asked her if we should start looking for a place to stay for the night. So after lunch, we looked around and found a nice little Gästehaus at the K.J. Thul winery in a tiny village called Thörnich. The people here are lovely, and and the wine is amazing. We plan on buying a bottle of the pinot noir for the road, and we're thinking of importing a couple of cases when we get home. There's nothing like tasting wine where it's made. 

The view from our room.

Pedalling through the vineyards.