A few postcards

With the iffy internet the blog gets last priority so here is a quick catch up of a few places & people from last few weeks
Graham and Knud. Graham( an Englishman who has lived in Luxembourg for past 40 years ) great guy we met a couple of years ago in Berlin, again kept in contact and catch up with around the place. A couple of great nights with him and Else , his Danish wife when we arrived to Luxembourg.
heading down the beautiful Moselle River



Knud busy painting, this is the year for a bit of maintenance
This was one of those moments. Throttle cable broke as we were heading into a lock. Luckily we were not going too fast and some skilful boat handling on Knuds part ensured that we avoided a disaster. Lock filled, we rose to the top, gates opened and Knud pulled us out manually to the quay where we stopped for an hour or so while he fitted a new cable. Then all fixed and off we went, heart beat had almost resumed to normal.
Wonderful to have Karen and Erik joining us in Saarburg, now we are on the Saar river, as the crow flies not far from Remich , only about 20km but 50km by river.
Karen and Erik with Saarburg castle in background. This castle dates from the 900's and stands on the hill, overlooking the
bend of the Saar. Karen & Erik celebrating their 44th wedding anniversary today.
Have been having a bit of a hot spell here this week, how great that we are somewhere we can jump in the water and cool off. Karen , Erik and Knud splashing about

Luxembourg City

One of the best things about our way of life here on the European waterways are the people you meet. A number of yesrs ago , 2009 , we met a lovely family from Luxembourg when we were on the Burgundy Canal. Josée, Armand and their 3 gorgeous daughters Christne, Anne Marie & Catherine. We shared locks together for 2 days as we made our way towards Dijon. Since then we have kept in touch, & met up a few times ., always great times and lots of laughs.
So it was wonderful to be in Luxembourgish waters and to have the chacne of more time together.
Saturday we were treated to a rather special day, our own private guides in Luxembourg City. Knud had been here 40 years ago and was underwhelmed to say the least, but boy oh boy did he change his mind by the end of the day. Personally my first tine here and I fell in love with the place, think it will become my new favourite city.
Luxembourg built on a series of hill tops with a deep river gorge running through. Needless to say fortifications built and fought over in the past 1000 years, much renovation work has been done in the past 40 years and city looking very well cared for and loved.
Armand, Josée, & Knud as we are about to set off on our walking tour






A rather serious Cake Shop, what better place to stop for a reviving coffee and cake. Just opposite the Royal Palace for those needing to know



Knud on the Lion, there is a photo of Knud taken 40 years ago on very same lion, just took a little longer to get up on it this time.

A wonderful day with great friends.

Metz to Remich

So now we are in Luxembourg, Germany on one side of Moselle, Luxembourg the other. France about 10km away so its entirely possible to cycle a circuit of 3 countries before breakfast. Have had a wonderful week catching up with boating friends from Luxembourg this week.
Beautiful countryside on our way here



Remich in the middle of wine growing area, very picturesque. Today its Mothers Day in Luxembourg, a lot of festivities going on , combinations of summer celebrations, religious celebrations, wine celebrations, the sun is shining etc The crowds sre out in force, boats too and those blasted jet skis zipping about.
Fatima celebrations too, big time. Processions through the streets, one particular street decorated, houses decorated.

This is the street they take her up
Street decorated with flowers etc



Houses decorated too.

Metz

A week since we left Metz but we had no internet so hence no bloghing. Now we are back in touch with the world, still heading northwards, still on the Moselle River, now moored in Remich, Luxembourg.
So a brief recap on Metz. As nentioned before a gorgeous city, we made ourselves at home in the port, got going doing some maintenance some much needed painting, refitting of shelves and cupboards in the main kitchen dining area, curtains etc.
Metz has the charm of the Moselle River running around and through it, so the place made up of many islands so therefore bridges , all very cute.
Metz became French in 1648 but the Germans arrived back in 1871 stayed for 48 years ( might add a quarter of the inhabitants fled to nearby Nancy and surrounds) A lot of the impressive building date from thus time of German occupation.
Railway station
Covered markets, choice of fresh food sensational
Pompidou Centre. Had a number of wonderful hours here, great art, amazing building


bridges, churches, cuteness all round

Notre Dame
How many men does it take to put in a couple of wooden poles!? Labour must be cheap here.