Once upon a time, our friend Cole suggested that we rent scooters one weekend and tour the castles of our Moselle region. It's been many months since the initial proposition was made (Cole is back in the U.S. now), but the dream never died. Kyle and I were holding out for good weather conditions and a scooter rental shop. We also were glad to have Rocky and Maria equally enthusiastic about our chateaux explorations. During the planning process, Kyle and Rocky found that some dreams never really do come true. There is an absolute scarcity of rentable scooters in Lorraine.
Plan B~We depended on the Dunlaps car to take us on an excursion. On a Friday afternoon in July, we set out for Echternach which is the oldest town in Luxembourg. We were lured there in the hopes of seeing a marching band. Again, our hopes were dashed, but we did have a lovely time taking pictures at the basilica, eating a delicious dinner, and celebrating Daringsfest (whatever that may be) with the locals. For the night, we resided at the lovely chateau in Schengen. Good husbands take their wives to castles~it was so nice! Schengen is quite well known for the treaty signed here permitting more relaxed border controls throughout all of Europe~it makes international travel super simple!
Hamiltons at the basilica
We all enjoyed a little champagne as our aperitif~how else would you have celebrated Daringsfest?
Our room in the comfy castle!
Remnants of a much older tower of the castle
A view of the castle's garden from above
Kyle's eating his cookie in front of the chateau in Schengen! If you guessed correctly in my last blog entry, congratulations!
Saturday was a fantastic day. We checked out of the castle and drove to Remich where we had breakfast and then rented bikes. There is a lovely bike train that goes along the Moselle river and vineyards galore. We stopped in the towns of Ehnen and Wormeldange (or as we call it, Worm Dance) along the way. In Worm Dance, we took a break for lunch and wine tasting. Vins et velos~not a bad combination. After that, we pretty much rode straight back to Remich to return our bikes and depart to our next destination. We figured out that we went close to 15 miles on our bike tour~not bad for vacation!
This picture is so amusing. Here is where we rented bikes. I must admit, a great number of the photos I'm sharing are from Maria. My camera got a bit wonky Friday night...
Kyle boldly snaps a shot over his shoulder of Maria and me while cruising along the river. He's very skilled.
Ehnen in all it's glory.
Perhaps you are not enticed by Worm Dance wine, but we certainly were...
A cute wine sampler~it's best to share one of these with a friend.
Vineyard are everywhere!
Not quite ready yet...
A leisurely ride indeed.
Where did we end up? Trier! Or as the French say, Treve. Yes, the city that is so great, it has two names. You may recall that we went here once before with Kyle's buddy JT. It was really nice to revisit it in warmer weather. We strolled around, took lots of pictures, and ate at a very crowded restaurant (that means the food is good, right?) By the evening we were all exhausted and ready to head home to Metz.
Watch as the Hamiltons enjoy roses by the Porta Nigra!
See how the Dunlaps marvel at the gardens by Aula Palatina (the Basilica of Constantine)!
Much fun was had by all. Without scooters, the weekend wasn't a total loss~it was, in fact, very delightful! We came home with a bottle of the regional wine (a rosé, which are so much better in France than any where else). We also had tons of quality time with the Dunlaps before their departure just last week. Though it probably merits a whole entry, I will just tell you that we had Rocky and Maria over for a dinner/slumber party the last night they were here. It worked out really well for them to get up super early in the morning and ride a bus to Paris. It was a fun farewell, and we look forward to hanging out with them stateside sometime down the road.
Hey, you know what else? The landlord is gone thus peace has been restored to my home. Though I can't tell what exactly he did, he left the WC's door wide open and I smell something like cleaning supplies in my kitchen. It's a mystery... Before I sign off, one more thing...
