19/07/08
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Day 1 - Maidenhead to Metz
On road at 7.30 - round M25 and down M20 to Channel Tunnel. Anneke following in the car. She went straight on to Bluewater to drown her sorrows with a spot of retail therapy. I piled onto Le Shuttle with about 10 other riders and a cup of coffee, which soon ended up all over the floor. Chatted to another rider and told him about my plans. He said he was jealous - and then mentioned that he'd ridden around the world a few years ago!
Wet and windy start to the journey from Calais to Metz. Passed Canadian WW1 memorial at Vimy Ridge. Lunch in Reims and a quick wander round the cathedral. Sun came out in the late afternoon and a fab rolling wooded vista to enjoy thru Foret d'Argonne. Arrived in Metz youth hostel at 6.00. Soon got chatting to another British rider and his wife - his bike specially adapted to cope with his hi-tech false leg, which clearly didn't hold him back at all! Wandered round town to find groceries and beer - relaxing dinner on the hostel terrace overlooking the Moselle river. Metz is a lovely city full of historical buildings. It seems to have got off lightly in the first world war, given that the road leading here was lined with cemeteries.
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