Cheap Diesel on the way to Metz

Thursday, 18th October 2018

The guide books say that petrol is cheap in Luxembourg. This explained why, when we first entered the country from Belgium, the road was lined with petrol stations.

Slightly belatedly, we remembered this as we were driving out of Luxembourg so we were very pleased to see that an enterprising fuel company has turned what used to be the border control buildings into a petrol station, allowing us to fill up at £1 a litre as we were literally leaving Luxembourg on our way to Metz in France.

Metz lies at the point where Moselle and the Seille Rivers meet – a strategic point appreciated by the Romans. The free aire in Metz is by the River Moselle but just a short walk into town.

We set off with Ralf, who is always desperate to get out of Alan whenever we arrive in a new place. We realised in traffic today that just the sound of the hand brake is a trigger for him to get excited about the possibility of stopping.

We spent about half an hour walking round this pleasant historical city, walking over bridges . . .

. . . . and past historical churches . . . .

. . . .and arches . . . .

. . . . and buildings including the Palais du Gouveneur [below left]. . .

. . . and through the largely pedestrianised streets.

However, possibly inspired by another dog who lay down and refused to go further only to be picked up and carried, Ralf became recalcitrant. We therefore took him back to Alan and bribed him with a chew. It seems we are making progress in teaching him that it is acceptable to be left home alone: there were no instant protests. Alternatively he could be training us to give him lots of chews?

We were then able to return to the city and go into the Cathédrale St Étienne [above centre] which was created around 1240 when two churches, which had been separated by an alleyway were joined together. The baptismal font is in fact an old Roman bath.

The cathedral is known as Lanterne du Bon Dieu [God’s Lantern] due to its beautiful stained glass windows, including two designed by Marc Chagall.

We were also able to stroll through the covered market, which covers three sides of a rectangle. This was, as local markets with fresh produce always are, a real treat and we returned later to buy ingredients for our evening meal.

On taking a break in the sunshine Robert was disappointed to discover the the “local beer” in this instance was Meteor – the same rather insipid brew which was provided free on our cruise in the summer.

To distract himself he started to experiment with a camera effect which he found in Messages in iOS12. Matilda decided she liked her “cartoon” hair although “cartoon” Robert seems to have grown something on the end of his nose.