It was very busy at breakfast. A Special Olympics group were in with their minders. One of the athletes said ‘morgen’, in the loudest voice, to everyone entering. He was happy and we can all learn something from his L carefree attitude to the day ahead.

Certainly the previous day we rode the prettiest part of the Saar river.

The first half of today’s 89 km ride was heavily industrialised. Not all we see is nice.

Saarstahl dominates with multiple steel manufacturing sites.

There are pockets of peace.

We started in Germany but at an unidentified point crossed into France.

We found one flag flying along with the Eu flag. This is at a lock. We rode past many locks today.

A canoe centre with nice art work.

Villages and towns dotted the river.

We liked this one.

A closer view of this boat, noting the water reflection. Quite clever.

The river was to our left and now we were on a canal path. A very shallow and green canal.

The canal path was very quiet and peaceful, with little other users. There was an occasional runner or walker, and a handful of cyclists.

It was very quiet with little traffic noise.

The riding was easy so we chillaxed.

Check-in was not until 5 pm today and we were likely to reach Mittersheim with hours to spare.

Chapel high up the hill.

The Maginot Line was a French military failure. It was developed after the French lost 1.4 million troops in WW1. It was designed to force invading armies to move around the fortified eastern front, towards Belgium where the French troops would be waiting.

The French also assumed the Ardennes were impassable.

In 1940, the German army pushed through the Ardennes, bypassed the fortifications, attacked from behind leading to the fall of France.

We’ve seen many on this trip. This one is locked and adjacent to the river.

The board shows additional structures over the river. Only the piers remain today.

I liked this vista.

The Swan family made us smile, with their three youngsters in the slipstream, safe.

We are near the end of the Vallee de la Sarre. Regular boards along the way, pointing out local features.

Not far to go now.

We arrive three hours early and park ourselves by the canal, under cover.

We were delighted to receive a message that we could check in two hours early as the lady was back from an appointment.

We were only 450 metres away, so arrived at 3 pm.

Our host is a younger woman, Ariane, who through Air BNB lets her private unit out. It is a barn like renovation. She lives with her mother in another part.

Mother for a fee, cooks dinner and breakfast.

This is the renovated barn.

We had an amazing three course meal, plus gifted a bottle of homemade apple juice and a cheese platter with local cheeses.

It’s been wonderful to chat with Ariane too.

Tomorrow is a tougher day as we start two days of climbing and traversing the Vosges Mountains. Another heatwave is on the way too.

We have now ridden just under 3,000 km, four days cycling left to conclude this wonderful adventure.

Thanks for reading.