Mercure Metz Centre 3m

This is an incredible place...but I don't have any pictures... when I got there my camera stopped working :( But I really think it was a blessing because I just saw everything and didn't worry about getting pictures of everything for later, I just saw and took it all in. It was a much needed get-away and it really blew me away, especially the Cathedral! Mass there was unbelievable...and I have a new-found love of French...and their pastries :)

We left Germany this morning with fuzzy heads after 4 pints of strong German Lager the evening before. We let Pete and Tim know our proposed route and set off in search of some sun!

It was not long before we heard from the lads who said they were still in the mountains probably having fun so we plodded along the motorway heading towards Metz.

Nothing much to report apart from the consumption of BK number two, two in two days. No we are not doing a ...

We got up fairly late and I went with Ben on my parent's grave ... hard to stand there and not feeling emotional. Anyway had to get some flowers as we were invited for lunch "again" at an old friend place have known Phil since as far as I can remember we used to live on the same floor of the housing commission building so we go way back . It was ...

Got up this morning and after our ablutions we took the road for "Domremy-la-pucelle" birth place of Johann of arc. Great trip and pics taken. We then decided to go to the local cathedral to check it out ... this is when we saw he sign for: " ruine gallo-romaines de Grand". Of we pop following ...

... the other half and it was HUGE. I loved the fact that you could still walk around the ruins and get a feel for the enormity of the place.



Day 3Today we visited the WW1 museum in Verdun. It displayed

artefacts and battlefield recreations. My favourite part was the trench art.

The soldiers had made rings out of melted bullets, vases out of gun shells and

lighters made out of belt buckles and crucifix made out of bullets.The was ...

... have a shower when my wife of 16 years remembered that today was my 45th birthday. We went to place Stanislas had a great time and we opted for a light lunch at "l'arrosoir" nice little place close to place carrier. I drove back Marg and the kids back to the Hotel for a rest and I went shopping for the goodies needed for my birthday dinner. Andouillettes, horse Berliner, rabbit pate, and 6 different kinds of cheeses.... not a veggie in sight, this should be a great dinner.

... a host mom named Maga, and my two roommates and I live in her home in Bettembourg, Luxembourg. Bettembourg is a quaint little town where everyone knows everyone. There is pretty much only one main street of businesses, and most of these businesses close very early in the evening (which is pretty common in Luxembourg, apparently...). We live about a 7 minute walk from the train station, but since we usually have to run to the train every morning ...

... years old at this time, which was very old for that period, and King Henry expected him to live for 2-3 more years, tops. He selfishly wanted the old man to die, so he could acquire the territory. Of course, the twist of the story is that Stanislas lived not 2-3 more years, but THIRTY more years!! He lived to be 90 years old, and in the end did not even die of natural causes. He used to smoke 20 cigars a day, so one day the 90 year ...

... person who found the surprise would be crowned queen for 24 hours. My slice had the surprise (a little porcelain gingerbread man), so Maga gave me a crown and we all had a good laugh about me wearing that. Otherwise, we just talked to Maga, walked around Bettemburg so she could show us how to get to the train station, and drank tea. She also continued to try feeding us that night, including practically force feeding us more of her pizza, chocolate mousse, and truffles. Whew ...

... wet Belgium, Luxembourg and then into warm and partially sunny France! We did a bunch of walking the quiet and busy streets of Metz, along the rivers and canals, saw their ...