I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle, I want to ride my bicycle. I want to ride my bike. I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like….The Moselle

Yesterday, we boarded The Magnifique I. And immediately felt at home…great crew and very comfortable cabin. We are eight Canadians from Quebec, 18 Americans (from California, Colorado and New York), and six very likeable Australians – all over 60, except for Megan.

Yesterday involved meeting everyone  and getting familiar with our bikes – in our case, e-bikes!

After a good breakfast this morning, we cruised along the river, navigated two locks, and stopped at Thionville to start our bike tour.

The route was mostly on cycle paths beside the river, except for occasional bridges and brief sections on local roads – we learnt to be very careful of local traffic. All progressed well apart from a couple of minor falls – not in our group thankfully.

Our route took us through beautiful French countryside, towns and villages, most with towering church spires and curious locals.

Towards the end of the day, we rode through the famous town of Schengen, where, of course, the Schengen agreement was signed allowing free movement between EU countries – lucky for us, as we now cross into Luxembourg.

Our final stop before reaching our ship, was the ruins of a Roman villa at Perl – amazing mosaic tiles and ruins of the Roman town.

Finally, we caught up with our ship at Remich, in Germany, just across the river from Luxembourg. Obviously after such a long ride on such a hot day, we needed a seemingly endless supply of Heinekens and other drinks to share stories of our adventures on the first day.

Tomorrow, on to Saarburg.