Day Nine

Vouécourt to Liverdun

84 miles 4111ft climbed

The day today was one of history, spanning many centuries and each one told its own story many of which remain relevant to today. This is how it turned out.

We started today as we would finish it running alongside a river/ canal on perfectly smooth tarmac, but in between it was a bit different. We only ever saw one boat on the perfectly maintained canals and locks so it seemed an over investment.

During the day today we were once again plagued by the closed road scourge and the canal tow path was no exception. Having spoken to a woman by closed sign she said give it a go it’s probably just a fallen down tree from the recent storm blocking the path We gave it a go and she was right- just a fallen tree.

The terrain had seriously changed and we now had rolling hills fields and woods so after the first eleven miles on the canal towpath we had to hit the roads.

The roads then climbed up 200-400 ft over 1 to 3 miles and then went back down again so a hard push was followed by a long speedy descent. This was good fun but gradually wore out the energy as the legs were certainly more tired than a week ago.

Another road feature of the day was gravel. The heat of the last week had meant that the tarmac had melted in a number of places so they had gravelled the roads to try to protect them. On two full several kilometre sections between villages we had to ride super carefully as it was not dislike trying to ride Nick’s drive! We have to admit that one of these sections was closed to traffic but we didn’t fancy the detour!

As ever Nigel and Monica had sourced some top class pastries ( peach tarts) and equally good halts today so we did not go wanting.

We passed through lots of villages which genuinely seemed very run down with rotten doors and gates so the area is not as wealthy as it would first appear.

Our history visits began after coffee as Nick and I stopped off in the small village of Grand. ( A mistitle if I ever saw one). This village is home to one of the biggest Roman amphitheatre’s in Europe which would have held 15-17,000 spectators adjacent to a large Roman town. The amphitheatre was buried under earth until properly rediscovered in 1960. details can be found on https://grandlagalloromaine.vosges.fr/. What an amazing building in the middle of nowhere.

Leaving Grand we then had a ten mile up and down cycle to Domremy La Pucelle. This small town is famous for the birthplace of Joan of Arc who defeated the English despite the fact she was just a 19 year old girl ! We know her as the Maid of Orleans but pucelle is French for virgin and Domremy’s name was given La pucelle in her honour. https://www.jeanne-darc.info/location/domremy/

After seeing these sights we stopped for lunch. Our lunch stop next to a village green was enlivened by a class of 8 year olds who had been brought out for a cycle ride by their teacher ( and some parents) over 13 km for a picnic and play. Could this ever happen in the UK with our risk averse position ? Just as we were leaving another local lady with her daughter came and had a chat to us insisting it was in English to help her improve her language skills.

After lunch we once again climbed long slow hills and descended long fast slopes whilst being buzzed by several fast jets from the nearby airbase. In an interlude between the up and the down Nick had to stop to meet his calling as he saw a few goats. ( for those of you unaware Cabrera can meet goatherd)

We had a brief tea stop and although it had threatened to rain all day we were lucky and it stayed dry and whilst overcast it remained sticky and warm.

Before we came into the big town of Toul we came across this large Canadian Air Force war grave cemetery which was next to a similar WW1 French one. The majority of the fallen were under 25, younger than our own children. What a waste and testament to the folly of war.

Toul is clearly a military town as we passed a large barracks and the town itself is surrounded by defensive earthworks. We were not quite sure what the pink fountain was all about but it did look good.

We then made a beeline for the cathedral which we had seen from miles away. A superb building in a town that neither of us had heard of before. Just as we were leaving we heard a honking and chugging and following the noise came across a Model T Ford rally. This rally had over 40 of these cars lined up the oldest being from 1911 and the newest 1926. It was interesting to see the development they had undertaken in those years.

We left Toul and then had ten miles alongside the river to get to the campsite. During the ride we came across this small electric engine which was used from the 1920’s to the 1970’s to pull the barges after the demise of horse power and before diesel engines were fitted to boats. There were over 600 of the little beasts towing barges across France and creating less pollution than self propelled boats – progress eh?

Nick & I decided against an attempt to to get into Liverdun where our campsite was because of the steps into the medieval town so we sped down into the busiest campsite of the tour full of Dutch and Germans before showering and enjoying our steak dinner.

Just one day to go before another tour is successfully completed.