Part 36 - French Food, English Countryside, Scottish Castle, 27 Aug 2019

Europe Blog Part 4 - 

The afternoon sun shone warmly on the floor of the deep, green valley. Isabelle and I saw the Moselle River moving gently in front of our campsite as we shut off our engines.  On the other side of the river there was a high cliff. That was Germany. Ten minutes earlier we had crossed a bridge over the Moselle Gorge. The bridge had huge legs; it had been like flying out of Germany into Luxembourg. We followed the twisting Luxembourgian road down, down to the bottom of the Moselle Valley. Our heads were still ringing with the noise and the wind of the German autobahns. The campsite was quiet and calm. It brought us back to earth.

The next morning we headed straight for France. The road passed through Thionville and led us to Metz. We were to meet Nora in front of the Metz Cathedral for lunch. Seven years earlier I had been billeted with Nora during a student exchange between my school and Lysee Vauban, a private school that offered an education in French using the French system, in Luxembourg City. I enjoyed Nora’s generous hospitality for three weeks and she stayed with us when her Luxembourgian students came to Ottawa. Lunch turned out to be a fun reunion on a terrace across from the glorious cathedral.

Metz Cathedral Altar

After lunch the three of us visited the cathedral. Isa and I had seen numerous Romanesque churches in previous weeks. Their heavy walls and barrel vaulted ceilings were impressive; the Metz Cathedral contrasted sharply. An example of sophisticated French Gothic style, the Metz Cathedral had massive interior height and natural brilliance. Extensive banks of windows brought in all that light and helped the walls appear to be thin, almost weightless even viewed from the outside. Flying buttresses reduced the required thicknesses of its stone walls and helped create the impression of a winged flight up to heaven.

Rosette over Front Doors at Metz

After saying goodbye to Nora we rode on toward Calais. We stopped in to visit the Ossuary at Verdun; the displays were moving and solemn.  The monument had rows and rows of white crosses surrounding it. Inside the main building were tributes to individuals and to whole regiments. The monument stands on the battlefield where 130,000 soldiers died in the First World War. They were French, German, British and others. Their bones had been mixed together on the battlefield, often blasted to bits. The bones and fragments were collected and laid to rest beneath the monument. Windows along the base of the monument allows one to see some of the bones. 

Verdun Memorial

We crossed the English Channel again on the seventh of August. We had used a total of 53 Schengen days. That meant I had 37 days remaining for France and Spain. Morocco is in Africa and is not part of the Schengen zone. I would enter that country on a separate application that would last for 90 days. The ferry crossing went without incident. We rode to just south of London and camped for the night. 

Buying Tickets for the Ferry

Isabelle and I celebrated our 33^rd wedding anniversary two days later in a beautiful campground near Leeds. The owner was a moto traveler too, having been throughout Africa. He let us stay the night for free.

Free Camping

Overgrown Grand Drive

It was the tenth of August, my brother Rob’s fiftieth birthday. Isabelle and I took a taxi into the beautiful city of York. We had planned to take the water taxi but it was cancelled. Low bridges and unusually high water caused the cancellation. More heavy rain was once again creating widespread flooding throughout the United Kingdom. Our campground was on the floodplain of the River Ouse. We moved our tent to higher ground on the second day as nearby water levels rose. The river crested just before breaching the lower parts of the campground.

Bumper sticker needed, "We stop to look at ruins"

High Water in York

Wind and rain punctuated an interesting three hour walking tour of York. An old city, York was first built as the site of a Roman fort. Roman troops were garrisoned there on the edge of the Roman Empire. Hadrian’s Wall, 75 miles north of there, marked the limit of the empire. Two navigable rivers converge at York. Both gave access to the sea and were tidal during Roman times. The York Mercantile Guild was strong and managed to keep prices high in more modern centuries. The result of this was much lower industrialization than nearby cities in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

"The York Shambles" (old meat retail district)

Inside the York Wall

Isabelle and I had lunch in the Guy Fawkes Inn. Guy Fawkes was born in York and he tried to blow up the English Parliament to bring back Catholicism to England. The Inn was hundreds of years old and decorated with suits of armour, weaponry and paintings. The food was excellent. We decided to stay another day so we didn’t visit the Minster.

Armour in Need of a Fig Leaf (in a random pub lunch stop)

Steam Power Explained at Train Museum in York

York Minster is the seat of the third most important office in the Church of England after the Monarch and the Archbishop of Canterbury. Isabelle and I went to the 10 o’clock service the next day, Sunday. The cathedral’s interior, as impressive as its exterior, rang with the congregation’s enthusiastic singing of traditional Anglican hymns. The only negative thing about the experience was the police bag checks at the entrance. The UK remains a category two country on Canada’s and other governments’ Travel Advisory lists due to the threat of terrorism.

York Minster

View of the Minster 1

View of the Minster 2

View of the Minster 3

View of the Minster 4

View of the Minster 5

On August thirteenth Isa and I hiked along Hadrian’s Wall. The weather was a mixture of sun, cloud, rain, wind and cool temperatures. August 4^th and 8^th had been the only clear days to that point in time. Despite the bad weather we had a great day. Hadrian’s Wall was built by the Romans to keep back the Picts in Scotland. The Romans had given up on conquering the Picts after 40 years of trying and losing 5,000 sldiers of the Ninth Legion. 

Example of a Mile Fort

The wall was 89 miles long, was built in six years and was manned constantly by Roman soldiers. Mile Forts housed 10 to 30 men who patrolled the wall. The main garrison for the wall was at Housestead Fort, the place where the wall was begun. Housestead Fort, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, housed about 800 Roman soldiers and acted as a military administration centre. It supported a substantial civilian town that was built outside its southern wall.

We enjoyed great views during our walk and were entertained by local farmers’ dogs skillfully collecting and driving large flocks of sheep. Isa and I took a rural bus back to Mile Castle Inn for dinner. The pub was a kilometer from our campground. Dinner was superb and we finished the day by walking back home in the drizzle.

Ruins of Granary at Housestead Fort

Latrine Ruins at Housestead Fort

On August fifteenth we dropped off the motos at Edinburgh BMW to have new tires fitted. Ordering our favorite tires, Heidenau K60, would have required us to wait a week for delivery. Instead we opted for less aggressive, street oriented tread patterns. Isabelle’s bike was shod with Metzler Tourance and mine with Continental TKC70’s. Both tire types are designed for 80% road use with gravel riding as a rare thing. They would be next to useless in mud or sand. This didn’t bother us; unlike in South America, all the roads in Europe were paved. Road tires made sense for us in Europe.

Edinburgh Cathedral on "The Royal Mile"

Holyrood Palace

Ruins of attached Cathedral at Holyrood

Royal Gardens at Holyrood

We took a public bus to Edinburg’s city centre from the BMW shop in the suburbs. We first picked up our tickets for the Edinburgh Tattoo performance. They were for the show that night at 9 o’clock beside Edinburgh Castle. Then we poked around the “Royal Mile” for the rest of the day. The Royal Avenue joins Edinburgh Castle with Holyrood Palace, the Scottish home of the Royal Family. Isabelle had already toured Edinburgh Castle so we opted for the tour of Holyrood Palace. The audio guide was particularly good. We enjoyed being able to stop and start the guide, allowing us to discuss things and to progress at our own speed.

A "Close" (alley) off The Royal Mile

Cathedral View 2

Edinburgh Castle

Castle View 2

Opening Sequence at the Edinburgh Tattoo

Guards Band Performing the Fanfare

Spectacular!

The same bus route brought us back to the dealership where we picked up the bikes wearing their new shoes. We dropped the motos off at the campsite and took another bus back to the tattoo performance. The world famous show was great fun, such spectacle! There were bands from all over the world along with traditional UK military and Pipe Bands. Highland dancers were followed by dancers from Trinidad and Tobago. Nigerian giants (on stilts) representing various emotions and myths along with more human characters danced out stories in wildly colourful costumes. Lighting effects and even fireworks lit up Edinburgh Castle and the air above it! We loved the show.