Kassel - Metz

The first stage, 434km from Kassel to Metz:

The nine-seater bus from Wilhelmsgymnasium set off promptly at 9:00 am. So punctual that one of us had forgotten to return the front door key to her mother. Telephone, oh dear, U-turn. But then, we got to Metz without any problems, no traffic jams and nothing else exciting. Well, in Metz we took a wrong turn despite the satnav. It actually cost us ten minutes. Que dommage!

Auberge de Jeunesse: Uh, voulez vous please, alors nous avons rooms... Pas de problem, do You speak english? An audible sigh of relief. Right on the Moselle (Moselle), only ten rooms with 6 beds each. So we took two. Nous sommes yes seven.

In the kitchen, only two of the 6 tiny electric hotplates work, but at least there's no lid for the big pot! But a big bowl works too! Pasta with tomato sauce, what else, was served less than 40 minutes later. On the terrace right by the river. Source lüxüs!

Sight seeing: What is it called in French? Cathédrale St. Etienne, not quite as voluminous as Cologne Cathedral but about as high, i.e. the nave. But with stained glass windows by Chagal! Extraordinaire!

The whole town has a very Mediterranean flair. Full cafés in the evenings, so it's natural outside. Comment ca va? It also has a castle garden, without a castle, called Esplanade.

Honestly, you wouldn't believe it: when we come back to the AuJe at 9 pm, the kids actually get out the robots and code for all they're worth. Côte de finesse.

Good night then! Á demain.