The weather was due to take a turn for the worse today and when I got up at 7:30 the sky was grey and there were a few drops of rain on the bathroom skylight. My wife Odile would be arriving that afternoon and it unfortunately looked as if the week she would spend hiking with me was going to be on the wet side.
I had a great night’s sleep in the best bed of the trail so far and the charming owner of the B&B had set out a fine breakfast for me when I came down at 8. There was way too much food for one, but she insisted that I take the leftovers with me for my lunch. She really was the most delightful hotel owner met so far.
As I crossed the village to pick up the start of the day’s trail, I passed a small dock where a reconstitution of one of the boats used by the Romans to carry wine up the river to Trier was moored. From what I could tell, it was possible to take wine sampling tours on this boat certain days, no doubt with music and a good German singalong,
The trail crossed a bridge to the other side of the Moselle and then began to climb steeply for a 300-metre gain in elevation. This led to a magnificent section of trail overlooking the the river. On the way up, it began to rain, lightly at first, but then more and more heavily, even though no rain had been forecast for the day. And so, for the first time on this hike, I got out my rain jacket and pack cover. However, about 10 minutes after putting on the kit, the rain stopped and didn’t return for the rest of the day. Even the clouds cleared from time to time, leading to intense sunny spells. And, after the numerous people on the trail the day before, I didn’t see anyone all day apart from a couple of people out for a stroll.
The trail high above the river provided amazing views, notably from the launchpad of the local hang-gliding club. It stayed at this high level for a good part of the morning, in particular above the famous wine-producing village of Piesport.
There was one particularly interesting spot above the village: the Spoar chapel. The word “Spoar” means barrier. The village was struck by the plague in the early 1500s and only 16 of the 98 inhabitants survived. The chapel and the shrine just opposite were the barrier preventing access to the village at the time. It was also the spot that people from neighbouring villages would come to leave food for those still alive in Piesport. And so a barrier erected to keep people out became a symbol of Christian solidarity.
A little further on, amid the vines, there was an interesting display of the different kinds of stone found in the Moselle vineyards. This showed that the sandstone found in the Trier area was in fact an exception, only occurring again in Ürzig, a village I would reach a few days later.
The views of the vineyards were particularly spectacular just after Piesport, with the various access tracks forming an unusual design on the hillside.
The trail then entered more magnificent woods and led to a mineral spring that was first discovered in Roman times. Today, I was delighted to discover, a Kneipp bath has been set up at the spring. After 13 km out of 19, this was the perfect place to stop for lunch and to give my feet a good soaking. When I set off again, they felt like new!
Shortly after, the trail left the woods and began a gradual descent to Monzel where we would be spending the night. With autumn approaching, the leaves on the vines were beginning to turn, with spectacular results at times.
And, just before Monzel, there was a terrific view of the vineyards, and the trail ahead to Bernkastel that we would be hiking the next day.
The final descent to Monzel was through orchards where every tree was covered with apples. However, I was unable to taste them because these orchards, unlike those earlier on the trail, were behind fences.
I arrived in Monzel early enough to shower, rest, and then take a bus to Wittlich to meet Odile’s train. We then took a bus back to Osann (Osann, Monzel and Kesten are three adjacent villages that form a single administrative unit). From there, we walked about 20 minutes back to the hotel before going for an excellent dinner in a local winery restaurant.
Footsteps 