Germany you've been amazing.

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So as I'm getting ready to go to bed, there's a knock at the door. Here we go, time to move on, but no, it was a couple who lived in the next village, who had spotted me and so invited me to breakfast. So the next morning I cycled to theirs for a massive continental breakfast, and chatted for hours. The funny thing was Andrea was a big tour fan, but Tom couldn't care less, he wanted to go play with his focus RS round the Nurburgring. They even offered to drive me to the station with my bike, as it had been heavy rain all morning, and it didn't stop all day. But we weren't sure if there would be room for the bike on a train, as they were so busy, so I said thank you and rode back to the van to collect my stuff, and stick to plan A. Then while prepping the sat nav, a couple walked up and said hello. At first I thought they were from the motor home down the road, until I spotted the gun on his hip! They were the police just checking people along the route. They said good bye and I started off to Düsseldorf. The route was fairly undulating, with a lot of cycle lanes, but being a car gps, it didn't like it if I was on the wrong side where the cycle lane was, and some of the roads weren't really the best for cycling, but it got me there. Another thing I was uncertain of, was how secure it would be to leave my bike, so I took two massive cable locks and a padlock, but where I stopped, there were hundreds of bikes, and the police sitting right next to them. I walked around the entertainment for a while, then walked up to the bridge where the track crossed over. It was great to see, and loads going on, but by five thirty, I had got fed up with the weather, and kept thinking I still need to cycle back, so called it a day, and headed back. The route back was different, but just as nice, though I obviously hadn't eaten or drunk enough, so the last 10 miles felt like an eternity. When I got back, a van with a caravan had parked behind me, but I was so frazzled, I just ate and went to bed. The next morning I was back to Tom and Andrea's for another big breakfast. Toms business was tailoring coats and cushions from lamb skins, and as he showed me around, he started giving me different bits to take. So I now have a seat cover for the van, an underlay for the bed, and a nice mo hair cushion, as if they hadn't done enough for me already. This time at breakfast, they told me about the quarries nearby, one which I must have cycled next too but didn't even notice, and offered to take me there. How I missed it I'll never know, as when we drove up to see it, it was immense! All along the road to and from the quarry, we saw all the people who were ready for the tour to come past, with picnics and flags. In the morning there were only a few extra vans, but by the time we got our chairs next to Bob, the place was full of people. The promotional procession came through shortly after, giving away sweets and caps and such. It was about an hour later when the actual riders came through, and if you blinked, you missed it. Then when the last of the procession had passed, everyone began to leave, so I said a big thank you to Tom and Andrea, and made my way to Wiltz in Luxembourg. Unfortunately I needed fuel, and they had closed off the last bit I needed to go down to get it, so I ended up at a small town automated one, which didn't accept my card. The guy filling up opposite realised I was struggling, and helped me out and stayed long enough to make sure I was fine, so again the people of Germany had been more than helpful throughout my stay there. The journey down went nicely, I think mostly because it was Sunday evening, so traffic was very light. Just before Wiltz, I found the tour signs, so ignored the sat nav, and followed them. Well until it headed through a pedestrian zone, so I had to back track a bit and follow the sat nav again. At the top of the climb, I found a few motor homes already parked up. But there wasn't a great deal of room so parked opposite. When I asked them if this would be ok, they point to the farm just up the road so I went and asked him. Unfortunately due to my severe lack of language skills, it started getting confusing, so the farmer said he'll be up in 30 minutes. When he did arrive it was fine to park where I was, but he asked me to block off the entrance so no one else tried to park there. The next morning I woke to find a team of people putting together the finish line for this climb, and then later others were putting up gazebos, so it looks like it's going to get proper busy here. The next stop is going to be near Toul along the D611. There's no extra stages there, so it might be a bit quieter. Maybe.

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