When I woke at dawn after a lovely sleep there was neither a helicopter nor any rain to be heard. When I woke again at 7 there were both. Oh well. Watching the helicopter as we breakfasted on coffee and croissants was fascinating. Spraying the vineyards with fungicide every ten days seems like a never-ending job: the hillsides are enormous and steep and the helicopter gets in very close - and then has to land frequently to take on more spray. Rather him than me.
Back on the road, we had quite a long day, in part because we got caught in an absolute monsoon-like downpour in the middle of a vineyard just after lunch. By the time we reached shelter (ie a bus shelter) the roads were streams and it was raining so hard each drop splashed back up. The mud was very red as well so the water running down the roads was an impressive colour. Luckily all our waterproof stuff seems to be doing the job just fine. And Horace is obviously a wet-weather soul: immediately after today's drenching the clunking stopped and, miraculously, the cycle computer started working again. What a contrary bike he is.
Notably fewer cyclists around on a showery weekday, and far fewer with dogs. Taking your dog for a cycle seems a common Sunday pursuit around here - yesterday we saw everything from small dogs in baskets to a labrador in one of those kids trailers with his head sticking out the top!
Second to last stop of the day was in Trier which is a large historic (Roman etc) town. We needed tourist info and some food but such a large town is a bit overwhelming late in the day. In tourist info we managed to buy the next cycle map but they could tell us nothing useful about the next town (10k away!). However we did successfully find more camping gas earlier today so on the whole we're ahead.
We had planned to stay at a site a little way out of Konz but, in trying to find a supermarket, found a perfectly decent one right by the town itself. While it has a busier road nearby it won on sheer convenience.
Tomorrow we either leave the Moselle for the Saar (a river heading directly south) or, excitingly, may head into Luxembourg for a day. To be debated once we are all showered and fed and onto a second bottle of wine, perhaps!
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