Rosport to Grevenmacher: Day 130

A long day with woodland walks and a promenade by the Moselle River. Unfortunately no room at the campsite on my arrival. 

I decided on a long day today to avoid two short ones, so I started early and made good progress up the first hill. There were rock outcrops in the woods, steps and bright green leaves on the trees as the morning sun shone through them. As usual the path climbed up and down the valley sides. I was now following yellow squares, which in places disagreed with my GPS track, which did not always seem to agree with my book. In one place I took a longer route missing an instruction in the guidebook about being very careful with the navigation. In another, my GPS took me a little shorter route. My legs felt that the author of the route spent too much effort taking the path up and down hills for a bit of extra woodland, attractive though it was.

Another beautiful woodland walk.

One impressive sight today was a road viaduct. Although many will dislike its intrusion into the valley, I thought the slender columns supporting the roadway had a certain beauty in the morning sun. I passed an apple orchard but more numerous were the vineyards that had started to cover the valley sides. Two huge tractors passed me pulling large trailers, in one the driver had a young boy sitting beside him, his grandson maybe, coming along for a Saturday treat. They were followed by a large vehicle, maybe designed to harvest something. Being Saturday there were a few picnickers about, enjoying lunch on one of the many wooden benches and tables by the path.

Motorway viaduct.

Around the town of Wasserbillig the E2 followed a cycle path. Lots of people were out for a Saturday ride. I liked the bikes with little trailers containing a dog or a young child. Wasserbillig lies on the confluence of the Sauer River and the larger Moselle, the latter being famous for the wine produced from grapes grown on its valley sides. To my eye the grapes, both red and white, looked ready to harvest but I did not see any picking in progress. The town also had an inland port for large river barges coming up the Moselle from the Rhine, it amused me as I had not thought Luxembourg, as a landlocked country, would have any docks. The railway line on the German side of the river was busy with passenger and freight trains.

Inland port.

Judging by the number of posters there will be an election in Luxembourg shortly. Smiling faces of candidates looked down on me. Each had a number for its "list", I assume this is because selection is by proportional representation. I was intrigued by list seven for a party called Piraten, which really does refer to the Pirate Party!

The last part of my day was tiring as I wanted to get to the campsite before 5 pm when the reception often closes. Sadly on reaching the site in the town of Grevenmacher a sign said "Complet" i.e. full. In the UK they would still squeeze in a few backpacker tents like mine, as they are very small and have no associated car, but the lady said "no". I was surprised as it is now the "low" season, and other campsites had plenty of space. So I phoned a Pension on the German side of the river but after I struggled with my German (they spoke no English) they said they had no free room. After checking online and failing to find any other options I decided to wild camp. First I filled up with water at the campsite and bought a meal at a Doner kebab place in the town. Grevenmacher had an attractive pedestrian area, a few squares and rows of terraced houses painted in different pastel colours. All very pleasant. 

A street in Grevenmacher.

Climbing out of town by a chapel, following the stations of the cross, and into vineyards I passed some viewpoints with benches and shelters from which I could see down to the river and across the trees, vineyards and villages in the surrounding valley. Then I reached the woodland I had been aiming for. I had hoped I would be alone, not knowing how illegal wild camping was in Luxembourg, but there were a few dog walkers about. Unfortunately the woods had impenetrable undergrowth but I eventually escaped the dog walkers and found soon more mature woodland with a few open spaces. The ground is rather uneven but the choice is limited. There also seems rather more traffic on the nearby roads than I was expecting. On the question of hunters thinking I was a deer in the twilight and shooting me, I was reassured on finding that the hunting season in Luxembourg did not start for another month.