Gorze

11 June 2015:  After a relaxed and interesting day in Metz, I returned to the GR5 today.  I decided to skip the arc of the trail west of Metz:  Rather than return to the trail at Marange-Silvange, where I left it two days ago, I took a train to Ars-sur-Moselle, a short distance southwest of Metz, and picked up the GR5 there.  That gave me a 10 km walk to Gorze, where I had reserved a room through Airbnb at a chambres d'hôtes called La Renaissance (for good reason: parts of this impressive building date back to the 15th century).  I would have been pleased to walk farther today, but I could not find a place to stay between Gorze and Vandières, another 25 km down the trail.  Finding places to stay in this part of Lorraine remains a big challenge – and one that greatly influences route planning. 

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Departing from the Péniche Alclair this morning, I greeted this heron standing watch on the deck:

The trail departs from Ars-sur-Moselle:  Once I turned up this trail, I did not see a single soul for several hours. 

The trail passed this monument to Prussian and French soldiers, killed in the 1870 war, who are buried here.  The inscription is in German (since this area was in the part of Lorraine annexed by Germany after that war), but the word identifying the nationality of the Prussian soldiers has been effaced. 

Today's forest, providing welcome shade on the trail:

The remains of a 1st century Roman aqueduct that brought water from highly-prized sources at Gorze to the Moselle River settlements:

Sweeping views of beautiful Lorraine countryside:

View of La Renaissance chambres d'hôtes from its terrace, where I enjoyed a cool drink and a pleasant chat with Carol, the hostess: