We had booked tickets online for our train last night, and were up and on the streets towards the station this morning. Straight there, no getting lost and time to stop for a coffee on the way.
Luxembourg has been a lovely stopover . It is pretty, uncrowded and has some gorgeous, shaded parks to get away from everything. It really has a fairytale, picture book panorama and the city has free wifi too!
The train was on the platform so we hopped on and made ourselves comfy, for the 90 minute trip to Strassbourg. The scenery flew past quickly. We were into France in about 10 minutes, when we were passport checked by French Police. Nobody checked our tickets for the whole trip. A group of kids hopped on in Metz and thought we were in their seats, but they sat elsewhere and it was never resolved and no problems.
We arrived into Strassbourg, where I paid the toilet lady 70c. Friendly toilet ladies in France! We found the car hire office and were given another VW Polo. We found the car easily and then we got out of the city easily. Easiest car pickup ever!
So we are in France! The beautiful scenery was unfolding before us. Green corn fields and golden wheat fields covering rolling hills with little houses and villages dotted amongst them . We could see hay bales and headers taking off the crop.
We had booked a hotel in the country, outside a village called Plain-de-Walsch. We passed the hotel a couple of times, it is very small and unassuming. We couldn't check in until 6pm so we kept driving.
Now the reason I chose this area was because, when given the opportunity to spend a couple of days in France, I googled "Prettiest Villages in France" and found Saint Quirin. We have seen some amazingly beautiful villages in France, so I was prepared to be astounded. The little villages preceding it were fairly average and a little bit suburban. So we drove into Saint Quirin, with it's sign outside say "Les Plus Beaux Villes de France". Gotta be good, right?
I was a little disappointed. It is not one of the most beautiful villages I have seen. It has a kwirky church and a little creek and a chapel on a hill, but it is full of houses that aren't the most amazing. We parked and walked towards the church. As we crossed the stream, an old lady called from her garden "bonjour", we replied and then she accosted us with a verbal barrage . Turns out she wanted us to take her 3 watering cans down to the fountain and fill them for her. She was quite sweet and we were happy to help. Saint Quirin has miraculous waters and the fountain is the source of miracles. It can't be too miraculous, she told us she couldn't carry the water as she has sore legs! We chatted in weird French/English and with a Merci, beaucoup we were sent on our way.
The church was pretty, but it has some very interesting dome spires on top. They are Turkish looking. The statue of Saint Quirin, in his Roman loin cloth and sandals sits behind the altar, while the crucifix has been relegated to side position.
We walked up the hill to the tiny chapel on the hill. You can see over the whole town from here and be amazed by its beauty!
We walked via the miraculous waters and I bathed my hands, looking for a miracle to ease a rash I have. Won't be holding my breath.
We still had an hour before check in so we stopped at a little bar we had spied while we were on the hill. We walked in and it looked empty, with only one customer sitting in there. It was dark and dingy, so we took our beers outside and sat admiring the view of the chapel on the hill, which, I must admit, was pretty good.
We drove back to the hotel, past a lake where there were a few people swimming. The day was really hot, but that water would have been really cold.
The hotel is nice, we overlook a forest out the back and the restaurant to the front. The room is comfortable, all pine walls and ceiling with a balcony to the back.
We decided it would be nice to get some supplies and have dinner on the balcony. We are booked into the restaurant tomorrow night. There were a lot of little villages around, but none had seemed to have supermarkets or any sort of convenience store, so we drove to the bigger town of Sarrebourg. We drove around this town for an hour. A whole hour of thinking that we would come across somewhere to buy some food. At 7.29 we came to a massive Lidl and were so happy. There were a lot of cars in the carpark. We walked in and our way was barred by a security guy crossing his arms in front of him, No Deal style, saying "ferme". They closed at 7.30! He didn't know where there was another, so we headed back to the centre ville , feeling dejected and hungry. We walked through the mall area and it was very quiet. We finally stopped at a pizza place and shared a pizza and salad. First meal in France was not great, but we were fed.
We went back to the hotel and sat on the balcony, enjoying the ambience of the beautiful bush and sweet smelling air.

Steps 8,711
Kms walked 6.2