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03-Feb-2018 -- This is the 1^st out of 2 reports reaching confluence points during a weekend bicycle trip from Nancy to Strasbourg.

February is clearly the month for skiing in Switzerland. But I don’t get the point why I should squash in a ski-lift in order to slide down a mountain afterwards. So I escaped to France, where these two confluence points were waiting to be discovered by me.

Friday after work I took local trains from Zurich to Nancy, arriving there on the vigil of confluence-day at 9 PM during rain and snow. So I stayed in a hotel directly at Nancy main station. The next morning at daybreak I started cycling towards this confluence point – the weather was dry and calm. I covered the 50 km from Nancy to this confluence within 3 hours – thereby following entirely the bicycle paths along the Mosel Valley. Due to high-water, the path was flooded such that I had to cycle partially through water. When I had reached Pagny-sur-Moselle (3 km from CP), I had to leave the valley and climb up the forested plateau of the Parc Naturel Régional de Lorraine. Following various muddy or flooded forest tracks, I reached the confluence point at 10:30 AM.

This confluence point is one of those located right next to a forest track. I wonder why so many points are on roads or tracks. Since I don’t assume any correlation between confluence points and the road network, the reason must be found in the presence of an extremely dense infrastructure network within Europe.

I measured that the confluence is 5 m from the track in a deciduous forest – now of course without leafs. The trees are partially covered with moss and lichen.

After the visit, I continued cycling along the Mosel Valley to Metz, where I had lunch. In the afternoon, I reached 49°N 7°E during dusk. But in order to get meaningful pictures of the confluence, I planned on staying in the nearby town Sarralbe and return the next morning.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance from Pagny-sur-Moselle: 3 km
• Distance from a road: 1.7 km
• Distance from a track: 5 m
• Time to reach the CP from Pagny-sur-Moselle: 20 minutes
• Time at the CP: 10:31 AM
• Measured height: 362 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
• Position accuracy: 3 m
• Topography: hilly
• Vegetation: deciduous forest, moss, lichen, mashrooms
• Weather: overcast, 3° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The High-Water Confluence

The story continues at 49°N 7°E.