By this time, we had gotten very used to the navigation, the travel, the systems, the water consumption, the languages, and even the feel of Europe. But we had to go home. Today was the first leg of the rude shock of reality, the downward spiral to Losheim and packing.

First we went to the Arc de Triumph to get a view from the top, the bottom, and around it for good measure!

More efforts with French radio produced the same wildly mixed results as we scanned our way home, slowly finding more German stations. A detour through Luxembourg (two full laps around the city, just for navigation's sake) delayed the onset of reality slightly. But suddenly, we were passing the familiar wind generators and back in Losheim.

An afternoon donair waylaid our feelings of misgiving about the near future, as did a bike ride with Albi to the local cold-soak (a water trough with knee-deep 11-degree Celsius water (52F) for walking in and a small track of wood chips to stimulate the feet afterwards.) Besides Peter not wearing enough clothes to insulate his core temperature, the cold-soak was surprisingly beneficial and enjoyable! We made a late night of packing bags and boxes (thank goodness the Apollo moon program invented duct tape!).

We were up early to finish packing and take some pictures of our gracious hosts,

then drove towards Frankfurt. No navigation excitement, except when the gas station we thought was available at the airport was for airport employees only. Luckily, (we were both pretty grumpy about going home) we found a nearby gas station quickly. Back to the airport, back to secured international boundaries, and back to baggage fees that you can't just weasel around like you could on the trains. "I don't know" doesn't go over well with airline people! Last stop, the waiting area, where the collection of Canadians was evident. It was amazing to feel the change in environment even though we were still in the Frankfurt airport, still hearing German over the loudspeakers, and still reading German recycling signs. We stepped onto the plane and flew into the sunset.