Jun 27, 2017 - An old town, a beguinage and a belfry

An aspirin before bed would have been a good idea but it's onward and upward, getting up at 0600. Decided at 0715 to have a room coffee. I offer to put in enough water for two. LL declines and then thinks maybe he wants a tea. As it turned out, there was enough water for two. He comes over and says the tea in the packet looks funny. I told him he had opened a coffee. The brekkie was in a modern room. Salmon slices was a nice touch. The local sausages were good. To me, then Mr Gonzalez aka SS and then to DAM aka Ann, LL advised if you wanted...

Jun 26, 2017 - The last of 12 countries

Not the best sleep by any means, the room feeling a bit warmer than the night before. LL up at 0515 even though 0600 alarm. He was done in just 45 minutes ie if he wasn't so set in his ways he could have readily slept in, got up at 0600 and been done by 0640, leaving me a bit of time. While room banter has returned, I would not room with him again for his early morning approach to things, quite apart from the lack of email, yet alone the antics at the vineyard dinner. Brekkie was okay. It's Monday so some business types partaking as well...

Jun 11, 2017 - Antwerp, Belgium

Sunday & Monday The Sunday ride was quite a challenge! Not the distance but the speed made it a very long day. It was quite hot, and because it was slow going, it meant we were riding through the hottest part of the day. Our guide (quite a character!) is quite adamant that we all stay together so the speed is as fast as our slowest rider, which is quite slow, and a bit frustrating for Lisle, but it is about the journey! One would think that a slow ride is better, but it is very hard to get a rhythm going, and it means that you are actually...

Jun 10, 2017 - Bike Barge ride - Gent, Belgium

Saturday Our last morning in Brugge was very busy, with lots of walking, we found the Post Office, & markets which were on the other side of the old city. Around midday we found our barge boat the "Anna Antal" she was originally built in 1897, the old Hull still remains. The vessel has had many lives, as a barge, sea vessel fishing boat and many engine exchanges since, originally powered by steam, and later by diesel motors. She is about 38m long. It was converted back in 1995 to a passenger vessel & refitted in 2012, it now accommodates 22...

Jun 9, 2017 - Brugge, Belgium day 2

Friday, Another day in Brugge, we joined up for a walking tour of the old city, about 2.5hrs. Our guide Tatiana, was German, an ex Lufthansa hostess, she spoke 7 languages, thankfully the tour was in English. We found out the tallest structure the "Belfry" tower in Brugge was built over a 300 yrs period. It was used as a defensive observation, & storing official documents & jewels. The Belfry developed a lean, now about 1m, originally with a wooden spire that was removed way back, to reduce the weight. Apparently the story goes they used...

Oct 6, 2016 - Ypres, Belgium

Day 26 – Thursday 6th October Mesen, Belgium – Dunkirk, France - 67miles, total to date =2,921miles Our first visit today was to the Irish tower on the outskirts of Mesen. The tower commemorates the combined Irish divisions from both Northern & Southern Ireland who fought together in this area in WW1. The tower was built from stone brought over from Ireland & is 34mtrs high & records that over 70,000 Irish soldiers died in the war. Next we went a couple of miles further to the Hyde Park Cemetery where we parked up & then walked about three...

Oct 5, 2016 - Flanders Fields

Day 25 – Wednesday 5th October Arras, France - Mesen, Belgium - 55miles, total to date =2,854miles Before leaving Arras & heading North we decided to visit another section of the tunnel system in Arras known as the Wellington Quarry. This is where the British Army connected up & enlarged the chalk extraction tunnels to form a network of barracks twenty metres underground to house 24,000 soldiers. An interesting guided tour started with a lift going down the twenty metres to bottom & then a fifty minute walk along the tunnels & rooms, some...

Oct 2, 2016 - The Battle Of The Bulge

Day 22 – Sunday 2nd October Bastogne, Belgium Bastogne is quite famous for the part it played during the “Battle of the Bulge” at the end of the Second World War. By the end of 1944 the Germans had been pushed back to their defensive positions near there borders around the Siegfried Line following the Normandy landings. In a last desperate attempt to break out & recapture the port of Antwerp in order to cut off the Allies supplies the Germans broke out on a wide front & recaptured a large area of land deep into the Allied area. They swept...

Oct 1, 2016 - Through Luxembourg To Belgium

Day 21 – Saturday 1st October Karlsruhe, Germany - Bastogne, Belgium - 191miles, total to date =2,572 miles We had our first rain for a fortnight. It rained heavily overnight & all morning as we drove North West towards Luxembourg. We took the motorway to make the drive easier in the wet. We’ve been so used to bright sunny weather on this trip, the last time we saw rain was exactly two weeks ago in the Czech Republic, many miles ago. We stopped off in Luxembourg to visit the American War Cemetery. Over 5,000 soldiers till buried here...

Sep 30, 2016 - Crossing the big pond

It was a quick turn around, barely finished our burgers and we were on our longest flight, about 7 ½ hours. We may have had a little anxiety, flying Brussels Airlines, into Brussels, Belgium, but everything was smooth sailing, thankfully! They certainly pack you in like sardines, next time it would probably be worth it to pay for the upgrade. For some reason we couldn’t prepick our seats, so we ended up in the middle of four seats. At least we were together! Then dinner came out, to our surprise. Mike hadn’t found any reference to food, so...

Sep 12, 2016 - Bruges, Belgium

Dunkirk to Bruges, Belgium – 57 miles, total to date = 242 miles Beautiful sunny morning. Up early at 6.30am(5.30 UK time). Very handy stopover here in the ferry terminal at Dunkirk as they keep the toilets open overnight. On the road early & off to the hypermarket to fill up with diesel & LPG gas as prices cheaper here than in UK. Once we were stocked up it was only a 60 mile drive up to Bruges in Belgium. We’ve heard several good reports about Bruges so it was an easy choice for our next stopover. A handy Motorhome site on the Southern...

Sep 1, 2016 - Heading north to the Belgium coast

Today we headed north once again travelling 275 miles to Nieuwpoort on the Belgium coast ready for our crossing on the 7 September 2016. We will spend the time getting ready for our return to the UK and having a bit of R&R before our hectic schedule of family visits, coach and car services and MOTs, dentist appointments etc. We have had a great summer. Our time in Switzerland was just magic. Now to think about our plans for the winter.