clairedavieswriter

It’s another double-bill blog day, and now Team Bernard is two down, one to go for this trip.

It being a very minor road, there was no grand country sign to help me mark my achievement this time, but I can confirm that the village of Eischen is on the other side of the border, and if you need proof, here it is (GDL is Grand Duchy of Luxembourg):

In four and a half days, I’ve cycled 413.2k / 257 miles from the chilly dunes of the North Sea coast, across the windswept polders of Flanders, beside the limpid waters of the Meuse, to the sun-baked hills, forests and farmland of the Ardennes:

I’ve pedalled through the historic cities of Bruges…

And Ghent…

… where the cyclist is king, to the chaos of the capital, where he most certainly is not – yet. Some parts are definitely better than others: this was on the way from Uccle to Waterloo

From my admittedly fleeting and superficial vantage point, I would venture to say that Belgians like to keep their homes immaculately tidy, to the point of looking brand new. Or perhaps they are brand new: everywhere I looked, houses were being built or renovated. Are there government incentives for modernising and insulating homes, I wondered? If so, they’re working. And it’s not just the houses that are well-built. Belgian cows have muscles that a gym bunny would be proud of

Unforgivably, I have failed to partake in any of the local brews, but I plan to remedy that quite soon. Will it be Leffe, Affligem or Delirium Tremens though? Or perhaps, in honour of my former colleagues, this one might be more appropriate.

I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, Team Bernard will be letting the train take the strain tomorrow morning. Lunchtime should see us in Maastricht, for the start of our next end-to-end. Stay tuned!