clairedavieswriter

Before I reached my B&B tonight, I knew it was on a working farm. But it turned out that the work it does is rather different from what I imagined. Its relatively new owner, Pierre, a 30-something former logistics manager with no farming experience, explained that it’s what the Dutch call a ‘Care Farm’.How it…

Inspired by a tourist map at my guesthouse, Bernard and I set off this morning for a gentle tour of the city. We hadn’t gone far when I was lured off track by a nice looking café. Well, it was important to restore my caffeine levels. And I appreciated the details – the little cube…

Happily, I didn’t need my waterproofs after all. To many people, my destination today is still synonymous with Operation Market Garden, the daring attempt by Allied forces, commanded by Eisenhower and Montgomery, to capture a series of bridges, including at Nijmegen and Arnhem, in September 1944, and thereby hasten the end of World War 2.Bernard…

After all the train-related excitement (see part 1), by the time I reached Maastricht I was more than ready to get back on two wheels. And of course the obvious thing to do on a boiling hot day was to ride away from my destination, so I could start my Netherlands end-to-end properly.However, I found…

Let the train take the strain, said I.Hold my Stella, said the signalman in Liège.It had all started so well… yesterday, the very helpful man in the ticket booth at Arlon station (still manned after 5pm, I observed) furnished me and Bernard with tickets (€27 and €4 respectively, for a four hour international journey), confirmed…

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,…

After yesterday’s food desert, I fear today I may have overcompensated. Having set out with a banana, three madeleines and a protein bar, I then stopped at the boulangerie and added a pain au chocolat. Do you do sandwiches? I asked. Désolée, said Madame La Boulangère, but she knew someone who did. Imagine my surprise…

Last week, on my ride to Brussels, I was enjoying a banana in the shade of a tree when I was approached by a thin, bald, middle aged man in round red framed glasses, riding a huge electric mountain bike and emanating nervous energy. Think Tintin’s Professor Calculus on a health kick.After plying me with…

As is often the case after a hiatus, I was excited about getting underway again, but nervous at the same time. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. Despite the distance, the hills and the heat, the ride didn’t feel all that strenuous.This may well be down to the exemplary R&R on offer chez…

Today’s lesson was ‘Cycling Infrastructure: how to do it (and how not to)’.For my ride to Brussels, Guillaume had come up with a route that looked suspiciously like some of his less brilliant ideas from last year. For those who weren’t following that trip, his rationale could generally be summarised as ´Take the shortest route,…