A 'mixed bag': Monthermé to Haybes via Rocroi

Mon 21 Aug

We departed Monthermé with supplies from the local boulangerie.

Lovely riding along the river to Revin where we passed through a long very dark tunnel - even with my torch I had to walk the middle section.

Along the way, there were works being done on the cliff face of a railway tunnel going through the mountain. How would you like this for a job - wielding a jackhammer whilst hanging onto ropes on a near vertical rock wall!?

We had a steep climb into the centre ville of Revin. Nestling between the meanders of the Meuse and the Ardennes Forest, the small town still has its picturesque timber-framed houses from the 16th century.

Nothing much open but we were lucky to 'snag' a coffee on the way out to Rocroi after we'd eaten our pastries at the top of the old town overlooking the river. The guy running the cafe had worked in Perth! He and 3 others were playing table football and having a great time scoring goals against each other. One guy never took the fag out of his mouth - and the ash was hanging off about half an inch long!!

From here we had a grinding climb of 9.5% over 12 kms - 254 m up from Revin to Rocroi. Thanks Knud.

It is a star-shaped fortified town designed during the reign of Henry II and reinforced by Vauban in the 17th century. The Battle of Rocroy took place in 1643 between the Spanish and French armies.

We looked at fortifications and were somewhat underwhelmed. Best part was the yummy fraise (strawberry) and vanilla icecream and chat to a delightful young Belgian rider touring on his own. Filled up with new lot of groceries at Aldi including some glue to fix a few things that have come apart (not me, although I wish glue would fix me!!) plus some vinegar to clean immersion heater!

Seriously, I could have done without this climb as I now have a very sore knee. I have adjusted my bike seat height and strapped the knee so am crossing my fingers!

Apart from that, as we came back into Revin, I saw a laundromat (laverie) which the boys were initially under-enthused about until 1) they realised they could sit in comfort and eat their baguettes - late lunch! About 2 p.m. 2) get clean clothes!!! David couldn't stop raving about it for hours afterwards. It was our first wash apart from hand-washing since leaving Erika and Knud! It was not a pretty sight though as we took over the laundromat.

We had a lovely ride back along the river via Fumay to our destination of Haybes.

Lovely buildings in Fumay:

This is our last night in France. We cross the border tomorrow into Belgium.

Our accommodation here in Haybes is attached to a very nice restaurant - thankfully, as most other places in town appear to be closed (probably because it is Monday night). I had the most wonderfully tender duck breast in honey and mustard sauce followed by yummy bavarois and fruits. Very nice half bottle of Saumur Champigny 2014 red from the Loire.

A short walk around town after dinner. It is very pretty, although it has a dark history. Haybes is one of the "martyr" villages from WWI. It was shelled and burned in 1914 with great loss of life. This was part of the German practice of destroying any village that resisted, or from which any hostile action was thought to have come.

Despite rain forecast for today, fortunately it didn't eventuate though the morning was cool - 12 deg C; 20 deg C later on the day - quite pleasant.

Ride: 62 kms