'Rest' day

Wed 23 Aug

Glorious weather this morning. We had a later start to the day, it being a designated rest day!
Well 'rest' is what was planned - i.e. no bike!

But Vincent had other plans! He offered to take us and our bikes in his van up to Maredsous (where the beer the boys have been drinking is made in the abbey there) and then we ride DOWN along the rail trail back to the river.

Could hardly refuse! Firstly, what a value-add to our stay in Dinant; 2) whilst Dinant is undoubtedly touristy, it is VERY BUSY and as far as I can work out the cathedral is the main sight; 3) the rail trail most certainly was DOWN, sealed all the way, paralleling the old railway; 4) is picturesque, and we passed through lots of tunnels which was a hoot.

We stopped also at one of the old railway stations and enjoyed a coffee and generally-speaking had a super pleasant and relaxing time.

We arrived back at our auberge about midday, had a refreshing shower (mid-20s today!) and then cycled along the bike trail (accessed via a tiny tunnel under the railway line which parallels the river and the road on which our auberge is located) to visit Dinant for a late lunch of - WAFFLES (gaufres)!

The place was recommended by Vincent but I had it listed in my notes too. Superb. Plus we had coffee and Belgium chocolates.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So we have ticked off all the boxes for Belgium: frites, moules (mussels), beer, waffles and chocolate. Yum!

A look at the cathedral, then water from the supermarket and a map of Belgium from the livres (book) store.

As an aside, German, French, English and Dutch are all spoken here. But they have their own language too. So far I have mostly heard French spoken as we are in the Wallonia region.
Our ride back -

What is amazing about this auberge we are staying at, is that in WWII, the Germans crossed the river opposite and stayed here. Rommel was in one of the first boats across; he then ordered a ferry be built and he and his command panzer were the first over. In the bottom right-hand corner is a black-&-white photo of a German tank crossing the river with the auberge in the background:

I am sitting here on the patio LISTENING to the world go by - there are gun shots in the distance; now there are sirens on the busy RED road on the other side of the river; the traffic streams past constantly on the road on THIS side of the river; the trains also noisily roar past on a regular basis; and cyclists in lycra buzz past too (crazy! You won't get me riding this road again after we made that mistake getting here yesterday! The quiet bike path next to the river for me!).

Vincent drove us into the nearby village of Anhée for dinner at La Terrasse. Nice meal.

When he picked us up, he had sad news that he had noticed in his garage that one of our bikes had a puncture! Damn!!

After changing the tube, we examined our map for our planned ride for tomorrow; then I left MF1 and Vincent 'chewing the fat' over the world's problems whilst I went off to bed.

Ride: 24 kms