Day 30: Givet to Charleville. Approx 55 miles.

Up in the morning for breakfast with Jaques except that he had forgotten to bring the bread due to being far too pissed. Ha! Well tea with honey and directions to the boulangerie works just as well. On his advice I headed for the routes verts which leads all the way to Charleville down the side of the Meuse river, i.e. its flat.

After getting mildly lost mainly due to stupidity and it being early in the morning the path was fucking great. Pretty much flat the whole way, no cars and once the rain stopped, nice things to look at. Today was the first 'day of the jacket' though... hmmm, maybe I shouldn't have gone on a cycling expedition in October. Stopped in Fumay for 'lunch' but since it was Monday and I was in France, everything was shut. Managed some chips in the rain from a van.

Afternoon was nicer though until I got to Charleville and remembered that had nowhere to stay or a map of the city. Again.

Eventually after circling the town centre a few times I found the holy grail: an internet cafe beside the tourist information! Ended up having to pay 40 Euro for a shitty hotel though but I also got a french phone! Hello people of Scotland! The 10 buck of free credit didn't last an hour from leaving the shop though. Apparently calling home is not practical!

Bed: early. Money: low. Resolution: stop showing up places with nowhere to stay.

Day 29: Namur to Givet. Approx 30 miles.

Lazy day! Easy riding by the side of the Meuse down to Dinant for lunch. Who knew that Michael Jackson went so well with cycling in the Belgian countryside?! Sometimes I sing on my bike now which is probably a slightly worrying sign, not to mention upsetting for those that I pass!

Anyway a pretty uneventful day until I hit Givet in early afternoon in the pissing wet. Other than the fact that I was officially in France again! Country number four:

Benjamin had kindly found some places to stay so I headed to the tourist information for a map. Ferme. Went to a pub to try to locate said hotels. They said that one was ferme but that the other one wasn't far. Off to the hotel....can you guess? Ferme. It appears that rural France opts out of everything on a sunday and monday. Awesome news.

Still raining so decided to go back to the pub to wait and see if the second hotel would open later. Met an old man by the name of Jaques Mathews who had some family in Newcastle, Carlisle and London so he could speak some English. Fucking great banter! We chatted for ages about loads of things and had many many beers. Found out that he has one daughter who is now a vet and is really into horses, he is a widower, he used to be a dentist and his wife was a pharmacologist, he likes to go to London to buy suits, Givet is rubbish to live in and he is a fan of Midsomer Murders.

More beer and chat with the pub folk then dinner of veal and veg and rice (first ever veal and it was super tasty if slightly morally questionable) which Jaques insisted on buying. Gilles, the man in charge, called loads of paces to find somewhere for me to stay but to no avail! Anyway Jaques to the rescue as he said I was welcome to stay in his daughter's room! Awesome! He reminded me very much of my Grandpa except that he smokes a pipe. This is me and Jaques, the saviour of Givet:

Day 28: Namur

A beautiful day in Namur and an internet cafe with phones, heaven! Breakfast then off for a wander into Namur before heading to the boat for lunch with Jerome.

The boat was fucking excellent. It was an old tug boat which is now painted green and blue and has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, sitting room, bit for the engine etc and loads of space on deck for sitting and vegetables and that! This is Jerome (and his excellent hair) and me (looking slightly spasticated) aboard the boat.
Anyway ended up sitting there for hours having some beer and some chat as his girlfrind and some friends came also. Really nice afternoon which makes me thing it would be awesome to have a boat!

Was meant to go do lots of tourist things like see the Citadel and some exhibitions etc but the boat took priority and it was nearly dark by the time I left. Wandered about and got a Belgian waffle with some chocolate on it which maybe counts as being a bit touristy. Maybe. Regardless it was really good.

Interneting to try to find somewhere to stay the next day then some chat with home! Exciting! Back to the hostel for a free haircut by Benjamin. As I said, probably the best receptionist in the world. Here he is in his den:

Day 27: Brussels to Namur. Approx 50 miles.

Up early for breakfast with Erik and the dogs and the cats. Decided to pump up my tyres which resulted in a broken valve...irritating! Anyway I'm getting rather good at changing tubes if I say so myself so all fixed and packed off I went.

Followed the main canal south out of Brussels so as not to get lost which was excellent as it was sunny and flat and quiet, thus:

Cycle cycle and into Halle for a toilet stop, a pain au chocolat and a fag. Perhaps the fag wasn't the best idea as the road out of Halle is a massive hill... It turns out that belgium is not completely flat, again! These hills were not, however, small and mildly annoying such as those on the way to Brussels. Anyway nothing to be done but power on and be thankful that it wasn't windy.

Into Nivelles for lunch of tuna sandwiches then back on the road to Namur. More hills in the afternoon meant that I decided to stop for a coffee in a tiny wee village. Went in and lots of locals (none of whom could speak any English) looked rather puzzled at a young Scottish girl with a brutal haircut and a bike happening upon their pub. After lots of map pointing and terrible French from me they realised what I was up to and they loved it! Really sound folk who insisted on buying me a beer and explaining that the road to Namur contained some "montagne" which i reckoned meant more brutal hills. This is them:

It was actually perhaps a blessing that they suggested "montagne" because it meant i was waiting for a horrific hill the whole way and was pleasantly surprised when I ended up in Namur without such an event. To the tourist office for a map then to the hostel which, thank god, had a room for me!

Beer, beer, beer and chat with Benjamin, the soundest receptionist ever and apparently (not by his own admission) the best guy in Namur. Also met his friend Jerome who delivers groceries on a bike and lives on a boat. He invited me for lunch the next day and thankfully Benjamin had a space for me the next night so I could hang about the next day.

Day 26: Brussels

Oh to be in a house again! With my very own room and everything! Sarah and Erik (my hosts) are great! Lots of good food and chat and rather randomly some Home and Away...I'm sure they will love me for saying that! Spent the morning attempting to organise the next few days but French youth hostels have a terrible website and don't take bookings by debit card, disaster. Anyway definately going to Namur then into France.

Afternoon was spent wandering in Brussels. Got the very efficient underground from Simonis into town to visit the Grande Place:

Full of tourists and weird Belgian men who like to whisper things at me when I go past. Very nice buildings though and lots of wee chocolate shops. More wandering then back to the house for some interneting with home and dinner. Also I love coming to home excitable dogs; definately get a dog when I'm older. Erik and Sarah came home so sat with them and had some chat. Erik told me about a place called Taizé which is a commune type place in France where young people from all over the world can go to meet and meditate and generally have a nice time. It is also where Sarah and Erik met!

Day 25: Brugge to Brussels. Approx 60 miles.

Bye Richard and Greg! Its very weird meeting folk and getting on so well with them then having to leave and possibly never see them again. Although Richard lives in Melbourne now so I'll see him in June, nice!

A beautiful day makes everything easier though and this was one. No wind, sunny, not too cold but not too hot, perfect! Heading for Gent for lunch on quiet roads with cycle paths most of the way. I read in Brugge; "maybe Gent will be as romantic as Brugge one day". I think not. I'm not sure why but I didn't like it much. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't find the right road out of it for ages...

Eventually back on the road heading in the right direction but it was 3pm but the time I got going. Not good! Still a good while from Brussels....

Cycling was ok in the afternoon but some mild hills put me in a bad mood after days of continuous flat. Its like the rain in Glasgow; it pisses it down most of the time but everyone still gets upset if its dry for three days then the rain returns! By the time I was near Brussels the light was fading and I was getting more and more irritated. The signs were telling me to go into a small town on the outskirts so I decided to ignore them which may or may not have landed me on a motorway. Well folk were going very fast and beeping so the signs were there. Got off that pretty quickly and to my delight I was in Brussels!

Now, just to find the right street and house with no detailed map of Brussels and no knowledge of Flemish. Hmmmm... Eventually found a man who spoke English AND had a detailed map of Brussels. Jackpot. 2 minutes later I was in the house meeting my friend Hannah's parents, their friend Jo, two cocker spaniels and three cats. Happy days!

Day 24: Brugge

Plan for the evening: quiet beer, some reading of the Economist and early to bed. Actual evening: met some awesome guys from Tazmania, have (too) many Belgian beers, talk loads, concentrate on not throwing up in bed. Much better!

Met my new friend Richard for breakfast then out and about for some sightseeing. Had to got back to the hostel to get Greg though because he doesn't like getting up in the morning, lazy bum! Anyway eventually got to some actual stuff so went for coffee and pastries then to the only remaining brewery in Brugge for some morning beer and a tour. This may have been the best tour I have ever been on; lots of wee passages, backwards stairs, beer cans, beer and the soundest/ most enthusiastic guide in existence! This is him:

Also, you get a free beer afterwards! What could be better? Another highlight of the tour was going onto the roof which gave us an awesome view of the city and meant that we didn't have to go up the tower which none of us could really be arsed to do anyway. This is the Tazmanians on the roof of the brewery (left Richard, right Greg, both fucking excellent).

Off for some excellent pasta then a wee ride in a canal boat. Also went to get a map of Belgium since I didn't fancy negotiating the rest of the week by compass. Once Greg had had his afternoon nap we headed out for chips and mayo which is a Belgian thing. And when they say mayo they mean so much that you can't see your chips.

Later on we discovered the delight that is a lack of a smoking ban in Belgium. Hurrah! And... the holy grail of Jo en Europe; a pub that sold Strongbow! Yum yum yum, oh how I had missed the brutal taste!

Met some Australians (they are everywhere) so had more pints with them and decided to leave the Strongbow behind for a pub that did beers for 1 Euro. We then had to find a kebab as Richard and Greg had had one in every country they had been in on their trip. Apparently Berlin was the best and Amsterdam the worst. Brugge was ok but came with a burger bun which lost it points.