Blogs from East Flanders, Belgium, Europe - page 4

We thought a 1000 leave-time would help us avoid traffic on the road out of Paris but were horribly wrong. We initially engaged the GPS on the VW to help us out but it immediately sent us 20 minutes around the circular road around the outskirts of Paris before suggesting we do a U-turn and head back to where we came from. Nik and I tried to figure it out but every time we came across a road we were meant to be on, it turned out to be a road going either over or under the road we wanted to be on and there were no on-ramps. It tool almost two hours to get out of the city and we were on the outside of it to begin with! I began to relax the moment ... read more

Geo: 51.054, 3.72169Belgian beer tasting at Europes longest bar. When Nele told me she had obtained free tickets I was drooling with anticipation. With Bert and Nele having to work, and the Jaarbeurs Exhibition finishing up this week, we decided to find our way there alone. After all, it sounded too good to miss! We walked to the nearest bus stop, caught the bus to Aalst, a return train to Gent and tram from Gent to Flanders Exhibition. We handed over tickets, ready for beer to be greeted by Nepalese dancers and a seemingly endless furniture exhibition. Ah, is this the right place? The hunt for beer begins! A room to our left, a chance perhaps! Ham, cheese, wine tasting, candy, pies. This is not beer! Care to try some wine? Well sure, if we must, ... read more

Geo: 50.9375, 4.04108Eventually, we found our friends Bert and Nele at Brussels Midi Bus Terminal. Our Eurolines bus driver didn't make it easy. Even when boarding in Paris, he didn't appear particularly helpful, yelling at a English speaking passenger in French who had asked a question. Our bus arrived somewhere in Brussels around 5. There was no announcement whatsoever as to where we were, nor signs to indicate. Most of the passengers climbed off, so we followed suit, assuming we were at Brussels Midi, the main station and where we were to meet our friends. After looking around we determined we were actually at Brussels Nord station. When we returned to the bus, and explained this to the driver, showing our tickets he was completely disinterested. He even ignored us, tending to others mid query. He ... read more

It is still cold here and the wind is blowing ...bonus tonight - we are having snow flurries. Looking on the bright side, if it is this cold, snow is better than rain. We learned some interesting things this morning about the B&B we had been staying in. The converted farmhouse that have stayed in was built in 1379, and the farm is still owned by the descendants of the aristocratic family. The Countess of Loppem owns several buildings in the village, and you can tell which ones by the color of the shutters. Red and White shutters, means they are her properry. Our Garmin is still sulking I think from our time in the mud bog in Roubaix. She directed us onto a path that ended in the middle of a field again today. We ... read more

Spoiler alert - Peter Sagan won the stage today. It was a photo finish after 187 KMs. Dave has made a habit of picking Sagan, and has been annoyingly right most of the time. This was Sagan's seventh victory this spring already. Here's how we got there. We started off today in Middelkerke - a beach resort town on the North Sea. It reminded us of Myrtle Beach ... There is a beach there, but it is not tropical. But the good news today was that it was considerably warmer - we started the day at 5 degrees and got as high as 8 degrees -- and it was sunny! Now if we could just do something about the wind. It was a great place to start the race. The riders cycled in to sign in, ... read more