Dortrecht to Son en Breugel

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We started the day with a wonderful breakfast before leaving to be on our way. It was a lovely sunny day for heading south east. It was 15° at 9.00am. Soon after leaving Dortrecht we had to cross the Hollandsch Diep on a very long bridge. It seemed to go on for ever. At first we were on cycle paths through crop growing land and in and out of villages. We passed enormous green houses the size of factories.



The last 32 miles were on the Wilhelmina Kannal which passed through lots of different landscapes and places including Tilburg and the top of Eindhoven. Some canals can be incredibly monotonous and feel like being on a treadmill. The path was busy with cyclists and walkers it being a Saturday. At one point we saw a field full of goats all huddled together. They had obviously just been milked and were leaving the milking parlour one by one. Lunch was sandwiches and crisps sat on a bench overlooking the canal. Later on in the afternoon we spotted a cafe, just off the path, so we stopped for an ice cream.



Our hotel was just off the canal in Son en Breugel. I laughed when we turned into the hotel drive way. Yes, it was very impressive but the website video made it look like the drive was about half a mile long. There was a wedding reception taking place and the well dressed guests made me feel rather out of place in my sweatt lycra cycling gear.



The hotel used to be a Convent run by the Siisters of Charity who taught the children in the village. Our room was in the second floor and up tiny, narrow, twisting steps that the Dutch have a lot of. Great fun in cycling shoes and carrying panniers.



After showers, etc, we walked into the village to find food. It was very busy being a Saturday night. We couldn't get into the Italian restaurant but managed to squeeze into another restaurant. We had to wait a while but it was pleasant to be sat outside in the warm evening. We had seen signs for a rally and while we were dining rally cars zoomed up and down the main street making a lot of noise trying to impress us.



Son en Breugel used to be two different villages: 'Son' and 'Breugel', with the stream the Dommel separating the two villages





52 miles

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