Three countries in one day!

---

Geo: 50.8371, 4.36761

Another perfect blue day, so we gathered the makings of a picnic at a local food market, and drove out to the Ardennes (about 45 mins), which is a very picturesque area of Belgium just on the German border, where Miranda and Jonathon have bought a rundown water mill which they are renovating to make a weekend home. The mill is in a beautiful location, and has "lovely bones" but will take some work to renovate – but Miranda and Jonathon are excited about the project ahead, and have some wonderful plans.

We made a lovely picnic – the cheeses here are fantastic, and some very interesting terrines and meats – then loaded the 7 + dog into the car for a very quick journey to the German border (just to see how close it was, and because the Aussies still get a thrill changing countries (although the removal of all border control has somewhat limited the thrill!)) it was great having Jonathon to drive for us – no nerves about being on the wrong side of the road at 130km/hr, and to all be in the one car, though I think the smallest child may have talked Miranda's ear off!

Then off to Maastricht, which is in the Netherlands, for an afternoon coffee! (OK, so we had beer instead!) Sitting in a beautiful square, enjoying the sun and good friends – ahhh, this is the life! The kids wrote out game rules on beer coasters and we all had a lovely time. The architecture in the Netherlands was quite different to the Belgian, and whilst we expected the countryside to be flat and low, it was just SO flat and low! We walked around part of the old town, admiring the houses and the city walls and the churches, and avoiding the ever present bicycles! It was so warm – I figure we are acclimatizing quickly when anything above 15 degrees feels hot!

Back home to Miranda's house, where we had delicious pizzas and put the very tired kids to bed.

---