After a snugglie night with two layers of clothes (very romantic, I know), we woke early, and the rain had stopped. It was still freezing, so it was very difficult to get moving. Hearing movement from the Belgium boys got us up, as they were up much later than us.
Will was onto the coffee, and me on the rolling up. Everyone was trying to dry their tents, and the breeze helped nicely. Will and I had nothing for breakfast, but Klaus offered us some Belgium chocolate, and strawberries, his mum had sent with Michael and Joseph. We gave them coffee. Nice international exchange.
Klaus broke his wire for his bike computer, so the boys attempted to fix it.
All sorts of tape was used, and it worked......for a little while.
We all look like we know what we're doing, don't we?
Everyone procrastinated, but eventually we were all packed up and rolled off together. Klaus was heading south on the RV6, and us North. He is aiming for Nepal. I really hope he gets there and has an awesome adventure. The Belgium boys were really nice guys.
Our first stop was an Epicerie (grocery store), but it was closed. Bugger! Next stop the Boulangerie, for some pastries and buns. Hopefully we'll find another little shop for more food. We only have two tins of sardines, one all the way from Spain.
Lots of loose pavers, causing a bit of caution.
Straight back to the river, and off we went. It was cool, but pleasant enough. The cliffs on the other side of the river were interesting, and kept our attention. On one, we spotted a heap of crazy people rock climbing and abseiling. While we paused to check it out and take photos, we noticed a billion balloons had been released into the air, each with a note or something attached. Things you would miss in a car.
Have a close look at that rock face, there are crazier people than us in the world.
Did you spot them all?
A nice ride along the river for the first part of our day.
The path varied greatly, and was a bit slow going in parts. But we got to Namur in good time. We stopped to eat our second pastries, before deciding to have a look in the town. While there, we tried to get some Wifi, so we could see where we could stay tonight, and to use an ATM. We had no luck with either, no Wifi, and the ATM was empty. Ugh! So we had lunch instead.
Love the old bridges. We are almost at Namur.
In Namur, it was morning tea time. Pastries! The ones with fruit in, they're healthy.
Having a little look in Namur, might as well have lunch.
From here, the weather started to change a bit, along with our attitudes. The wind picked up and we were heading pretty much into it, and I started to feel quite unwell. I mentioned to Will that I was in need of a toilet, pretty soon, so he would keep an eye out, but it became quite "Urgent", very suddenly. I wasn't sure what end or both, and we were between villages on the river. Oh dear, this is difficult. I yelled at Will that I needed to stop Now, and he needed to get the toilet roll out pronto! The spot we stopped was not totally ideal, with a big ditch to get across, then a big tree with long grass to hide in. Will says " Just jump over the ditch, and you'll be right." Huh, if I did that, I may have to discard my good long pants. "I can't just yet!" Was all I could say. Concentrating hard, and with a hand from Will, I made the leap successfully, and just got to cover in time, as a quad bike came out of nowhere, screaming past. Crisis averted! That was a close one.
Yet another lock, and from here the weather got bad, along with our attitudes.
The rest of the afternoon was a struggle for both of us. The scenery was not pretty, very industrial, and we just seemed to be going really slowly. We made it to Sombreffe, our destination, and searched everywhere for a camp ground, hotel, hostel, park, anything, and found nothing. It was not a small place, with lots of car dealerships, one tavern, and not much else. Shit! Finally we found the nearest hotel, it was 10kms away in Fleurus. Not really the right direction, but what ever.
So we pushed on, in the ever increasing wind, and took the direct route along the main road to Hotel Ibis. Expensive, but warm and available. No restaurant, and the nearest one was a few kms down the road. They did,however, have snacks, so we both had Spaghetti Bog and a couple of drinks at the bar. What a day, and yet another toilet incident. You have to laugh!
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