Fred, F16s and Forests

So, here we are then, just over our first month away, and heading into blog post number 7. Finally the sun has found us, and in the last week we've seen barely a sprinkle of rain which is very welcome indeed. I know that isn't quite the story back home, so I won't bang on about it too much!

Since my last post we've crossed 3 countries and seen some quite cool (and geeky!) stuff. Tuesday saw us leaving France and heading back into Belgium (although god knows where the actual border is these days - it has crossed our minds on more than one occasion how much harder this trip would be without the single currency!). Just before our exit junction, we saw a huge building which we now identified as a boat lift - yes who knew? Think the industrialists answer to Caen Hill locks - with the boat floating into a giant bathtub of water, raising 76m by counterbalance until the boat reaches it's new height and can float away. Amazing, and we were lucky enough to see a boat go both ways too.

We wanted to stop at a place called Auverlais which was where my grandad (Fred) was stationed during 1945 rebuilding the bridge. It was a really lovely place, and now I can totally understand why my grandad spoke so fondly of it, he always said he was made to feel very welcome, but also as these pictures show, it wasn't so different to some parts of Bath where he hailed from.

After paying some respect to the bridge and the house he stayed in, we headed for a local tavern and grabbed a couple of pizzas to enjoy by the river. We then headed slightly further south to Han-Sur-Lesse which is in the Belgian Ardennes and a pay Aire. For those who don't know (and apologies to any I may now alienate!) both Jase and I are plane geeks - Jase more the historical Spitfires and Lancasters, but for me it's the louder the better so we were thrilled to be located under what we assume to be the Belgian F16 training camp! An Aire with a free air show, what more can you need?! Well, add takeaway chips to the leftover pizza, and that's pretty much two happy campers!

Wednesday dawned a little overcast so with no need to rush about, we had a bit of a lazy start watching the F16's flying around again - 4 this time! Once the sun started to shine, we took the road bikes out for a 38km ride around the local area. Navigationally a bit challenging at times, but we did see some lovely sights. The day was rounded off with a kingfisher sighting along the river.

Week spend £190 was under budget, thanks mainly to the free nights in Roubaix!

Thursday started out bright and very sunny (I know, I'm sorry!) so we headed out for a lovely ride along the cycle track from Han-Sur-Lesse. Now cycle tracks can be a bit dull, but this one although following the old railway pass had all sorts of terrain and included a twisty, turny section which at the time we thought was odd for the rail. When we got to the end, we started chatting to a local who told us that the lovely castle we could see was in fact the King of Belgium's residence and the reason for the twists and turns was a re-routing following 9/11.

Whether we will later discover that this slightly dishevelled individual was in fact the King or a famous Belgian photographer, I guess we'll never know! After lunch & a clear up we packed up the van and headed to Bouillon and a free Aire.

Bouillon is a lovely town situated on a horseshoe bend in the River Semois. The main feature of the town is the Citadel. In good news, this was also on the F16's flight path, so we saw more low flying action while sight seeing the town.

We'd initially planned to only stay one night in the Aire, but being as it was free and lovely weather we decided to stay put for three nights in the end, so had time Saturday to undertake a 7.5km walk through the forest and up a couple of the hills. Tough terrain at times, but totally worth the views.

Sunday we decided we'd better head for a "proper" campsite as the washing was starting to mount up again. We started out fairly early and after a quick shop headed into Luxembourg and the outskirts of Vianden. We'd found a nice (cheap) campsite in the ACSI book which had all the requirements we had, and we pulled in around midday. All was quiet, but a lovely couple came out and offered us some assistance. Turns out, they are running the place but they'd only just opened for the season. The upshot being a total campsite to ourselves, including a very well equipped laundry & fab showers. Happy days indeed.

Monday (today) started bright and sunny so we decided to ride the 5km to Vianden and have a look around. A short ride by normal standards so we decided to go in civvies (ie. not lycra!). What we ended up with was a ride of 7.5km each way but up 1 hill and down into the village, and then reverse! Probably the most climbing I've done for a good while so very much feeling it now! However, the views made it truly worthwhile, and I can really see why this landscape is described as being something from a fairy tale.

So, finally for this week's blog is the question from my sister! This week's offering is a reflective selection - what have I learnt about myself that I didn't already know. I have several thoughts on this, but for publication I would say that 1) for a short person in a small van, i bang my head more than I thought and 2) I seem to be developing a real love for writing - something I've done really only in a professional capacity before, but reflecting and putting my thoughts into some sort of order is something I really look forward to every week. It's been great to get positive feedback from you all too.

Til next week, enjoy your sun & see you soon for Blog 8. J&J xx