Belgium (Day Trip) While Judith was away skiing in Chamonix, rather than sit around at home, I thought I’d find something to do. A quick check on the Eurotunnel web site indicated that I could get an overnight return for a reasonably small amount of cash. So I dropped Judith at Heathrow at 5am, went home, grabbed the Honda, set off for Folkestone and was driving through the French countryside before lunchtime. I arrived home 30 hours later, having covered just under 750 miles.
Folkestone My first stop is the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone. As there was no Judith to take photos of, my car has had to act as alternate. On the plus side, it stays still and doesn't moan when it's having its picture taken. It’s interesting that the cashpoint in the terminal dispenses pounds, not Euros. Why is that then? What good are pounds where I’m going?
Train Honda sitting quietly on the train to Calais.
Motorway As anyone who’s driven through France will tell you, the bit around Calais is rubbish. So the first thing to do is get on the motorway put some distance between me and Calais.
Distance Now that’s what I call putting distance between you and stuff.
Sensible Distance Okay. I fiddled with the previous picture to scrub out the “km/h” bit. It would be very irresponsible to drive at 155mph on a public highway.
Motorway More motorway to Tournai and then on to Mons. Left the motorway at Mons...
B-road ...for the Belgian B-roads. Awesome. Is there anywhere in England where you can find that much deserted tarmac? In Belgium (and France for that matter) it’s all like that. And it’s finally stopped raining too, so I’ve been able to get the roof down. Hurray.
War Graves Stopped at the Commonwealth War Graves near Dinant.
War Graves Not sure what this person did to get a modest little wooden cross when virtually everyone else has massive stone or granite headstone. Still, it made for a nice picture.
War Graves Honda parked outside the Commonwealth War Graves.Honda drew lots of attention in France/Belgium because:1. There are no Hondas in France/Belgium.2. There are almost no convertibles in France/Belgium.3. No-one with a convertible in France/Belgium puts the roof down in February (very much like in England).
Dinant In the foreground, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Dinant. On the hill behind it is the Citadel, a military fortification that was rebuilt in 1820. The original Citadel, which was built in 1051, was destroyed in 1703. Apparently.
Bypass Dinant Resident: “So we’re finally getting a bypass then.”Town Planner: “Yep.”Dinant Resident: “And will it be in keeping with our lovely rural location, cathedral and Citadel.”Town Planner: “Oh yes. It’s a work of genius. You’ll hardly even know it’s there.”Hmmm.
Dinant The River Meuse, which runs through Dinant. I followed this south to Revin. It’s a very picturesque area, so it was a shame it was so overcast and I couldn’t take more photos.
Tank I’m pretty certain this is a Sherman tank...
Plaque ...but the plaque next to it was giving no clues. It mentions Panzers, but I’m certain it’s not one of those, not least because it’s got an American star on the side.
Tank Been in Belgium for a few hours now and have still seen no people. It’s a bit like that film where there’s a solar flare that turns everyone to dust, except for the four people who have accidentally wandered into a cave. Except it’s not sunny. And there are no caves.
Vresse Made it to Revin. Headed into the hills. I think this is the view of Vresse. It’s started raining again, the light is fading rapidly, I’ve been driving for nearly twelve hours and I’m still two hours from my hotel in Charleroi. Time to stop taking photos and crack on to the hotel before I expire. Made it to within 20 miles of Luxembourg, which wasn’t one of my goals for the day, but would have been if I’d realised how close I was going to get.
Hotel Finally made it to the hotel only to discover that their restaurant is closed on Sunday evenings. At least their bar still had beer. This was also the last photo I took on the trip because the weather on Monday morning was absolutely atrocious. So I decided to head straight back to Calais, rather than take slightly more winding route back.