Europe - Day Fifteen

There is nothing really worth mentioning about the ride from Ghent to Antwerp.  95% of it was beside a railway line.

However there was one interesting part when cycling outer Antwerp.  I realised I had missed a turn but there was water on either side.  The path was on a causeway?   After turning around I cycled back to find the entrance to a pedestrian and bike tunnel under the inner harbour.   A lift took cyclists down to a tunnel below water level.  Interestingly it wasn't a vertical lift.  Rather an inclined lift.

A second lift at the opposite end.

Finding the hotel was relatively easy.  The receptionist asked if i wanted to pay 16 euro (approx A$30) for the breakfast.  I decided against it thinking I'd buy something for breakfast from the local Lidl supermarket.   That was a mistake!  Apparently today is a public holiday and Lidl was closed.

After a shower I changed into my walking clothes and went for a wander around the city centre.

I think this is a hotel

Large numbers of people out dining

Antwerp Cathedral

Nice to see they have acknowledged the cathedral builders

Anthony Van Dyck Statue

Not a relative of Dick Van Dyke.   I didn't know he had a strong connection to England.

 

Antwerp main railway station at the end.   I went to a restaurant on the left side and whilst waiting for my meal a bird released the content of its bowels on me.   I have some hand washing to do tonight

 

Europe - Day Fourteen

An easier ride today.  I'm now in the Low Countries which means FLAT.  My destination was Ghent, Belgium and the route Komoot selected took me along a smooth wide sealed towpath beside a canal.  Most of my non cycling and navigating time was spent recording 360 video.  Little did I realise the error I was making.

Perhaps I was focussed on the error I might have made with my accommodation booking.  It was cheap.  My error was in reading the reviews after making the non refundable booking.  The reviews were 99% bad.   Smelly, dirty, smoke tarnished rooms with thin walls frequented by Bulgarian truck drivers.  Oh well!  You get what you pay for in life.

First signs didn't look good.  I couldn't find the entrance.  The faded lemon coloured building appeared to be in a car scrap yard.

The entrance.  It led to an industrial estate

Things started to improve when I spoke with the receptionist.  She had spent some time in Australia five years earlier and kindly gave me a non smoking room.  Another bonus was it was clean.  The walls were thin and even without my hearing aids on I could hear the noises from other occupants.  However I managed to get some sleep and wasn't bitten by bed bugs.

In the morning I rode back into the centre of Ghent.  The city was only just starting to show signs of life.

The restaurant area was dead.

Too early for the tourists to want a canal sightseeing trip

The weekly market in the main square was underway.  Locals - not tourists.

I was rather taken with the decorative work at the top of this three storey building

Next stop is Antwerp.

Europe - Day Thirteen

Breakfast was nothing to write home about.  Bread, canned orange juice and powered chocolate for my hot drink.  I don't want carbohydrates….. I'm trying to lose weight!

I'm pleased no readers were around to watch me snivel, plead, cry and abase myself when Daniel decided he should leave me with the other inmates in the retirement home.

Eventually we parted company.  He was going to catch the 11:50 Dover ferry and head back to Manchester.  His holiday is over.

Four pannier bags on the bike along with the rest of my kit and I started cycling north.  After a year of not cycling with all the panniers the bike felt very heavy.

I decided to use the cycling navigation app (Komoot).  Whilst the map is clear I quickly discovered the gps data lags and found myself missing turns. 

The routes (EuroVelos) are usually well marked but I must have crossed one and it wasn't until several kilometres later I realised I was on the Eurovelo heading east to Budapest rather than the Eurovelo along the Atlantic Way.     

I forgot to unpack my 360 camera remote control so no 360 video recording today.

Leaving Calais I headed north reaching Gravelines.  This is where I took a wrong turn and headed east.  Eventually I reversed course and started heading north following the Komoot route.  Only to encounter my next issue.  Komoot was wrong!  There is no bridge across the tidal estuary.

Another long detour to reach to other side.

North of Gravelines I started to notice numerous Africans hanging around the cycle path and the scrubland on the coast side.  No doubt waiting for their ride across the channel.

This situation remained all the way to the other side of Dunkirk. 

Fifty kilometres travelled and I continued on.  At De Panne  I missed a turn but discovered the town square.

 

The 20km leading into Ostend was slow riding.   The area is obviously a tourist hot spot.  Highrise rental apartments face the beach with a wide paved embankment between them and the sand.  The bottom floor of the high rises are shops and restaurants  Thousands of people milling around and I'm trying to weave my way through them. 

The crowded beach was sand but the water looked uninviting and the sky was grey.  However  people seemed to like it!

I'd ridden 100km and decided to look for a supermarket and accommodation for the night.  I found a Spar supermarket and bought a large bottle of water to top up my camelback which was starting to get low.

Accommodation was very expensive.  Probably unsurprising given the proximity to the beach.  I wasn't going to pay $1100 for the night.  I decided to cycle inland with the expectation of finding cheaper prices.

Eventually I found a budget Ibis hotel having ridden 127km.  I think tomorrow will be an easier day. 

Europe - Day Twelve

It's likely the majority of people using the Dover - Calais ferry don't stop in Calais.  Last night Daniel said "Let's go for a walk.  There's an Australian Pizza shop in the main square.!"

I rather liked the large mural on the end of a building near our accommodation.

Whilst Daniel pointed out the opera house

In the distance I could see an interesting clocktower.

On reaching it I suspect it's the Town Hall

I've altered the photo exposure so you can read the words on the façade.

the main square had the original lighthouse in one corner

The current lighthouse peeps over the trees beyond the square

The Australian Pizza Shop was nothing to write home about!  The different pizzas were named after Australian state capitals.  I won't go into details, but this morning Daniel and I decided Abdul might not have been washing his hands as often as we would like.

Europe - Day Eleven

Goodbye Loire Valley.  We headed northwest on well maintained roads with free flowing traffic.  What a contrast with our journey from Manchester to Dover.

On several occasions we crossed valleys on high bridges.  On one of them I endeavoured to take a photo.

Only one stop in Rouen for fuel and a bite to eat.  This was a detour away from the motorway but Daniel was of the opinion fuel was expensive on the motorways and toll roads (captive clientele).

 

Returning to the motorway involved several kilometres of narrow Rouen streets.  Google Maps eventually worked out a route.

I was rather puzzled with the age of the other guest in our Calais accommodation.  They all seemed rather old (even older than me).  Several were wearing bathrobes and I assumed they were heading to an indoor pool.

Then Daniel informed me he had booked us into a retirement home!  I hope he doesn't have plans to leave me here!!!!!

Well it's the best accommodation we have had to date.  A modern apartment with kitchen, fridge and aircon.

I can only assume they are running out of residents and now take in short term guests!

And the view from the floor 3rdbalcony

Once we have sorted our kit we will go for a local walk.

 

Loire Valley - Day Ten

Our last day in the Loire Valley.  This morning we visited Chateau de Saumur for a more detailed look.

We opted to enter via the Sally port entrance with it's small drawbridge across the moat.

The interiors of the chateaus we've visited are very similar.  The wall hangings, paintings, etc are obviously replicas.  It's the architecture that's interesting.

Being located on to of a hill means a dry moat.

Two interesting things in the above photo.  The rough stonework suggest part of the chateau has either been removed or failed.  At the top the battlement overhangs the wall with opening in the base. 

Used to pour  heated sand, water or oil down onto attackers.  They are not Garderobes (toilets).  I doubt anyone would want to walk to the top of a castle to go to the toilet

This is a garderobe.  The pigeon might have an unlucky day!

The next chateau was Chateau de Breze.

It didn't look as impressive as those we'd previously visited until we realised it's reputedly the largest fortress in Europe.  The majority of it is underground.

The troglodyte network under the castle and in the moats, including rooms used for daily life (bakery, stable, grape press and wine storage)

The dark grey portion in the above phone is the portion of the chateau above ground and the light grey underground.   It has a wide 18 metre deep dry moat and the stone excavated from the moat was used to construct the chateau.

The thin stone column in the above photo supports a foot drawbridge

Tomorrow we leave the Loire and head northwest.

Loire Valley - Day Nine

It was supposed to be a simple plan.   We would cycle east on the south bank of the Loire during the morning visiting a number of interesting sights.  The route would only be 35km long.  A relaxing day.  Then tomorrow we would ride in the opposite direction.

It didn't quite work out that way.   To begin with Daniel was leading and navigating using the Komoot App on his phone.  I kept an eye on the navigation using the OSMAnd App on my phone.  Initially there was a very steep hill and we appeared to be going in the wrong direction.  However I eventually realised he was taking us to the chateau above Saumur (Chateau de Saumur).

The original chateau was built on the orders of the Count of Blois and the first stones were laid in 1026AD.  That's 40 years before the Battle of Hastings.

In 1810 Napoleon had the chateau converted into a prison.  By 1814 Napoleon had been sent into exile and the King had the castle converted into an ammunition depot.  It's now owned by the Saumur municipal council.

Daniel then suggested we cycle across the Loire and take a photo from the opposite bank.

It seemed like a good idea to take a photo of the stone bridge across the Loire

Then it was back across the bridge with Daniel continuing to navigate.  Things looked fine but then Daniel started taking us south, away from the Loire and up some rather steep hills.  I said nothing and eventually he turned east along the high ground running parallel to the Loire which was approximately two kilometres to our north.

There were a couple of minor missed turns but eventually we cycled into the "tourist areas"

This part of the Loire is known for its Troilites.  For any reader unfamiliar with the term it means a "cave dweller".  Often from prehistoric times. 

The Loire has approximately 1200km of underground galleries.  My assumption is they were initially used as dwellings before being used for stone extraction and then perhaps cool dry dark cellars for wine, cheese and possibly mushrooms.  It's also a thriving tourist spot.

We had finished the planned circuit by midday and then made decision to cycle the western rout in the afternoon.  This meant crossing back over the Loire and following a path that became rather rough.  Obviously it was not as popular as the south bank.

On passing a canoe rental business Daniel noticed a small shop and we stopped for a cold drink.

I wandered down to the river edge and took a photo of a chateau  and village on the opposite bank. 

This proved to be rather fortuitous as when we cycled back on the opposite bank the chateau was obscured.

Our rough dirt path eventually became cobblestones.  Even harder to ride on!

We crossed back to the south bank and headed east.  Far more cyclists and a much smoother path.

One final crossing of the Loire.

Then a final steady uphill ride to our accommodation.  After a short rest we showered and I then washed out my cycling jersey.  It wasn't smelly but the salt crystals from the perspiration can be abrasive between my back and the camelback bag.

We're both focussed on losing weight so no dinner tonight.

Geoff can you tell me what specifically stops you from leaving a blog comment?