Belgium

The final leg... we were really looking forward to finishing on a high! We had high expectations of the old architecture, and of course the chocolate and beers!

 

Hans-sur-Lesse: The first stop on Belgium soil was a small village, not too far from Rochefort. We were welcomed by lovely old buildings, a lovely river and lovely countryside. The main attraction was the caves, highlighting the amazing rock formations made over millions and millions of years. The down fall, the tour was all in Dutch and we were the only English speakers! We were in that case quite lucky to be the tour guide’s little project and he was more than willing to translate most for us – a small taste of what it felt like to get special treatment!

Brussels: Simply strolling around the beautiful old city was enough to make the mouth drop in awe. Despite a slight ‘it has almost been two weeks and we have been confined to a small van together 24/7’ hiccup, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing the main sites including Mannequin Piss, Royal Palace and of course Grand Place (which also made the perfect backdrop for beer tasting in the early evening). We were also very lucky to catch up with friend Klaus - holder of the key to secret bars, including the famous Delerium. The bars - one in a cave, one in an old theatre and one with a scary/witch type theme all would have been a mystery without him! Only in Brussels! We were also able to escape the van for one night and stayed on his couch, boy was it nice to have a soft mattress and not to have to wear thongs in the shower!

Waterloo & Ghent: A last minute decision to stop by the location of the famous Battle of Waterloo was one of Gerard’s better ideas. It provided us with another valuable opportunity to pay respects to past battles fought and appreciate the life we have today. Wow, was Napolean gutsy! We then tried to outrun the autobahn (never a good idea) and finally made it to Ghent were we stopped briefly for a picnic in the main park and a quick stroll through the main town. Again, beautiful and busy... it would have been nice to be able to spend more time there – next time!

Brugge: We arrived in Brugge and just flopped. The tiredness was starting to catch up with us, but after a lie down, an early dinner and an obvious beer we headed by foot into the city in the evening. It was lovely to see the old town as the sun was setting especially the ancient cathedrals and unique shape buildings. To top the night off we indulged in more beers and a waffle – an absolute must! The next day also saw more strolling, visiting Michelangelo’s ‘Madonna with child’, purchasing chocolate and eating fries! Tough life!

In regards to the coastal trip from Brugge to where we needed to catch the ferry let’s just say we really are spoilt in Australia!

The last night of our trip was spent in Dunkurque enjoying a delightful sea fresh meal at sunset and a loss of epic proportions in mini-golf from Bee – the ‘Ayers Rock’ beard was to stay!

So, departing words: The idea of opening up on the back roads and making our own way was the structure of trip we had envisaged as a highlight when planning our destinations. The freedom and experimenting we would need to do (not parking on a slope, ways to relieve oneself in the middle of the night, letting Bee drive) were all challenges we enjoyed. The people we met along the way, while not exactly aged related, were pleasant and friendly and we learnt a lot about other cultures on our travels.

For the record, 2994kms were travelled in the 13 days on the road, four boxes of cereal smashed, around 25 baguettes and three kilos of cheese consumed, 23 quality wines and beers tested, ‘less than 10 u-turns’ completed and a couple minutes of silence experienced. The price for still having a beautiful woman in the passenger seat – priceless!

Luxembourg

A good place to stop for cheap petrol. Travel time – 1 hour.

Germany

Black Forest: This will be a short entry. Lots of back roads, U-turns, a wrong turn costing us approximately 1 hour, an average coffee, a bit of scenery but no Black Forest and about 5 hours later we are at our destination. Worst day of driving by far. With the good comes the BAD hey. That’s right Baden- Baden!

Baden-Baden: This hidden, somewhat unknown spa town also really surprised us. Covered in flowers and open squares, you could stroll around the streets for as long as you soak in the thermal waters. Mind you, the Caracalla Thermal Pools were 3 hours of magic – especially after hours of walking, riding and then sitting while on the road. The ears had a rest as well, very hard to hear when you have your ears underwater. Gerard of course was also very impressed with the Lowenbrau beer garden and mammoth schnitzels (which he in fact didn’t order and was very lucky Bee shared).

Switzerland

Lausanne: This very clean, sporty, hilly, lovely city did not disappoint. Mind you, we had very high expectations of Switzerland in general and were off to a great start! The Old Town and Ouchy waterfront of Lake Geneva were perfect areas to stroll around and take in what is the official Olympic City. In this case, a visit to the Olympic Museum was a must and is highly recommended.

Interlaken: We finally made it after Bee took us on the wrong highway (Gerard driving might we add, but didn’t pick up on anything unusual...) and all we can say is WOW. What an amazing experience to be surrounded by snow capped mountains, clear skies, blue lakes, flowing rivers and of course Jungfrau, Europe’s tallest mountain. We took a 6 hour hike and reached 1850m, high enough for Gerard to end up knee deep in snow and have to navigate the track – (No we left the compass in the car – all that pre-trip discussion of whether we needed one and Gerard didn;t even have it when we needed it!) May we add that Bee did not complain once on this walking marathon, it was a quiet few hours... The following day we hired bikes (after spending over 2 hours trying to figure out if the rental place was even open) and set off on the train, again UP. We visited Trummelbach, the only accessible waterfall inside a mountain in Europe. Can you believe that 20,000 tonnes of water passes through a second? Amazing, as was the bike ride down the mountain... no steps, no hills!

France

WWI Remembrance Drive: Gerard, after reading one of the thickest books created on battles fought in the Northern France region in the early 1900’s, had our exact itinerary marked out. We were very fortunate to visit memorials, bunkers and cemeteries in Pozieres, Bullecourt, Villers-Breteneux and the surrounding region.. In addition to this, the different, varied and often unheard story of an area so great in Australia’s history opens your eyes to the fact that Gallipoli shouldn’t be the only place of pilgrimage for Aussies. Go out on a limb – by all means visit a common place but make an effort to visit another unheard of area. Stand on the actual ground they stood on. Look at the rises and slopes, or in some cases the plains these men and boys were ordered to run across - learn something new of the conditions diggers went through. It was definitely a moving experience to research the stories and follow the ground as we drove.

Champagne region: A visit to Epernay (home of Moet & Chandon among many others) and the surrounding region saw us acquire 5 bottles of French bubbly and of course sample along the way. As spring was just ‘springing’ to life, the view of the vineyards wasn’t awe inspiring but you have to leave something to the imagination. Nonetheless we also learnt about how Champagne is made, toured the Moet cellars, faked a pregnancy to use a bathroom (it was Bee) and later met a lovely young man at a small family run vineyard who spoke next to no English, yet managed to top up our glasses more than once! (He didn’t know what the double tap means from friends – I hope).

Troyes and Lake Orient: Troyes (pronounced Twa) was an amazing little town to wander around in. Colourful, sloped wooden buildings built in the 1500’s surround, however the town’s history dates way back to Roman times. We spent that evening by the nearby lake after taking a lazy 3 hour walk... beautiful (Once again Bee unwilling to take a walk down a track with a log across it – still searching for my deer shot!) .

April Fools Road Trippin’ (France, Switzerland, Germany, Lux., Belgium)

Well, finally we were here. Road trip time. It had only taken us just about a year but finally we were off to embark on a journey for two weeks that would be our ideal ‘stereotype’ of travelling. Nothing but a van, some company and some open but mostly windy roads. Months of planning (Gerard) and reading (Gerard) and trekking (Gerard) all stood us in perfect condition to tackle the time ahead of us. Oh sorry forgot to mention Bee’s training (Champagne, massages and sunbathing...) Anyway you look at it, this trip was to take us through some of the most beautiful countryside Europe has to offer.

The rough plan in one breath: To drive around Northern France and see some Australian War Memorials and key WWI sites; hook down through the Champagne region and sample some liquid gold; then scoot through Troyes and into Switzerland to check out the uber-cool cities of Lausanne and Interlaken then creep up to Germany to have a spa and finally swing into Belgium to check out Brussels and Brugge (translation beer and chocolate) before dragging ourselves back across the Eurotunnel to London. Sudden halt, I know. Read on...