The Cambs and Lincs Grand Tour to Belgium commenced on Friday 3rd July with three of us stopping over in Premier Inns near The Shuttle, Folkestone entrance ready for meeting up tomorrow for early morning train ride. With Dave and Maya riding down early Saturday morning. The weather was forecast good but likely to get very warm towards the end of the week. Restaurant booked for the first night in the friterie attached to the accommodation and run by the farmhouse owners.
Day 1 Saturday. We all met up at Le Shuttle terminal in good time and boarded the train pretty much on time. 30 minutes later and we are on the other side of the Channel and ready for the 3.5 hour journey to our farmhouse in Bertogne, Belgium. First stop was at a McD’s, Tournai. The route back to the E42 proved painful due to a road closure with no diversion signs (which seemed a recurring theme on this trip!). Arriving at the farmhouse about 5pm it gave us sufficient time to get settled in and freshen up before the evening meal in the adjacent restaurant.
Day 2 Sunday. After a long days ride on Saturday it was a day of rest for a couple in the group (if you call walking to the local pub a rest). The rest of the group including myself did our own thing. I went to a really interesting mining museum perched on top of a hill in southern Luxembourg. While Philip and Jim went exploring to find routes for our Ride-outs. Weather was cloudy, a little chilly in the morning but soon warmed up. Evening meal was again taken in the adjacent restaurant where the burgers went down well. None of us stayed up to watch the England match but next morning saw that England beat Mexico. Never any doubt! Look forward to the ride-out tomorrow led by Jim Stowe.
Day 3 Monday. Super ride-out to Luxembourg and a short foray into Germany ably led by our birthday boy Jim. What spectacular mountain roads, very twisty and generally in good condition. First stop was at a lovely café in a beautiful riverside location of Esch-sur-Sure, Luxembourg. More twist and turns later we went to a chair lift in Vianden which took you to the mountain top with fantastic views of the town and river. The dam at this location had faces of some of the workers who built the pumping station carved into the walls. After a little chill out back at the farmhouse it was agreed to have a meal in the town of Bastogne. Who could refuse the birthday boys’ suggestion of Pizza ? Not us, so we ended in a nice restaurant that did a variety of food. Now some of us returned directly to the farmhouse while a certain couple decided to go somewhere else for a ‘nightcap’ or two ! Day 3 will see Philip lead the ride (assuming he’s in a fit state)
Day 4 Tuesday. Another warm but bearable day today. Earlyish start saw Phil takes the reigns. Like England there are plenty of unexpected road closures with little in the way of diversion signs. Our first diversion took us down more of a forestry road which was interesting. Anyway past that little obstacle we managed to find a lovely boulangerie/café with some superb pastries. Onwards to the village of Rochehaut with amazing views of the valley and river. We meandered further on and went to Bouillon Castle with again terrific views over the town. Rather than go out for an evening meal Dave and Maya very kindly offered their services which was duly accepted by all. And what a great meal it was too ! Many thanks for all their efforts.
Day 5 Wednesday. I led a ride northwards to our first coffee stop at Stavelot, taking a junction too early led us onto the motorway so we had 20 minutes of boring roads before getting back on track. Anyway the coffee and cake compensated for that. We then did a slight detour to visit one of few remaining German King Tiger tanks left, a 70 tonne beast of a machine located at La Gleize. We visited the adjacent museum which was full of local artefacts from the Battle of the Bulge. Onwards to our next coffee stop in St Vith, The one we intended to stop at was thwarted by another road closure! In the evening we had a meal in the High Chapperel restaurant just over the Luxembourg border which is well known in the biker community. The restaurant is full of motorcycling memorabilia with several bikes suspended from the ceiling.
Day 6 Thursday. A spirited ride led by Dave took us to Bertrix town for our first coffee stop. A massive stage was being erected in preparation for a music concert at the weekend. Our next stop was the touristy but beautiful Dinant. Unfortunately the cable car to the top of the Citidal was being renovated. For some reason there were no volunteers to use the steps.
Our final stop was to Durbuy which is full of médiéval buildings but more importantly chocolate ice cream. Finally back to the farmhouse for a home cooked meal.
Day 7 Friday. Last full day so we all went for a shortish ride-out to the pretty town of La Roche-en-Ardenne with its partly demolished Castle. Having indulged in a naughty but nice cake and coffee and as it was getting warmer half of us returned to the farmhouse to start our packing while the other two ventured onwards to other sights and towns. For our final evening we returned to the adjacent restaurant for our usual burgers and chips. Not late to bed tonight as a very early start to the Shuttle terminal tomorrow.
Day 8 Saturday. Our last day of our Ardennes adventure and the long journey home. Alarms set for 4am and still dark. Saying goodbye to our spacious farmhouse at 5:15am with two petrol/refreshment breaks planned we arrived at Le Shuttle terminal well ahead of our booked ride of 11.50 but managed to get on the 10:20am train. 30 minutes later we were back in the UK. We all returned back at our own pace and generally got home between 2 and 3pm. Cracking holiday, great company and great ride-outs with nice twisty roads.
Paul Milward
