Oudenaarde
Oudenaarde
Oudenaarde
Gent
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After a good breakfast at the hotel we returned to the Begijnhof to explore it by daylight before setting off. We were able to join the cycle track on the south bank of the Leie at the spectacular ancient De Broel fortified bridge within 100 metres of the hotel. We joined the Kortrijk canal, which links Kortrijk with the River Schelde.
As on the previous day in Lille, we made a good exit from the town but were soon forced to leave the canalside track by roadworks and industrial sites. The diversion signs for cycles disappeared so we had difficulty in rejoining the route and ended up at major road with no idea where we were. George grabbed his GPS but before he could sort out the satnav software Jean had approached (in French) a Flemish-speaking local gentleman out shopping on a bike and although he had little French he very kindly offered to lead us back to the canal track!
We followed him for about a mile and he dropped us at the towpath to the Kortrijk Canal - which is an excellent cycle track. The ride to the junction with the Schelde was straightforward and we followed the instructions in Dan Gamber's excellent guide: Cycling Belgium's Waterways to negotiate the junction with the river towpath on the north bank.
We were impressed with the level of freight traffic on the river as we cycled to Oudenaarde. Our plan was to buy supplies for a picnic there; we went to the town centre without seeing a single food shop, but we were saved by the market in the Grote Markt which was just closing. We managed to buy everything there except bread, so we made do with cakes! The rising bridge at Oudenaarde is an interesting piece of engineering. The riverside cycle path took us directly to Gent (Fr: Ghent) and we made for the Tourist Office which turned out to be located in a magnificent town square. We had to save the sightseeing for later because we hadn't yet booked any accommodation. Fortunately, the accommodation desk was staffed by an extremely helpful and competent young woman who told us she would find us what we wanted. Gent was pretty full, but she persevered and it took her about ten calls to find us a vacant B & B within walking distance of the old centre - we were very grateful.
The accommodation was in fact a a studio occupying the top floor of an old house run by a pleasant couple. Although the day's distance wasn't very great, the wind had been against us and we were glad to spread ourselves and relax before returning to the Grote Markt for sightseeing, which was outstanding. The evening was pleasantly concluded on the terrace of a student-style tapas bar where Jean was lucky enough to win three bottles of Palm beer by rolling dice!
By now we had learned that accommodation required planning in Belgium even in September, so we used the internet connection at the B & B and found a hotel in Lier which was happy to reserve a room for €90, above our usual price range but it turned out to be good choice. We also found and booked two nights at what turned to be a wonderful Maastricht B & B (for Saturday and Sunday).
Today's distance: 75 km, weather: dry, accommodation: Kasteellan, studio €70 w/o breakfast, pricey but spacious.
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Oudenaarde |
Oudenaarde |
Oudenaarde |
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