May 30, 2011

As soon as the sun comes up , it is hot – very hot.  We make a start on a day of long climbs.  How can it be so hot when only a couple of days ago it was so cold I needed leggings?  It is still very windy, but now the wind feels like the blast from a hot oven and it is blowing in our faces.  A roadside thermometer tells us that it is 31 degrees – phew!

The cycling today is hard work – we´re not cycling robots today – more like cycling snails.  Clearly cycling around Holland does not keep you fit.  All in all, we are a bit disheartened.

We say goodbye to Luxembourg – a country which seems a bit like a film set – a bit unreal.  The countryside has none of the wild drama of Spain, nor the old-world charm of England or France; it is agricultural, either pasture for cows, or crops, mainly cereals, dotted with forests and wooded hillsides – overall pretty but tamed.  The roads and villages are very well maintained and have a sort of manicured uniformity.  I suspect that much of the population must live in and around the city of Luxembourg and maybe the country houses are weekend retreats.  Nevertheless, Luxembourg does leave a good impression.

We continue on through a short stretch in Belgium and on into France – it is like returning to see an old friend.  And this time the camp-sites are open and we have been retrained to eat earlier.  As the day draws to a close, we see a castle high up on a hilltop, towering above the town we are headed for, Montmedy – and where is the camp-site? – yes, right next to the castle with a climb that should be included in the Tour de France.  When we have finally heaved ourselves up to the top we pitch the tent and then whiz back down the hill on the bikes into the town for dinner (always a hazardous business as neither of us can balance the bikes without the luggage, let alone down a 20% incline) and have to climb all the way back up again in the dark  It is an easier climb without the weight but is still a tough climb at the end of a long day. 

We find we have pitched the tent on an ant hill and thousands of ants have decided to invade the panniers.