This first holiday on our new tandem we want to test as many different situations as possible. Flat and hilly, hard (descending), a lot of braking, but unpaved just wouldn't work. That while the unpaved cycle paths in Germany last year, were the reason to start a new tandem. But in France every passable path … A refreshing dive
Just radio silence on our part. The past few days we cycled through the heart of the Belgian Ardennes. The Ardennes lived up to their name this year. No significant rain this time, but the first cool and humid nights, but especially tough climbs and a beautiful landscape that speaks to the imagination (and little … Ardennes
Until last year, we navigated with paper maps, usually Michelin's 1:200,000. Oscar likes to have an overview of where we are and where we are going and certainly in sparsely populated areas that always worked well. In recent years, we sometimes turned to google maps when we couldn't figure it out with the map, for … Navigation
Once there were four of us, we had to find a bigger tent. It became a 4-person tunnel tent. We bought a tarp with it. A tunnel or dome tent always has an opening that exposes part of the awning to any rain. A tarp not only covers that opening, but also gives some extra … Tent and tarp
We love camping, but I don't necessarily like campsites. On campsites there are, especially in the main season, so many people. Huh, what do I say? I'm always looking to interact with other people and now suddenly I'm not? That requires a bit of self-examination, but more about that another time. Now the camping jitter. … (wild) camping
and our newly impregnated tarp keeps it! Just enjoy a day in our camp.
We cycle to the border with Belgium. Then we see this old border post, which makes us burst out laughing. We feel sorry for the officials who had to guard the border here. Just across the border is the monastery of Orval. The name seems familiar, probably because of the beer that is brewed here. … Argonne and Ardennes (3)
From Varenne we cycle to the north. A few steep climbs announce the Ardennes, but after that it goes down again for a while and then steadily rises again. The end point montmédy has an old citadel on top of the mountain, where the campsite is located next to. Due to a lucky wrong turn … Argonne and Ardennes (2)
We ended up in the Argonne, a green, hilly region that you can consider the foothills of the Ardennes. We choose a route that runs through a valley between 2 hills. We appear to have ended up in World War I territory. The forest of Argonne is known as the terrain where the Americans operated. … Argonne and Ardennes (1)
We end up bypassing the large hot plain below Reims in Givry-en-Argonne, where there is also a lake we see on the map. The campsite is as good as empty and we find a nice place under a large tree, so that we can have a nice rest day here. The beach is built with … EU money
As in the rest of Europe, it is well warm in northeast France. If you still want to cycle, you have to be creative (and drink plenty of water). The past 3 days we got up 2 times at 6.15 am (before we rode the last stage of le Preau, I don't think we had … Moral
Since we were during our first cycling holiday in a place with few facilities through our camping gas and we ate cold for 3 days, we cook with a petrol burner. We use an MSR Dragonfy, which lives up to its name 😉. If we leave a campsite early, we hardly dare to make tea … Cooking
Rivers draw the landscape. If you cycle past it, it's kind of flat. Although it can still go up and down quite a bit. Depending on the flow and cycling direction, you gradually rise or fall. If your direction is at odds with it, it becomes a different story… Today we left the valley of … Rivers
It's very hot. The sun shines mercilessly. The wind so dry that my throat is closed Even though I just took a sip from the water bottle. Open plain. Grain mowed. No tree anywhere. The only shade is the power wire. I cycle in such a way that the shadow of my head coincides with … Hot
Had we come up with such a good solution yesterday for the broken pole, tonight part of the same stick broke when setting up. Ha, ha we thought: ‘we know that one’. Tessel routinely grabbed the tarp pole and also extracted a part of it. Just thread again and you’re done. Unfortunately…. The second part, … Another tent pole
