Dedicated to a wonderful Mother Jean Noble 31/5/1929 - 20/8/2007 - may we never take our mothers for granted. - Goodbye Mum

BELGIUM /FRANCE PART TWO DECEMBER 2007.

Belgium is a relative newcomer to Europe having only been founded in 1830. It occupies a small geographic footprint and a huge population density. We have one farm in Australia “Anna Creek Station” in South Australia, that is bigger than Belgium . The population density of Belgium is 342 per square kilometre (886 per square mile) – one of the highest in Europe, after that of the Netherlands and some “micro” countries such as Monaco Which has the most. The man above, Georges Prosper Remi, better known by his French name "Hergé" – Hergé's adventures of Tin Tin. He is a Belgian icon. Once again we are here to learn. Both of us hope we can give of ourselves and take rich memories from one of Europe's newest nations.

Sunday 23^rd December 2007. Lille in France to Dendermonde in Belgium
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr. Min Max speed kph Max temp 1°C (Stat's less than 10k's - carried forward)

With Christmas/New Year approaching and unable to convince the French railways to take our bikes south to anywhere warmer.... We had some luck, with the help of this young Belgium man, we were able to get a ticket on the Belgian trains and returned to Belgium....

Without him, language difficulties may have prevented us buying. We purchased a ticket on the Belgium rail system and returned to visit our Couchsurfing friends, Lieke and Peter, in Belgium. Of course we had met neither of them but, we were able to see the profile and references on the web at  Couchsurfing. Catchya in Belgium....
We were not to worry, they are fantastic people. We were met by Lieke at the railway station on her bike and she led the way to her home.

Here we met Peter, the three boys and two girls that form their family.

Catchya Later...

Monday 24^th December 2007.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr. Min Max speed kph Max temp we recorded 1°C

After a walk around the beautiful but cool “Dendermonde” we really felt at home.

As is the tradition here in Belgium “Christmas Dinner” is served on Christmas eve and what a feast it was..

We had the company of Grandparents and other family members and were made to feel VERY welcome.. Catchya Later...
Tuesday 25th December 2007.(We did cycle but stat's too low, carried forward)
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr. Min Max speed kph Max temp we recorded 4°C

Today we visited Brussels with our new friends..

Famous of course for the peeing boy, which is for sale everywhere..

The story goes that the boy was lost... His father, a prominent artist, said, “anyone finding my boy, I will make a statue of exactly what he was doing when he was found” There you have it – believe it or not :-) Catchya Later...

Wednesday 26^th December 2007. Dendermonde to unknown
Approx. 29.18k's Average Speed 10.22kph Cycling time 2Hr. 51Min Max speed 36kph Max temp we recorded 6°C

We have been asked by our wonderful hosts to stay with them for the New Years eve celebrations. After much deliberating we finally agreed. We took a long time making our minds up, NOT because we had a problem with them, we just did not want to monopolise their holidays. We are now in another home on holiday with them. As well as couch surfing, they also do house swaps...

We cycled the distance between houses and enjoyed the cycle paths and the above zero temperatures (max 6°C). We will keep these days in Belgium with the “France” diaries as it will become disjointed if we switch them back to France. Catchya Later...

Thursday 27^th December 2007 to Monday the 31^st December 2007.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr. Min Max speed kph Max temp we recorded °C

We remained with our Couchsurfing friends and celebrated a fantastic New Years Eve in their holiday home.

The cheese platter from their Mum was fantastic.... It looked too nice to eat....

Lee went for a swim in the pool

But, never got wet :-) Catchya Later....

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007 TO ALL OUR READERS

Tuesday 1st  January 2008.
Approx. k's Average Speed kph Cycling time Hr. Min Max speed kph Max temp we recorded 1°C (No Stat's)

We remain in Belgium should be leaving tomorrow.

Wednesday 2nd January 2008. Unknown to Dendermonde
Approx. 28.00k's Average Speed 12.22kph Cycling time 2Hr. 29Min Max speed 41kph Max temp we recorded 2°C

Stayed one more day after cycling from our holiday house back to Dendermonde, too many places closed + wanted to help with cleaning etc.. after new year.

Thursday 3rd January 2008. Dendermonde to Lille FRANCE
Approx. 5k's Average Speed 11.7kph Cycling time 0.0Hr. 23Min Max speed 14kph Max temp we recorded 0°C (Bike stat's only)

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