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Day 17: Givet - Château de la Motte 70 k
When we were in Alsace we were struck by the continual movement between Germany and France. There is nothing similar in this region. We only see French cars in France and Belgian cars in Belgium, even when we are within yards of the border. Not sure how that is possible unless they are sucked into a void.
We only pass one sign welcoming us to Belgium though we cross the border numerous times. We cycle past a French Customs Office which has been shut for some time judging by the condition of the building. Nearby are faded letters on a painted brick wall advertising tobacco and cigars, the most popular items to be smuggled between these countries.
We get onto a bike path just after nearly getting killed by a container truck which passes within 12 inches of us. A relief, plus it is wide and clear of debris with a good surface. It is obvious from the limited scenery that it is a former railroad. After about 5 miles there are more attractions as the view opens out. We are protected from the strong wind, which is another plus. It is another cold day so we once again have to wear all our clothes. There is no climbing for the first 20 miles. We keep company with the many wagtails and finches which flit about on the bike path.
We rejoin the Belgian road system from Mariembourg. We admire dour Flemish architecture and cycle wide of the mucky and muddy farm entrances. Cows and horses sit on their haunches or lay on their side in shared fields. Just across the border, in France, at Eppe-Sauvage, there is one of the many Virgins in a pillar-box shrine. [PHOTO]
Our French hotel, formerly a monk's retirement home, is now advertised as a chateau-hotel. The 18th century brick structure is encircled by a lake which sparkles in the late afternoon sunshine. We have a lovely room full of old furniture, lavish bedcovers and curtains at a much lower price than a non-descript motel in Belgium. Dinner is excellent but our choice is limited in our resolve to avoid our least favorite cheese. Unfortunately, it is a specialty of the chateau where it is made!
Day 18: Château de la Motte - Douai 93 k
A bike path, bumpy and lumpy, strewn by glass, which stops and restarts, then merges dangerously into traffic makes us think we are in Britain, but no, we are heading into Douai. By keeping the belfry in sight, G gets us to the centre safely despite the town's best efforts to thwart our entry. Today has seen a change in landscape, from undulations to flat and wide plains. The architecture has stayed the same and we continue to enjoy the amazing (and beautiful) variety of brick used to build houses, churches, shops and factories. On the edge of Douai is a "living history" mining museum (i.e. former miners show visitors around) accompanied by slag heaps reminiscent of Zola's Germinal. The region is marked by isolated patches of industrialisation slotted between miles and miles of fields and farmland.
Old Douai can be seen in half an hour and is the most attractive part of this otherwise depressing industrialised town full of tacky discount shops. The tourist centre is housed in the only remaining 18th century house. We hear the full musical chorus from the Belfry at 6pm as we search for a good restaurant. Au Turbotin makes good all the unpleasantness of the surroundings. Fish rillettes is followed by trout which is accompanied by a wonderful selection of beautifully prepared and presented vegetables - tiny mousse of carrot, stuffed mini-courgettes, roasted tomatoes, mini-baked potatoes. Dessert is a pancake with an apple inside, wrapped like a pouch encircled in orange peel. The waiter speaks rapid French and is a treat in himself.
Day 19: Douai - Lille 47 k
Leaving Douai is as hair-raising as entering it the day before. As we cycle from roundabout to roundabout on busy roads which link one urban conurbation to another, I admire more examples of the fine brickwork of the towns and villages we are flying through. In contrast, G's has his head down reading the map until we find ourselves on comfortable and clean bike lanes into Lille. This is certainly an improvement on Douai's cycle provision. For example, cars back onto the bike lane rather than parking alongside.
Lille an attractive northern city with a centre that reminds us of Paris. The hotel is expensive but centrally located with a 1920s open ironwork elevator which takes us up to our small but beautifully decorated room, bathed in sunshine.
We explore the Old Bourse. Under the arches of the interior courtyard are second hand book stalls, postcard and stamp dealers. Seventeenth century Flemish-French architecture predominates and we admire the varied use of brick and elaborate stone carvings while sitting in an open-air cafe. The art museum houses maps, made for Louise XIV, of the country he ruled. The maps, made of wood and sand on massive tables show the landscape in all its undulations. Trees and other vegetation are recreated as in a large toy town. People and animals are absent but each building, even barns and shacks are an exact replica of what was there at the time. The most interesting maps are of the places we have cycled through recently. The museum also has a few Manet, Toulouse Lautrec and Vuillier paintings to admire.
As we emerge from under the portico of the museum entrance, we are overwhelmed by cigar smoke. The municipal garden decoration of the season is an upside down forest hanging above cafes and pedestrian walkways. According to several massive television screens in the shopping district, Lille is officially a "city of culture". The poor lighting in the museum has received no attention but this isn't surprising once we realise that the municipality has defined "culture" as anything flashy and technologically advanced.
Our dinner, in a Bistrot style restaurant (L'Alcide) is more traditional. Velvety vegetable soup served with rye-nut bread rolls is as good as G's cabbage and beet root salad sprinkled with walnuts and bacon. We both have rabbit wrapped around prunes and various vegetable dishes.
Day 20: Lille - Saint Omer 87 k
The morning smells of Spring! What a welcome change (though the air is still chilly). As we cycle out of Lille we pass through fresh green parks, full of spring flowers and the sound of city birds. We easily find the canal path heading north. The surface is grit rather than tarmac, which slows down our average by at least 2 mph. There is much manoeuvring to do around bumps, barriers and trucks cleaning the path. Old rails haven't all been taken up and we have to cross and recross these as well. We decide to leave the path at Quesnoy. The views are more interesting going through towns.
We wander briefly into Belgium and then return to France. We buy some food in Nieppe, a town straddling both countries. We go up and over our lowest Col at 109 metres! [PHOTO] The ascent to the nearby Abbey is much steeper and we rest at the top looking down on farmland sandwiches between spring-flowering copses. The roads have become too narrow and busy with trucks so G directs us smoothly through a complex network of farm lanes. My rim is seriously buckling so that every turn of the wheel grates past the brake. Not sure it will last and it certainly is not the most efficient use of my energy!
We enter the forest leading to Clairmarais and stop briefly on the edge of a granite Grotto deep in shade dedicated to "our lady of Lourdes". There are many visitors and we can see the flicker of hundreds of candles and other offerings. Oddly, the church dedicated to her, sits across the road in complete ruins.
We are on our way to a nature reserve which is part of the once famous "floating gardens" of Clairmarais. Soon we realise that they continue to exist outside the reserve.. We pass by gardens, surrounded on all sides by narrow water canals, full of people preparing the soil for planting. Similarly, a suburb of St Omer, which was known for its separate Flemish community in the 19th century, still houses this community.
The hunt for a hotel is curtailed by the urgent need for a bike shop after G sees my tyre rim. Fortunately, we are directed to a shop run by a former Tour de France cyclist, Sylvain Vasseur (uncle of Cédric) who now runs a cycle shop, "Au Tour de France". He won the Tour de Luxembourg in 1974 and rode in the Tour de France seven times, twice for the winning rider. He agrees with G that the tyre would certainly explode before we reached London. We leave both bikes and walk towards a hotel realising along the way how very heavy our bags are and how good our bikes are at masking the weight. Hotel is Logis de France but the café/restaurant is a PMU establishment, not noted for the quality of their food.
Day 21: Saint Omer - Guînes 70 k
Cycling with a working brake and no worry about possible explosions of rubber transforms my cycling style and I regret that we didn't get this fixed earlier in the holiday. G has a long conversation with Sylvain Vasseur, a modest and kind man. He gives G some signed photos and we take a picture of him outside his shop. [PHOTO]
We leave town on fairly quiet roads and are soon enjoying this magnificent spring day. Our coats are abandoned in the increasing heat of this sunny day. What a shame this is the conclusion of our holiday rather than its beginning. We climb up to two Abbeys and through a curvaceous countryside. Spring flowers create "carpets of gold" in many of the fields so that we are never quite sure when we have passed the official "cloth of gold" hillside. At 1500 kilometres, we cross our 88th col - "the four winds". [PHOTO] But just before the top we stop to buy some lunch at a food van which we has stopped outside a cottage. The woman of the house and the van driver are both surprised to see me join the queue. As this is her chance to catch up on gossip from the other lone cottages, I am allowed to interrupt with my requests which elicit great interest.
At the top is a road worker, stopped for his lunch. G exchanges a few words with him: "Nice weather." "Yes", says the worker, "It enhances the landscape." We encounter, yet again, several very considerate truck drivers. They wait behind us without pressure and invite us to go first at crossroads! We must be in a dream...
The smells of freshly mown meadows and recently tilled earth is heavenly - a perfect day to be outside. We extend our ride by 8 miles so as to enjoy it all the more. I have read about Joseph's Village which is advertised as a collection of traditional shops and artisans workplaces. The cycle ride there and back is very pleasant but the place itself is too disneyesque to be of use to G. More interesting is our ride past the Marais de Guînes where we see more plots of land enclosed and surrounded by water. We explore Guînes before we check into our hotel on the outskirts of town. We have stayed here before and have returned for the excellent food in the nearby restaurant.
Day 22: Guînes - Calais - Home 17 k to Calais (24 k total)
We leave before 8am in the cool morning air and cycle into Calais along the canal It is only 12 miles to the Calais terminal (7 of these are from the centre of Calais so be aware if you are staying in the town). I buy some food but no gifts as we are now down to 4 Euros. Perhaps the calculation of costs was a bit close..!
The sunny weather continues and we have a most pleasant crossing. Fellow travellers are either retired folks returning from the bulb fields of Holland or French school children heading to London.
We survive the train journeys (including a detour to drop off our bikes in East Croydon for check-up and repair) and arrive home, ready for a holiday which includes more sunshine and warmth. Interestingly, the cols which were closed remain so until late May/early June!
Margaret Robb
10 October 2004
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