Haelen to Arcen

A fabulous ride through towns and a national park.

After spending two days at this B&B, being well cared for and sheltering from a heavy rainstorm with thunder and heavy winds, it is hard to leave. With breakfast delivered every morning to our room, comfy leather chairs for reading or watching a movie on Netflix, beds that can elevate your feet and/or your head, an infrared sauna in our room, a well stocked kitchen…you get the picture, we have been spoiled. She shared with us that this will be their last year running the B&B as they want to retire. We wish them good health and the opportunity for others to offer them hospitality like we have enjoyed.

Thumbs up for B&B Leudal in the village of Haelen. It is slightly off the route…a brief ferry ride across the Meuse R and a few km to the village. Well worth the detour.

Never tire of seeing the reed roofed houses.

It is always worth a stop when you see one of these historic windmills. Often it is volunteers who do the maintenance and restorative work as well as the work done by the guides. Their passion for these windmills makes their work a labour of love.

This one hails from 1817, and as we often see, well maintained. A point of pride for these historic giants.

Oh the hydrangeas….Dutch people are phenomenal gardeners and their gardens reflect this. All of the plantings have been beautiful but the hydrangeas stand out. We see hydrangea bushes covered a section of land….a sea of colour, or forming a hedge. We haven’t seen hydrangeas like this since travelling in France in the Normandy region.

It has surprised us the number of Japanese eateries we are seeing here.

This sculpture was very unusual as it was two sided. You can see the two images…one a young carefree version and an older woman with her cat staying close to her skirt.

Apothekes are pharmacies in the true sense of the word. They don’t diversify with items for sale that diverge from their mission of prescriptions and health related products. Often they are in lovely old buildings like this one and they are interesting to visit.

Love the old buildings that give much character to shopping areas.

Really enjoyed seeing this beautiful old buildings with interesting tile work.

Before we head out from Roermond, we were debating about weather to have ice cream or try this Patisserie. A local heard us talking and told us we must go to the Patisserie as it is considered the best in the city. My choice was apple tarte with a lemon layer under the apples. Yum! The fellow who recommended we try this place, was right.

Coffee for me and Caffe Latte for Barry.

We are seeing many horse farms as well as groups of wild horses running free in Holland. This mother and her colt were at a farm we passed.

The tell tale signs of the rain we experienced the past few days. It has actually been a rainy spring and there have been few days that are simply sunny. We are riding through a National Park.

This image typifies so much of what we love about the Netherlands…serenity of beautiful nature with trees forming an arch over the road, cyclists and few cars.

We are fascinated by the riding style we see when there are two or more riders together in a group. Invariably they ride side by side and take up much of the road. The intriguing thing is we rarely see a driver become impatient or frustrated by this. Somehow it works.

Older people like those in this photo have had a lifelong relationship to bike riding. As babes in arms they are in a bike carrier with a parent, but before you know it they have their own wheels.

This pony was very affectionate. We loved his fuzzy soft coat that is being gradually replaced with a smoother coat.

Like thee eye catching colourful poles with the red hand telling people to stop at the crosswalk.

Beeselwas founded in 1275. Every seven years, the village has a tradition of staging a spectacle based on the legend of George and the Dragon. 400 amateur actors who live in or were born in Bessel take part in this massive spectacle.

Dragons are an important part of the identity of this town, Beesel. The flag features a dragon and its image is seen everywhere, like this decorative touch over a front door.

The crest of the town with a noble slaying a dragon.

Lovely homes with unique details like the shape of the roofline.

Another home with a decorative feature with a dragon at the front of their house.

We encountered the work of this talented artist who creates sculptures from metal on a side road. It was a treat to see this piece up close and installed in a natural setting.

The artist works and lives here in this quiet community. His work is quite powerful and thought provoking.

I think this is our 3rd ferry ride today, crossing the river. It usually costs about 1€40 per person. It is a pleasant way to travel. The ferry trip lasts only about 5 minutes so we had a quick visit with this couple who were riding to Venlo

I wonder what they feed these bushes….so beautiful.

The country is solidly behind their national Football (Soccer) team. It is so exciting to be here during the European Cup in which Holland is doing well. Orange decorations are up in every town and village, stores are full of items to buy and wear in support of them.

In the past, we would look for RUSK shops on farms. So far we haven’t found the traditional model selling food, produce, coffee. The new type of Rust is featuring soft serve ice cream made from the milk of their dairy cattle. We like it - the quality is excellent and so creamy. You put an empty cone in the receptacle, press the button and the cone is filled with ice cream.

There was an art festival taking place in this town that we stopped at to have a bite to eat and coffee from our thermos. Some of the artists were working on their stone carving projects.

Typical river ferry…1 car and so many bikes.

We stopped at another farm stand. The chocolate milk was delicious

Before we could get to our B&B in Arcen we had to ride through the forest in a national park.

We have arrived at our accommodation in Arcen.

We enjoyed the company of the owner’s horse

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,360 km (845 miles)

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