Incredible riding on quiet backroads in the Ardennes
Stenay to Sedan
We are sorry to leave Stenay. This small town has a wonderful historic centre and much to offer. Today we are heading on to Sedan where we will visit the Fort, the largest fort/castle in Europe.
While staying at Le Moulin De Cygne, we were excited to find that other travellers had left behind the two Cycling Route guides that we prefer and have found to be useful on other tours. The Benjaminse from Holland and the Bikeline. This is great as we have not been .able to find them in stores. We have a few days to do some research.
A nice historic touch is the winding staircase. Breakfast is available if you choose and it is delivered to your door in the morning in a basket. If you want breakfast, leave a basket outside your door.
We have had “a holiday within a holiday” staying in the village of Stenay at such a memorable and beautifully restored historic property. It cost a bit more than our usual accommodation, but still very reasonable. We can’t imagine what a property of such quality would cost us at home.
Oh dear, our trip began in Germany with sunshine and hot weather. But the past weeks we have had dark heavy clouds and consistently rainy. We have had enough, but must carry on. We are grateful that we are not camping as we have enough challenges with Seavo.
Our ride today meanders through the countryside with the river Meuse always nearby. Blissfully the roads are extremely quiet..for most of the day we only see a few tractors, the odd car and just us. Of course the animals are everywhere and we love make a connection with them. Cows are such social beings and love to listen and get pets.
This poor cat looks like it has had a challenging life. Its face and its mannerisms tell a story. Nonetheless, it was intrigued by our voices and not intimidated. Would love to have given it a cuddle.
Unfortunately, this church in Beaumont is in disrepair, much like the village. We can imagine that small rural communities struggle with the upkeep of buildings such as this church as well as their own infrastructure.
We were approaching a farm and these two dogs made their presence known. This one was all about affection and had a gentle soul. His buddy hadn’t figured this out yet….it wanted affection but he only knew to bark. I’m guessing that they don’t see many people come through who stop and talk to them.
We feel like we are having the best of rides today…quiet roads through beautiful countryside. We had been a bit worried about the hilly route today as we wondered how Seavo would cope. We took it nice and slow and all was good.
France honours those who have served their country and those who have lost their lives. “They will be remembered.” We see many monuments and tributes like this along the way, throughout the countryside and in the villages. It impressed upon us the significant loss of life in several generations.
The Voie Vert runs through France and Belgium - it shares the Eurovelo19 route and the signage is very good. We continue to be surprised not to see many other cyclists touring. There are a few, but not many.
We have reached Stenay and didn’t realize that our check-in time is not until 6 pm!…and it is rainging. Yikes…this is new to us but seems to be a thing in this area. We found this bakery which helped to console us and put in some time.
