Day 18: Namur, the Wallonian Capital

July 31, 2024

Hotton, BE to Namur, BE

The day started like any other. I rolled off pretty early at 830 after packing all of my stuff. My sleeping pads stuff sack has completely torn so it now gets its own dedicated ziploc bag for extra protection and I’m hoping that’s enough. I’ll be buying a new stuff sack for it when I get a chance as I want to prevent any issues cropping up on a relatively fragile piece of equipment.

I grabbed a coffee and pastry at the local Boulangerie and was headed on my way. As mentioned before today will be slightly wet although hopefully I can cover the roughly 65km to Namur before the peak of the rain. After 4 consecutive camping nights I will be spending the night in a “castle”. I thought this might be a fun departure.

The chateau of Namur is a chateau inside the castle grounds in the Wallonion capital.

But I’m getting ahead of myself again.

The morning consisted of reasonable temperatures and some scattered sprinkles. There was only about a one hour pocket of heavier rain but generally was fine.

Sun isn’t out but easy to remember which way is North - just head TOWARDS the dark clouds

As yesterday, another day of long rolling hills. Although they are certainly less steep than yesterday as we get further and further from the Ardennes region.

The only thing that was strange about the day was both Komoot and Google Maps wanted me to go on what really felt like an American freeway. I opted out and found some alternative paths adding about 5km but enjoying a nice scenic spin along the Meuse. What’s the joke? It’s not a Western European town unless there’s a single syllable river flowing through it. In Namur’s case there’s also an intersection with the two syllable Sambre.

On reaching the town a couple hours before the rain was to hit, I decided to find a laundromat and get everything clean again. You know, just before I go into the downpour that would come tomorrow.

A kind French lady helped me figure out how to use the tokens in the laundromat in a way that was faster than my google translate. While waiting around I took the opportunity also to clean my bags out of anything that I no longer needed to lug around. she was amused and corrected me as I referred to “trash” as “deschutes” instead of “dechets” and pointed me to the “poubelle” with a laugh and shake of her head.

Little did she know that I’ve had no idea what anyone was saying to me for weeks now! Thanks though for the help, I definitely appreciated her and will remember the interaction!

Finally I climbed up the big hill to reach the Chateau.

Now I’ve not exactly been roughing this trip when it comes to food - I have eaten out at least once a day, usually the breakfast pastry and coffee. But many of my dinners and lunches are just cobbled together from my goodie bag. Anyways I mention this so you can contrast my cold burrito, cold ravioli, or bread and cheese meals with what I had tonight.

The Chateau of Namur is a training ground for the local renowned Namur hotel school - so the dinner offered in the restaurant has many hospitality students apprenticing. I ordered the 3 course meal (without alcohol) and replaced the dessert with a cheese selection. It was really freaking good especially in contrast to the above.

I especially loved the cheeses - there was a papaya one and one on the spoon that the server described as “too strong” but I loved it. The rest were all good too, and finally I of course got some blue cheese even if I can easily find roquefort at home. It’s a favorite.

Apparently I didn’t photo the cheeses for dessert but man they were good.

At night I barely did any of the chores I was supposed to do and just took the opportunity to get some rest. And charge all my stuff. The other chores can happen in the morning while I wait out some of the rain.

Good night and thanks for reading.

Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 1,382 km (858 miles)

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