A great day of cycling on the Vennbann Route: We are now in Belgium!
We have been struggling to make distance the past few days. In some ways we have had a rocky start with challenging weather and not feeling healthy. Last night's early stop in Pronsfeld was good for us. Elfie's Gastatte gave us all of the comforts of home with a full kitchen, living room etc. We used the time to relax, read our books and rest. We feel ready to hit the trail today. As we left, Elfie met us with a care package of chocolate bars to give us strength on our journey.
The route from Pronsfeld is now called the Eifel Ardenne route and is a delight. The vistas are beautiful and the terrain is rolling. We prefer this to the previous few days.
After 27 km, we arrived in Sankt Vith, our junction point to begin the Vennbahn route to Aachen. The Tourist Info was most helpful and we met some nice people here, including an elderly gentleman who saw our Canadian flag and invited us to stay with him. He had known a Canadian pilot from the war who had been shot down and he wanted to offer us his hospitality. We had to decline his offer but appreciated his kindness.
Our wonderful host Elfie. She took us in for a single night's stay at her Ferienwohung Gastatte. She usually only takes long term guests, but she made an exception for us.
"If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium" We are still surprised when we cross borders so easily without knowing as we both remember pre-EU years when border crossings required visas, etc.
We encountered a school group from Schoneburg riding their bikes on a school outing. Once they got the confidence to talk to us, each of them said hello to us as they passed. After 30 greetings, we felt like we knew these kids. A nice group with two teachers.
Much money and work has been invested to the Vennbann a special and well supported route. These signs are very well done with historical details and local information.
When we started the route at Sankt Vith, we groaned when we saw the sign: fresh gravel. However, this only last for a few hundred metres, and then we had freshly paved trails. Yeah!
We planned to camp and were sure that it would work out as there were two campgrounds by the lake. It started badly at Camping Worriken as the road was completely inaccessible due to construction - so we walked until we found a back way in to the area and there was still no way to access the reception - truly bizarre. We were advised by full time campers to go to the next one along the lake. At this one, the people from Reception had left and with the help of hundreds of school kids staying there, we found the cafeteria and asked for help. They said we could pay 30-40 euros and check in the next morning. We thought this was a bit steep and didn't relish staying with 100's of kids - so we left.
This led to a crazy wander through the town. We had unwittingly stumbled on a very expensive village with accomomdation above our budget. Thankfully we found Seeehof Hotel.
After 60 km we were searching for the campground. We had left the main route because we thought that there was a campground at the lake .There was indeed a campground but we were thwarted at every turn. We eventually gave up and looked for alternate accomadation.
