We awoke this morning to the sound of very heavy rain and wind. It was really coming down. As we were snug in our comfortable motel room we decided to wait it out and see if the conditions would improve. Checkout was not until noon so we had time to make our decision. We kept referring to the online weather forcasts for this region. It didn't look good...heavy rain til noon, thunder storms and wind in the afternoon.
When we first got up Mary Ellen had emailed the youth hostel in Tournai Belgium to see if they had a double room available. By 11:30, we had not heard back so we had pretty much decided that we would stay another night in the motel and just have a longer day of riding tomorrow. Just before noon we heard back from the youth hostel saying that they had one room left for tonight. We said what the heck, 50 km. in torrential rain and wind is not too bad. Let's go for it. We got into our rain gear and started riding. We had gone 4 km. and spotted a bakery and dripping wet ordered baguette sandwiches. We ate them standing up right in the bakery with our eyeglasses fogging up and puddles forming beneath us. Isn't travel great? At home, we would look outside and stay indoors and miss out on special moments like this.
It is a lot easier to tackle rain and wind when you know that you have a dry bed waiting for you.
Seavo had a quiet, warm and dry night in our room at the Fasthotel.
This chain of motels in France are very reasonably priced, basic, clean and good value. We like that each property is owned by a family which gives each property a unique style and personality - unlike "cookie cutter" budget hotels at home.
We are continuing to enjoy the St. Jacob's route which we started in Cambrai. The guidebook/map is very clearly laid out and easy to follow (even though we don't read Dutch too well). The choice of secondary roads are pleasant and pass through enough villages to make it interesting. As we are on a published route, we are seeing more cyclists touring, fully loaded...and they are all following the route starting from Haarlem in Holland. This is logical as the route is billed as a route from Haarlem to Santiago di Compostella in Spain. We seem to always end up cycling against the direction and this time it is paying off as we have enjoyed a tail wind since Cambrai. We hope it lasts.
We made it to Tournai in record time. We made few stops as we wanted to beat the worst of the weather. When the weather improves, we'll go for a walk as this looks like an incredible Flemish city to explore. Tournai has a reputation of being one of the most impressive medieval cities in Belgium.
Nuclear power is alive and running in France. I guess it doesn't matter how close your home is to one of these, but their backyards literally are a few feet from it. The amount of patching on the side of the tower looked a bit ominous to us.
The former border crossing from France in to Belgium with a stone guard still on duty. We saw a similar setting with a border guard when we crossed in to France (from Belgium) in another area. Barry's top is soaked from the rain, so he gave the guard his top to dry.
We had to stop to check out this modern, unusual church in Belgium. The former church was destroyed at the end of the war when the Germans who had been occupying the village set off 6 mines in the tower.
The inside is stark and modern and is a fresh take on what a church can be. Along the roof, are triangular stained glass skylights which offer an interesting architectural detail and source of light.
Locals lost in "Pokemon Go" world. They are like the walking zombies of Europe. We are so out of touch with current news, that we didn't know about this phenomenon of people walking in groups mindlessly following their phones. Even now that we know what they are doing - it is still strange to us! Imagine, they are visiting one of the gems of Belgium and they are only looking down.
