July 27, 2015
Day 6: Givet to Revin: Happy Seventh Birthday, Avi and Violet!
Here we are noodling down a river in France, and missing your birthdays once again! Still, we love you more than anything, and hope you will be having a wonderful time.
At times like this we always think of Bob Dylan's prayer, "Forever Young", and though you don't seem to need it yet, here goes:
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.
About noodling down that river ..
The Ibis was actually in a miniature big box area (one store) outside of town, so we had to begin by retracing our steps. What had seemed very complicated the night before now was no problem, and we quickly recrossed the Meuse back into town. The 6 euro breakfast offering at the Ibis consisted basically of croissant and coffee (normal for France), so we stuck with oatmeal cooked by us. But immediately on crossing the river we spotted the "ant trail" of people leaving a bakery with baguettes, and so landed at the bakery ourselves.
People who saw us there reassured themselves that we knew about the Route Verte, which starts here. We were told that it started right "over there." So from the bakery we crossed the street and started out on a bike-like path. Very quickly we could see that the path disappeared and that we would be on a busy road. So that would be exactly the busy road that Trisha warned about. We peered at the other side of the river and could see something over there. So we crossed the bridge, our third time, and shortly found the Route Verte.
The locals and the Crazyguy people were right to be enthused about this route. It begins with detailed signage showing all the towns and the services available, and it is well signed for the turns along its length. The surface is great so this figured to be 84 km of cycling joy.
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We continued to encounter people from the Netherlands along the path. Invariably they have multiple packs, like us. The Dutch do not fool around when it comes to cycling. For example very early in the day we were passed by a couple that we had met yesterday in the rain. They were headed for the campground when we met them. We of course were at the same time wimping out to the Ibis.
We also ran into one Mom standing by the path in front of a camping, with her two kids - aged four and two. They were on their way back to Netherlands, the kids travelling in a twin trailer. The lady acknowledged that there is some rolling resistance with a trailer, but she had a typically tall and powerful Dutch husband to pull it! Dodie gave the kids some of the Canada stickers we had brought along, and they seemed pretty pleased.
The Meuse here is passing through a park, which accounts for the good bike surface and signage. There is also a goodly amount of explanation about the animals and plants, the locks, fish ladders, and suchlike.
With its back and forth curving, you could look on the Meuse as similar to the Moselle. You know its not the same, though, because the pretty villages that are seen along the river have a much different architecture from those in Germany. These are more huddled, and feature brick over stucco instead of fachwerk exteriors.
As we proceeded deeper into the park, we could tell we were in the "wilderness" because it was possible to cycle whole minutes without seeing any buildings. For Canadians this is really not much of a wilderness. We also took note of the way Beavers are played up. Germans and French are very big on beavers. Of course as Canadians we feel we own the beaver (else why would it be on our nickel coin!). We have never seen an actual beaver in Europe, though admittedly we did once see a chewed on tree!
We stopped for lunch under a shelter at the city hall of Haybes. This is one of the "martyr" villages from WWI. It was shelled and burned in 1914, with great loss of life.This was part of the German practice of destroying any village that resisted, or from which any hostile action was thought to have come. Dodie picked up a quite thick book about the war history of the Namur province (where we are). She has read a little, and its good when you have the sense of immediacy of being in the actual places mentioned. But though we are trying to be conservative about it, this too will join a growing pile of collected stuff that we will need to mail back before we can no longer move the bikes forward.
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Through the day the South West head wind continued quite strongly, so Revin looked like a good place to quit. Besides, the Camping there had gotten a great review from Jim Hillis. He referred to a good common room that even had a coffee machine, and spent quite some time there waiting for the office to open at 4. We found ourselves in the same situation, and in fact are sitting in that very same room right now. The cost here was under 8 euros, so we are really happy.
As we were sitting in the large common room, some pre-teens came in and eagerly set up a board game. Dodie gave them some stickers, which they were really tickled with. One, a little older, had a cell phone, and he papered the back with it. Dodie had several designs of these Canada flag stickers, and apparently the round ones were the biggest hit. So soon, several of the kids came shyly back and asked if they could have round ones.Of course we loved this indication that they had become connoisseurs of our little gifts!
It's early yet, but we are thinking of turning in rather than going to look at the village. We may be getting used to quaint villages. More likely, our sleeping bags just look more inviting right now. We know we can shoot some photos as we blow through on the bikes in the morning!
Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 247 km (153 miles)
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