August 31, 2012
Along the Meurse Through the Ardennes: Trouble at the nuclear reactor
I think this is the most I have ever biked in one day (118 km) so I feel very proud of myself. Actually nearly all of it was very easy so I cant be too self satisfied.
It was raining when we made our early start from Dinant. It looked so different from yesterday afternoon without the tourists. We were glad we were early as we had to ride on the fairly narrow road and at that time on a rainy Friday traffic was very light. About 10km out of the first French town over the border we were delighted to strike a cycle track which took us into the town and to a bar for a coffee and croissant.
The way out of Givet was alarming. The road was extremely busy and it was now teaming down, it felt like suicide to me dispite our high viz gear and flashing lights. We could not have continued so were delighted when we saw a tiny road going off to the left, this took us along a loop in the river to a lovely little stone village. In the distance we could see some nuclear reactors but we continued on only to be stopped a couple of km later by charming policeman who told us we were a prohibited area. He looked at our maps and showed is the cycle route on the other side of the river and where the bridge was so we were on our way again with confidence.
This Voir Verte is without a doubt the best cycleway I have ever been on. It is new and follows the Meuse (which is travelling in a gorge) all the way from Givet to Charleville a distance of about 80km. It is the best signed cycle route I have ever experienced, The surface is perfect and you can really zoom along. On either side are the heavily forested Ardennes and at times you are really remote but all along the way are ancient stone villages and many of them have services. We were of course watching the river traffic which all seemed to be pleasure craft, probably boats going between Holland and France. Along the Meurse are sections of canals with locks. With all this wonderful infrastructure we only saw two lots of cycling tourists all day, a pair of German women going to Santiago de Compestella and a couple riding earnestly in the other direction. We would have seen only about another 4 groups of cyclists. Unfortuanately The Voir Verte stops here in Charleville so we will be back to our usual route finding tomorrow. The next section is to be completed in 2014 so maybe we need to come back then
The central square of Charleville is stunning with pale yellow stone buildings and an Information that was easy to find. We are comfortably set up in the Hotel de Paris and had a meal of Cassole de Fruits de la Mer in the place we were recommended – it was very good but I rather suspect the owner is the brother of the hotel owner!
Today's ride: 118 km (73 miles)
Total: 1,744 km (1,083 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |