Day 22: Lier to Brussels

img_20180610_114415 — Belgium can do perfectly smooth cycle paths, too.

Nous sommes en Belgique! Don’t know how to say that in Flemish, but at least that we can’t blame on the 8% tripple and 3.5% Kierk we enjoyed last night to cap off the lovely evening at a local restaurant (fish and lamb – our fanciest restaurant so far at ~24 euro entrees).

Spent some time yesterday evening sketching out the next few days, to see whether it’d work to visit some friends in Paris, and decided to slow down a bit in order to not arrive there before the 20th, but not add any side trips (were considering some brewery-driven detours), leaving us a few more days in Belgium or the north of France to eat well and rest a bit more.

Started off late today after we made an open-window deal with the (heat) devil in last night’s hotel, subjecting ourselves to hungry mosquitoes in exchange for some small breezes through the only window that opened. Luckily (?) the mattresses already were on the floor, so it was easy to drag them over to the open window at 3AM and get some rest.

The route was short and we whizzed through some parks along the first 20km. Stopped for a cold drink at a wind surfing school on a lake, and then on into Brussels. To brace ourselves for sometimes-stressful city riding, I proposed a game giving Philipp points for every right turn, and taking points for every left turn. The terrain wasn’t in a playful mood, however, the cycle paths giving us a straight shot for most of the way into the city, just until navigating traffic became too hectic to play anyway.

Picked up some bread, cherries, and more peaches at a corner shop (3.40 Euro, open on Sunday!) and practiced talking French to each other as we navigated the final kilometers to the hotel. Passed loads of tall, beautiful apartments with curved tops (as opposed to the Danish geometric trend) and wide, tree-lined streets, observing that it was starting to feel more Parisienne, just as Anne and Reece had noticed. Found our lovely home after some cobblestone stretches.

The two of them had three social visits to make in Brussels, mostly of friends-of-friends, so stayed three nights, enjoying a richer country than the Netherlands, remarking on the higher prices but availability of pears and meat with garlic sauce.

Already on the new, more relaxed plan, Philipp asked if we could book for two nights, but “no soap” as Anne and Reece would say, so we’ll enjoy it for this evening at least – starting at a local coffee shop. Wile searching for coffee shops, I found a list recommending coffee spots for Brexit negotiators, I assume near the U.N. complex, but we’ve so far managed to avoid much politics this trip so we’ll stick to our hipster haunts. Unless the suits have better frites, then I’m going in.