Bikepacking 2023 - Herlies (France) to Ellezelles (Belgium)

Day #

5

State of Legs

:-)

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	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	64.8 miles	km	1299 feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	252.6 miles	km	8452 feet	metres	0

Today's Route

Route So Far

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Travelogue

Today, we crossed over from France to Belgium! It's always a thrill to cross a national border, even when it is such a low key affair, as it was today.

The weather was pleasant and good for cycling (i.e. not too hot, not too rainy and not too windy) and a lot of the route was flat, following a series of rivers and canals.  

M2 near the start of the day's cycling

There were plenty of birdies around, which is always a pleasure. Like this Black-headed Gull, for example.

It started out nicely enough, but as we progressed, the environment got less scenic and at times it was in fact rather industrial. This was a consequence of us approaching the city of Lille and its urban sprawl.

M2 had been looking forward to seeing Lille, but to be honest, we didn't even register its existence properly and we found ourselves to the north of Lille in the satellite city of Roubaix and realised we'd cycled right through Lille. We'd been cycling along a path by the river Deûle and had expected to find ourselves in something recognisably the old centre of the city at some point. But it was not to be and the place seemed rather nondescript, to be honest. Nil points for Lille, I'm afraid!

Things improved as we got clear of the metropolitan area of Lille, still following the river.

We were excited when signs for places in Belgique started to appear. M1 and M2 both knew that Belgique meant Belgium, linguistic scholars that they are!

At some point, our river became a canal, with an excellent path running by it and the scenery continued to be pleasing.

All at once, we found ourselves at the border with Belgium. There were no security booths and not even a single turret with a guard, equipped with machine gun and high-powered search light. There wasn't even any barbed wire! Honestly, these Europeans! (said the somewhat envious "Europeans at heart", M1 and M2!).

 

On crossing the border, it was remarkable. It was almost like we were in a different country! The minor traces of Lille's urban sprawl that had stayed in evidence for many miles, vanished and we found ourselves in a lovely part of Belgium. 

M1 has been known to go on and on and on about litter in England. So, he was intrigued when we happened upon this curious mechanism by the side of one road.

Apparently some Belgian drivers like to throw their beer cans out of the car window (presumably when they'd finished drinking the beer). So, rather than have them litter the countryside, why not give them a fun game to play, trying to throw the can into a net?! We saw several of these nets.

Not all Belgian drivers are a good shot. This may or may not have something to do with all the beer they appear to be drinking whilst behind the wheel. M1 couldn't help but pick up some of the beer cans that had missed the net and slam dunk them into the net. You''re welcome, people of Belgium :-)

We were impressed by one section of the route, as we got closer to our destination. There was an amazing tarmac covered path, which it seemed was for the use of cyclists and mopeds only. It truly was a thing of great beauty and what all cycle lane designers should aspire to.

Five minutes from today's campsite, it started to rain. The rain drops were large but the clouds seemed only partly interested in actually getting anything wet, so we didn't ever feel the need for waterproofs. It stopped soon after it started anyway.

The campsite we'd booked for today is on a farm. And it very much seemed to be a farm first and campsite second. Or possibly even third as it also had a shop that seemed to be doing a roaring trade.

The owner, Freddy, met us and speaking good English, showed us around the camping areas and the limited facilities. We chose to camp in a small field with four other campers, one of whom had a tent, the others favouring a caravan or motor home.

There was a courtyard near the main house with picnic tables and we sat there to eat and use the WiFi. Ah, the simple pleasures in life.

And yes, dear reader, dinner did indeed include cheese. But having made the mistake of shopping at the worst supermarket chain in Europe, Mouldy Aldi, where everything is impossible to find and almost nothing you want is on offer, today's cheese was simply a block of Swiss Emmental, vacuum packed in plastic. We like Emmental, don't get me wrong, but it's no French or Belgian classic.

Tomorrow, we continue our journey, destination Brussels!