Bikepacking 2023 - Rest Day in Brussels

Day #

7

State of Legs

:-)

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	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	0 miles	km	0 feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	308.5 miles	km	10174 feet	metres	0

Today's Walk in Brussels

7.2 miles walked

Route So Far

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Travelogue

Today is a rest day, so the bikes are uncharacteristically idle. But M1 and M2 are not! There's always something that needs to be done (AKA Trip Admin) and sometimes something you want to do. Both apply today.

Our first priority this morning was to establish a plan for next week, identify places to stay and where possible, make reservations. And we've done pretty well. We know where we aim to be for the next seven days, starting tomorrow and in all cases except one, we've managed to make a reservation. We're just waiting for the campsite we aim to stay at the day after tomorrow in France, to respond to our email booking request and that's the whole of week #2 organised.

And yes, you read that correctly. "In France". When we leave Brussels, we will be heading more or less south and on Wednesday, should cross the border back into France, in the Ardennes region.

We're ahead of schedule by quite some margin. Our basic weekly goal is to cycle about 200 miles, which means 40 miles a day for five days a week. But we've done more than 300 miles already! So, we intend to exploit this situation and will be taking two consecutive rest days at the end of the next week.

Tomorrow will be an unusually short day as well, with only about 25 miles to be cycled. But this is for other reasons. Someone, who shall remain nameless, but let's call them.... M1.... left their micro-fibre travel towel hanging in the showers in a campsite a couple of days ago! Doh! And if you've ever read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy you'll know that a traveller's towel is one of their most versatile and important pieces of equipment. So, we'll be paying a visit to a nearby Decathlon store which opens at 10:00 tomorrow, before setting off for our next destination. And given the late start, we decided not to be too ambitious with distance. 

Having completed our Trip Admin, our thoughts turned to tourism. The standard sort, where you cram as many "sights" in as possible, spending hardly any time at any of them, but knowing you'll probably be able to say "I've been there" any time the location in question becomes a topic of conversation. To this end, M2 did some research and found a self-guided walking tour for us to follow, aided by Google Maps. We added to the tour, a nostalgic visit to the European Parliament, which we were not able to get into and so just stood outside looking at it, marvelling at its magnificence but unable to benefit from it in any way at all. Sound familiar?

We also ate waffles :-)

Here are the tour highlights in photographic form.

Park de Brussels

A pleasant little park, temporarily populated by 22 cartoon-like statues of a cat character doing uncatlike things. And why not?

Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace. So, M2 was clearly born on a Wednesday ;-)

Royal Palace

The royal palace probably looks impressive, but as is so often the case, someone had decided to hide most of it behind a screen (usually it's scaffolding).

Place Royal

A historic square with an art gallery.

Jardin du Mont des Arts

A short walk away was a very nice view over the Mont des Arts Garden.

Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula

It's a cathedral and when we were there, it was closed. On a Sunday. But maybe it was just closed to visitors, allowing the serious praying and whatnot to go ahead without those annoying tourists ruining it.

The King's Gallery

The Random Souvenir Shop

M1 and M2 have a habit. We're addicted to buying super tacky souvenirs of places we've visited, which we take home and display with no shame whatsoever on a series of shelves in our home. Please don't judge us.

Grand Place

Another square. But this one, it has to be said, is pretty spectacular. Our approach to the square was via a tiny street so that we couldn't see the square until the last moment. And wow! It has quite an impact when you do see it. The photos don't do it justice.

Tintin Mural

There was a mural. Of famous Belgian character, Tintin.

Mannequin Pis

Yet another small statue of a child indulging in public urination. How disgusting. Someone should slap an ASBO on that child! :-)

Bikes on a Building

A building we walked by was festooned with arty, coloured bicycles.

The Stock Exchange

We saw the Brussels Stock Exchange. We somehow survived the excitement.

Waffles!

It's not hard to find a waffle in central Brussels, I'm very glad to say!

The European Parliament

Having had such a pleasant walk and such delicious waffles, we decided to undo all our good work by visiting the European Parliament and pausing to reflect on the massive stupidity, lies and greed behind the most seismic of events in Britain's recent history.

And that's that! We're back at the apartment now and intend to do as little as possible for the rest of the day. Maybe we'll watch a movie on the laptop or something. We're back on the road again tomorrow.