Gent - 01/05

Mainland Europe - Day 6
Brugge --> Gent

Our last day in Belgium was spent driving to Gent and looking for some accommodation. Now this really shouldn't have been a difficult task, however, Yvonne and I were both feeling a bit dusty from the night before, and it was well into the afternoon by the time we left Brugge. After only an hour on the road I was ready for second sleeps. Thus, we stopped at Gent, had a quick look around, found a B&B, and were back in bed by 5pm. A very short day, much like this post.

Gent was gorgeous of course.

Still In Brugge - 30/4

Mainland Europe - Day 5
Brugge

Our prayers were answered and the sun shone bright
So we jumped on bikes and headed off at first light.
Everything looked gorgeous, the canals, the bridges the greenness so flat.
But nothing beat seeing this shepard with an injured lamb on his back.

SO CUTE....

Yvonne is quite the poet. We couldn't get another day in our B&B so we moved across the road to a hostel for our last night in Brugge. The weather was beautiful again, so we hired some bicycles and followed one of the cycle ways out of town. We road very leisurely for about two hours, stopping here and there to take in the sites. When we came upon the town of Silius we were very surprised to realise that we had actually crossed over into Holland. I guess Brugge is very close to the border, but still, everything is so close together over here.


After doing almost 40kms on the bikes we were obviously very thirsty. So we found ourselves a spot at the hostel bar and there we stayed until about 1am. I can say that the Belgium beers are very good ... and very potent. Most are around the 8% mark, but some even get up to 12%. This is roughly 2 or 3 times the strength of normal aussie beers, so needless to say I had a hangover 2 or 3 times as bad this morning. I think joining the 100 pint club in Belgium would be a lot harder then it was in Sydney.

In Brugge - 29/4

Mainland Europe - Day 4
Brugge

In Brugge .... we discovered a tiny, magical city encircled by canals, grand gates and windmills. It feels like it was a well kept secret until Colin Farrell exposed it to the world (however I get the impression from the locals that they would have prefared it had been exposed in a more eloquent way!)

We left Amiens early, had lunch in Bergues and arrived in Brugge quiet late yesterday afternoon. After finding a gem of a B&B we decided to head out to have a well earned drink. It was a Tuesday night and we were having problems finding anywhere open. Just as we were loosing hope we found a tiny bar with a few locals happy to keep us entertained. Among otheres they consisted of a retired police commissioner, an art dealer and an artist/restorer. We got quite drunk and had lots of laughs with these interesting characters until the bar closed. When we all spilled outside we were surprised to see them get into their cars and drive away!!

Today was a beautiful day, so we took advantage of the sunshine and did a guided cycle tour. The final stop was the oldest pub in Brugge. They claim to have been pulling pints since 1515. Needless to say they do it very well.

"The Venice of the North" centainly lives up to this comparison. This picture perfect town has claimed the contents of the camera's memory card in a mere 24 hours...impressive eh?? Everytime I look at Dave he is off snapping like a Yank!!

Tonight is our second night here but it doesn't feel like it is time to leave yet. Weather dependant we hope to get back on the bikes tomorrow and see more of this magical place.

Fecamp, Dieppe & Amiens - 27/4

Mainland Europe - Day 2
Fecamp --> Dieppe --> Amiens


It took us quite a while to get out of Fecamp. In an attempt to be some-what fit, we started the day off with a jog along Fecamp's waterfront. Any trace of the previous days beautiful weather had disappeared and we ended up running in the rain. However, when you're on a four month holiday even running in the rain doesn't seem that bad.

From Fecamp we went to Dieppe, but to be honest it seemed something akin to Parramatta, so we didn't bother stopping we just kept moving. It sort of turned into a travelling day, which meant we saw some amazing country side. I'm guessing that France must get really hot in the summer, especially out in the rural areas, because there are giant fans all over the place. Maybe we should get some of these babies in Oz.

We drove through Amiens to take a look around but got totally lost and ended up driving around residential areas, not so exciting. We ended up staying in a dodgy little tuckies stop outside of town. Cheap and nasty, but it was clean so no complaints. It was here that we also came up with the great idea of hard boiling eggs in an electric kettle. It worked perfectly :)

Le Havre, Etretat & Fecamp - 26/4

Mainland Europe - Day 1
Le Havre --> Etretat --> Fecamp

There nothing like driving on the other side of the road to make you feel like you're somewhere very different.

We landed in Le Havre at about 5pm but as the sun doesn't set until well after 8pm we had plenty of time to cover some ground. We pretty much skipped Le Havre and headed north along the coast, not really knowing where we would end up, just following a vague plan to make our way to Holland. By luck we came upon the town of Etretat. A cute little coastal town with an unusual, but beautiful, stone beach. Yvonne has often said that no Australian would ever be impressed with the beaches overseas, and I can see where she is coming from.

From Etretat we headed to Fecamp where we stayed for the night. Contrary to my expectations all the French people we've met so far have been lovely. However, sometimes communicating has been a bit of a challenge. It may sound stupid but I never really gave the whole language barrier much thought. I guess I was just expecting everyone to speak english and surprise, surprise, they don't.

We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant last night, which was packed. After a delicious meal of calamari, mussel ls and salmon we were treated to a real life girl fight. Although I've already admitted to not understanding any French it was quite easy to understand that two ladies at a crowded table outside were a bit upset, when they had to be physically separated. Good to see French attitude in action.

Leaving Ireland - 25/4

...is normally a painful experience; saying goodbye to family and friends knowing I won't see them for up to 18 months. However this time I know I will see them in Europe and then back in Ireland so it was relatively easy.

The night before our departure we met mates in Dublin and had some pints. On the way home we made an unusual diversion to a Casino (in Dublin?? New to me!!) Paula 'The Shark' proceeded to pocket 500Euro. I, on the other hand was happy to get a free vodka and tonic!

The next morning We set off with full tummys and lingering hangovers to make the four hour drive to Rosslare to catch our 22 hour ferry to Le Havre, France. Very sketchy weather was bringing back memories of being on Irish Ferrys with puke rolling down the stairs and corridors but I am happy to report it has been a very smooth sailing so far. We are now half way to France and it looks like the sun is shining. I had a good nights sleep on the lounge chairs (tight arse backpackers - no budget for a cabin) but Dave decided to watch movies through the night and save his snoozing for the day time leg.

France here we come!! The most important thing for us now is to remember to DRIVE ON THE RIGHT....!

Monasterboice - 21/4

Today we travelled north of Dublin to County Louth. This is where Yvonne's mum grew up and where much of her family still live. It was an absolutely jam-packed day. We visited Oldbridge Estate, built on the site of the Battle of the Boyne, the largest battle in Ireland's history. Where King William III defeated and his father - in law, King James II, on 1 July 1690. We also met quite a few of Yvonne's relatives, who were lovely and kept us well fed and entertained. We eavesdropped on some singing monks, which was pretty cool. And we even walked through a hedge maze. But the hi-light for me was Monasterboice. This was an amazing graveyard where quite a few of Yvonne's family, on her mother's side, are actually buried. It was simply beautiful. A truly peaceful place.