I'll make a short summary because it takes lots of time to write, sort outand post the pitures and then translate. From France we crossed into Belgium, still along tow paths. We had to pitch the tent once along the canal for lack of campground and bike miles along industrial areas.After Namur, the river Meuse goes for a while between clifts, quite a change of scenery from the low pastures and the wheat fields . We slept in Liège at the IYH. It was a great evening because there was an orchestra hosted there and they playedin the courtyard. It felt very fancy.

The following day we biked to a campground south of Maastricht. We left Liège in the afternoon after taking full advantage of being in a city : we went to a bookstore and bought a book in French. Our extensive (4 books)portable library had run out. We are going to send our old books to a friend in France and buy new ones. We had a last stop in Belgium at a outdoor café and « crossed » the border into the Nederlands. Hadn't it been for our map we wouldn't have known. However Holland seems much tidier than Belgium. Moreover, the system of bike paths is very elaborate, good and complete : there are local bike roads and national bike roads. The national network goes through very picturesque parts of the country. It is remarquably well marked and with their own maps. So you cannot get lost. The only drawback is that in villages it tends to go through residential areas and it makes shopping for food difficult, at least the first day. Afterwards, we would ask and leave the route for a bit. We arrived in a spacious campground by a lake, with all kinds of facilities, including a washer and dryer. We decided to do a laundry the following morning. The early morning was sunny but pretty soon and very quickly it turned nasty with a strong thunderstorm. By then I was in the middle of folding everything and Hélèna was in the shower. I kept putting things away as fast as I could but got the tent and myself totally drenched. Had I been young and sexy, I could have entered a wet Tshirt contest. Luckily Hélèna put her bike away with the laptop and all sensible luggage. Instead of leaving at 10 o'clock, we left after the storm at 1:30pm.

We got to Roermond after a long (87 km) day. We were quite tired but not to the extend to get onto each other's nerves. The big frustation of the day came when the campground that was marked on the map could be reached by a small ferry that stopped at 8:00pm and we got there at 9:00 ! A lady enjoying the cool of the evening on a bench tolds us that to go from here to there we had to enter the city and go over the main bridge which added 7 km to our day. We did as told, got to the campground when the light was fading, put up our soaking tent up and were about to make dinner when our neighbour came over and offered us some chicken with tomatoes. It was much appreciated. He told us that we looked very hungry. I suspect we looked tired as well. During the night another thunderstorm hit us. The wind was blowing really strongly and the tent was ballooning this way and that way. There was nothing to be done but be patient and hope that no branche from trees would fall on us. The storm faded away rather rapidly and we woke up in the morning safe and sound and also with a dried tent. The modern tent fabrics are amazing.

We went for a hearty breakfast in town and were given along with it two tickets to take a little train tour of the town. The guide was a lady with a wry sens of humour and the tour was very enjoyable. We then got on our bikes and went to North of Venlo. It is an area that used to be covered with green houses but many are empty and to be taken apart. The gouvernement wants to change this into a natural reservation. From Venlo we biked to a place called Gennep, South of Arhem. The weather had become cooler, cloudy and windy. We decided to take the train and cross Germany to Lubeck from where I am writing now. The Dutch and german train are very much bike friendly. We are staying in the IYH in Lubeck and spend the morning visiting, then we will ride to Putgarden (probably 2-3 days) and take the ferry into Denmark.