We decided to have an overnight stop in Hannover to break the journey to Dusseldorf a little. Arriving at the hotel at 4ish we strolled into the town. Oh what a grubby place! The main street was lively and the buildings attractive but once again graffiti decorated the lower levels and there were lots of groups of people, of all ages, sitting in the streets drunk or on their way. It would seem that in Germany beer is drunk in the same way as bottles of coke are at home. Still we found a great little Vietnamese restaurant and tried to pretend we were back in south-east Asia.
Hitting the autobahn the next day, along with every lorry in Germany, we eventually arrived at our hotel in Dusseldorf. Phew, what a relief, faith restored! It has everything - a stunning old town, great restaurants and bars, loads of shops, a river, gardens, parks, modern award winning buildings and friendly people with a sense of humour!
We enjoyed a bowl of pasta watching the England game with a Dutch group in an Italian restaurant!
Saying goodbye to Germany with no regrets we crossed another border, this time into Luxembourg. It was raining - hard. Our hotel was in Roeser, 10 minutes outside Luxembourg City, it was a typical French restaurant, with rooms and pretty relaxed. We arrived early, before our room was ready so the nice man took us into the dining room and fed us a delicious lunch from the remainder of a sumptuous buffet. Replete, we headed into town. What a beautiful city, even in the rain. After the generally grey shabbiness of Germany it was a delight to have some lightness and colour back in our lives!!
Tucked under our brollies we meandered through the Grund, the valley which nestles between two impressive viaducts, a green and pleasant spot.
On Thursday we were up early and off, T-shirts on, brollies left behind as the sun shone brightly. Making the most of it we looked around the old town, visited the museum explaining Luxembourg's fascinating history then headed for the Bock casements, a UNESCO World Heritage site which is basically loads of tunnels cut out of the rock. Brilliant - uneven floors, some pretty damn dark, steep stone spiral staircases, canons, fab views. What more could you ask for?
We had a great night in the main square, eating outside being serenaded by a big band.
Reluctantly we left Luxembourg.
Day 281 saw us cross into Belgium, it was raining - again. A few hours in a shopping centre, oh joy. Then as the rain stopped we arrived in the Wallonia region, the French speaking part, an area which is predominantly woodland where we dumped the car in a village and picked up a long walk which took us through gorgeous forests. It seems ages since we've stretched our legs, so many cities, so little exercise and fresh air!
We now find ourselves staying in a lovely bed and breakfast, Le Perchoir, in Libin, a converted barn owned by Brigitte and Nicolas, a very creative couple and their adorable little daughter, Lily. Nicolas makes quirky objects from used metal and wood. Our room is off a mezzanine at the top of the house and is kitted out like a log cabin!
It was bouncing down again on Saturday so we went to Namur, the capital of this region. There was a market on, an enormous market where we passed a few pleasant hours then onto explore the citadel.
It's now 4pm on Sunday and we have just returned from a long cycle ride which took in some of the lovely villages in the area. We set off at 10.30 this morning, complete with picnic. This won't last, I'll never be up so early on a Sunday when I get home! The sun has shone all day, we've had shorts on, at last but apparently it's meant to rain again tomorrow. So much for summer in Western Europe!!
Three days to go then we're on that shuttle on Thursday.......
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Location:Rue d'Hatrival, Libin, Belgium
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