Friday 10 & Saturday 11 June 2016.
A day spent exploring Floreffe included
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riding a couple of kilometres to a Match store
for provisions; there was a Hubo adjacent so we rode back like gypsies adorned
with window boxes and potting soil.
-
A visit to the gorgeous
abbey-now-international-school,
-
A really good Floreffe Abbey blond beer served
by a lady who really shouldn’t have raised herself from her bed in order to be
miserable to her customers, and
-
An interesting frogs legs (cuisses de grenouilles) starter which we shared, followed by a fairly
mediocre pasta dish at the pizzeria in the town center.
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| Cuisses de Grenouilles |
Our mooring here is great (the biggies - well most of them anyway - have to slow down at the bridge to take the corner so there is not too much wash) and the town and surrounds are quite pretty so we are quite surprised that no other cruisers ha even attempted to stop here.
Saturday dawned and, with great trepidation on my part, we cast off to face the mighty Meuse River. The short ride down the last of the Sambre was a doddle and after clearing the second lock we were in Namur with the Meuse ahead – what an anti-climax! Elle headed into the current (which was in slack mode fortunately) to the manner born and we made fast to the mooring against the casino wall which, contrary to what we had been led to believe, had electricity (50c/kilowatt) and water (50c/100 litres) and at €7 per night it is a bargain.
Saturday dawned and, with great trepidation on my part, we cast off to face the mighty Meuse River. The short ride down the last of the Sambre was a doddle and after clearing the second lock we were in Namur with the Meuse ahead – what an anti-climax! Elle headed into the current (which was in slack mode fortunately) to the manner born and we made fast to the mooring against the casino wall which, contrary to what we had been led to believe, had electricity (50c/kilowatt) and water (50c/100 litres) and at €7 per night it is a bargain.
Bikes unloaded, we rode upstream, crossed the lock and
weir,
visited the Captainerie (which is actually in Jambes, not Namur) and then crossed back over the old (reconstructed) stone bridge into the centre of Namur. The two week long Francaise Provencal market was in its last two days before closing so we availed ourselves to an assortment of salamis, garlic, olives, and garlic cloves in brine.
And had paella for lunch.
A slow amble through the crowed old center
and then it was back home to a quiet evening washed down with a glass of Blance de Namur, which won the World Beer Awards title of “World’s Best Wheat Beer” in 2009; light and refreshing with a flavour of lemon.
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| Water over the weir. |
visited the Captainerie (which is actually in Jambes, not Namur) and then crossed back over the old (reconstructed) stone bridge into the centre of Namur. The two week long Francaise Provencal market was in its last two days before closing so we availed ourselves to an assortment of salamis, garlic, olives, and garlic cloves in brine.
And had paella for lunch.
A slow amble through the crowed old center
and then it was back home to a quiet evening washed down with a glass of Blance de Namur, which won the World Beer Awards title of “World’s Best Wheat Beer” in 2009; light and refreshing with a flavour of lemon.
Great to see you guys still have fun and enjoying the scenery like your pics. Kay also keeping us updated with the whatsapp and emails. Frantically packing and trying to get Gerd ready for our trip north.
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