The Netherlands is flat, cycle friendly, and has a dozen places to explore if one has the time and the interest. So why would anyone want to cycle through the countryside of France, with its ups and downs and the non existence of cycling paths which all combine to make cycling not such a good idea. Why would anyone who is so used to cycling on flat roads do such a trip?
Because that is what an adventure is made of. Cycling in the Netherlands in mainstream. Cycling to France from Netherlands is not!
So, it was that, in August 2014, I and a friend found ourselves on the long road to Omaha beach, Normandy, France via the countryside of the Netherlands, Belgium and France. We were broke, and we were looking for an adventure. This was the best thing to do. As to why we chose Normandy, we were quite interested in historical events, and Normandy is the place where D-day occurred during the second World War. Hence, the decision.
So it was, we found ourselves on the road, on two speedbikes, our gear limited to 5kg each, cycling 100km a day to get to Normandy, cycling through the towns of Vlissingen, Brugges, Dunkirk, Etaples, Dieppe, Le Harve and finally, Normandy. It was the month of August, and the days were long, warm and sunny. It was the perfect weather to attempt something like this.
I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as the effort we put in cycling through the French countryside. Cheers!
Leaving Delft, the Netherlands. We did not have much gear with us. We carried a tent, a sleeping mat, and a backpack that contained some tools and some clothes.
Typical scenary in the Netherlands. You will not get very far without coming upon a windmill or a wind turbine. They are everywhere!
We hoped someone would invite us to sail with them...
Cycling along the coast meant there were no bicycle routes and the winds were nasty at times. Luckily, they didn't manage to throw us into the sea!
Parasailing is a very enjoyable activity in the Netherlands. There were dozens of them on the beach!
The first 100km from Delft to Vlissingen which is on the border of the Netherlands took us about 6 hours to complete. We would have done it a lot faster had it not been for the winds that made our progress slow and at times painful. We left at about 3.30 from Delft, and reached Vlissingen at around 10pm, just in time to grab a quick dinner in the form of a durum donor.
More wind turbines and empty roads next to the sea.
Camping in a open area in Vlissingen for the night. Distance covered: 100km.
Crossing the southern province of Holland. Belgium is not so far now...
One thing that I noticed was that the Dutch spoken was softer and smoother in the south of the country than in the North. The Flemish accent is very pleasing to the ears and sounded nice!
Crossing into Belgium. The roads continue to be flat and cycle tracks still exist. That's my friend Gagan.
Beautiful Brugges was our first stop for the day in Belgium. A very nice place with medieval buildings, cobblestone streets and plenty of canals.
The Belgians sure love their sweets! Their pastries, sweets and cakes were much more delicious than their counterparts in the Netherlands.
The tower of the Church of Our Lady in Burgges. Quite the tourist spot, we noticed plenty of tourists in and around the area.
The Provenciaal Hof. The Neogothical architecture is quite striking.
After having some delicious sweets and pastries and cycling around Brugges, it was time to hit the road again and continue the journey! More in my next post!
If you liked this post, please upvote, comment and resteem. Check out some of my other posts via the links below:
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Cycling 500km across Europe: Dtube
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Of Scuba Diving and Motorcycle Racers - A slow life between fast lanes?
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Hope writes a letter - Crazy fridays and I find out I am not a car person
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That's it for now, cheers!
Disclaimer: I originally wrote this post on my blog: The Footloose Nomad