We are back in Butgenbach this morning but all the regular hotels were booked so we find ourselves at a “holiday resort” on the lake with a huge campground and hotel type room complex. As I sit here in the cafeteria with my morning coffee (breakfast buffet included), there are dozens of guys of all ages in “race bike attire” (bicycle shorts and Lycra jerseys) coming in for breakfast. I am guessing that this is a biking Mecca not just for us dawdlers but for the hardcore as well!

By the time we leave our hotel the overcast skies have cleared and we must peel off the layers as we warm up along the way. We are heading to St. Vith today and Mark has an appointment at a bicycle shop there where he will have his rear derailleur cable looked at as it starting to fray.

Everyday I am amazed at the picturesque beauty of the countryside here in the Ardennes. The old stone houses and barns, the church steeples in every town,

This was a ‘talking’ display…just push the button and there was an explanation and information about the countryside you were taking in…I tried listening to the French version but didn’t get much out of it.

And of course, the flowers along the way!